The DFB’s new academy is continuing the development and training of its employees as Joti Chatzialexiou, the General Manager of the National Team and Daniel Niedzkowski, the new Manager of Football-Coach-Training, are both taking part in a training course at Stanford University, USA this week from Monday to Friday. The main focuses of the training course are to be coach development, innovation and leadership.
“We are excited to be part of course that is being held by a world renowned university with a strong global reputation,” said Joti Chatzialexiou, expressing his expectation of a positive outcome. “The varied and practical modules will give us inspiration for the tasks we undertake on a daily basis.” The eight-week-long workshop will consist of online modules as well as this 5-day-course held at Stanford University. The “Design Thinking Process” will be a focus for the course in California, which involves user-orientated innovations, with other main focuses being effective leadership strategies.
Bierhoff: "The DFB Academy is alive already"
“The different modules will improve me in my role as a coach and a teacher,” said Daniel Niedzkowski. “The seminars along with the mix of online courses and attended classes will enable us to take as much as we can from the course on offer to improve our future training abilities.”
Chatzialexiou’s and Niedzkowski’s trip to Stanford is part of a close exchange with American businesses and institutions, which began last year when DFB representatives travelled to another training course in the USA. Oliver Bierhoff, DFB Director of the National Team and Football Development also travelled to the USA in March of this year to meet with Stanford professors, San Jose Earthquakes Football Club and several companies in California such as Google.
“We see ourselves as a service provider for our supporters and experts. Even though the construction is not yet finished, the DFB Academy is alive already,” said Bierhoff. “We want to give coaches and experts alike our help and impetus, in order for them to keep developing and improve the quality of their work.”