Our junior academy was ranked 8th out of 50 in the top of the Romanian Football Federation, being the best ranked club in the west of the country.

The process of classifying academies, youth clubs and youth football centres in Romania on the basis of quality standards was set up by the Romanian Football Federation with the support of the Dutch company NMC Bright, which has more than 15 years of experience in assessing, classifying and advising European football academies.

The classification introduced in Romanian youth football is based on several criteria, evaluated on a scale from 0 to 4, and aims to lead both to the development of football nurseries, giving them the necessary reputation for new sources of funding, and to the widening of the selection pool within the communities, setting the premises for long-term performance.

What are the objectives of this classification?

Permanent increase of the football level in Romania by developing training and competition assistance for the youngest players.
Ensuring quality standards at management and sporting level for clubs so that parents can choose the best framework for their children’s talent.
Continuous improvement of football infrastructure at club level to provide players and spectators with high level facilities.
Strengthening the integrity and raising the quality of children and youth competitions organised by the FRF.
Set a benchmark in terms of technical and administrative staff, infrastructure, sports facilities, results and education for academies in Romania.

In the qualification process for 2022, the fourth so far, 50 clubs participating in youth competitions organised by the FRF have registered, six of them for the first time in the qualification system.

Like 77% of the clubs participating in this year’s ranking, Academia Politehnica Timisoara also scored higher than last year. With a total of 86 points our club ranked 8th in the ranking, ahead of many first-division teams. The process of building the classification file took place in October-March, there were more than 300 documents submitted by the team that was in charge of building the file. It was composed of specialist staff from the academy and the University of Politehnica Timișoara, with each area of assessment being managed by different people: Sandu Tăbîrcă (technical director Politehnica Timisoara Academy), Sandu Dumitrașcu (team manager of the U17 and U18 teams), Alin Ionescu (coordinator Politehnica Timisoara Academy), Cătălin Stănilă (physical trainer Politehnica Timisoara Academy), Alexandru Boncu (psychologist Politehnica Timisoara Academy), Marius Adam (coordinator Politehnica Timisoara Academy on behalf of UPT), Alina Atanasescu (head of legal office Politehnica Timisoara University), Petrea Musat (responsible for licensing and homologation SSU Politehnica Timisoara S. A.), Iulia Dîrman (SSU Politehnica Timișoara S.A. secretariat), together with all the coaches of the academy.

What were the criteria evaluated and how did Polytechnic score?

A. Strategy and philosophy – 10.4% of the total score

Politehnica scored the maximum score in this category – 10.4 points. This means that our academy had a written youth football development programme that includes all 10 requirements set out in the List of documents for academy assessment, previously sent by the FRF.

B. Teams and players – 12.6% of the total score

Politehnica scored 12.3 points out of 12.6, the total in this category in which the U11-U19 teams were evaluated, as well as the women’s football teams, analysing the composition of the teams, the number of own players, the number of loan players, etc.

C. Technical staff – 19.7% of the total score

Our club scored 19.2 out of a total of 19.7 points in this assessment area. Coaches of all age groups and assistant technical staff (technical director, talent scout) were assessed here in terms of experience and level of technical training (C, B, A, PRO licences).

D. Support staff – a share of 7.1% of the total

Polytechnic scored 6.5 points out of a total of 7.1 in this area. Support staff (nutritionists, doctors, physical trainers, psychologists, infrastructure administrators, etc.) were assessed in this area in terms of training and experience.

E. Training and matches – 9.6% of the total score

This area of assessment quantified the training sessions or games that each of the teams had during a season, as well as the duration of those sessions. Polytechnic scored 9.5 points out of a total of 9.6 points in this section.

F. Infrastructure and facilities – a share of 20.3% of the total score

This area has assessed a component of the club that Timisoara has often remained behind. This is not the case for us, who through our partnership with Politehnica Timisoara University benefit from the best training and training conditions in Timisoara for the athletes registered at the club. The number and condition of the fields owned by the club, the way they are used, as well as the ancillary facilities that the club provides to the athletes were evaluated. Poli scored 15.8 out of 20.3 points in this category.

G. Results – a share of 20.3% of the total

In this area, the results obtained in the previous season by teams participating in the Elite League or national championships were evaluated, as well as the number of players supplied to League 3, 2 or 1 teams. Our club obtained a score of 12.3 out of a total of 20.3 points in this chapter. One of the basic principles of our academy is not to put value on the final results of the games, but to use them as opportunities for the development of each athlete registered. We want to build character, strong players capable of making the step up to a decent performing senior team, much more than we want to build trophy winning teams at youth level.