Youth National Teams coaches have been introduced in the Main Hall of the Catalan Football Federation headquarters. For this season, we can find the biggest changes in the boys’ Under 18 and Under 16 squads. Miguel Ángel Samprón will coach the Under 18 team, taking Dani Poyatos’ spot. Samprón has a long and successful tenure as Catalan youth coach. From 2013 until now he has been managing Damm’s Junior B team, directing it to last season’s National League and Catalan Championship titles.

Miguel Ángel Samprón

Jaume-Joan Rius has taken the head job of the Under 16 boys’ team. Xavi Ferragut will remain as coach of the Under 12 squad. Rius is well known at the Federation, as he has been a professor in the coaches’ school. He made his debut last year as an assistant coach with the Catalan Cadet National Team that participated in April’s Coca-Cola Cup. In recent years, he has coached Lleida Eportiu’s top youth teams.

Jaume-Joan Rius

Both have a clear idea of the National Teams’ level. “We need to do a good job in the Spanish championship”, said Miguel Ángel Samprón. “We should aim to reach the title game, because I believe Catalonia has one of the top teams in Spain at the youth level”. “We will need to play hard and compete well to win the championship”, explained Jaume-Joan Rius. “We are really looking forward to this season, because we have not won the Spanish title in our age group since 2013”.

Xavi Ferragut  

The rest of the National Teams will have the same head coaches as last year. Xavi Ferragut will lead the boy’s Under 12 squad again, as he did two years ago. Lluís Cortés will be in charge of the girls’ under 18 squad, while Natàlia Arroyo will coach the Under 16 and Vidal Paloma will remain managing the Under 12. 

Lluís Cortés

“Every year Catalonia is the team to beat”, stated Lluís Cortés. “Anyhow, we will need to manage the pressure well, knowing opposing squads always play very hard against us”. “We are excited about it, because we would like to win our age group for the second time in a row”, said Natàlia Arroyo. Finally, Vidal Paloma added: “The main goal is to improve last year’s results and if we can, we should go all the way and comeback with the winning trophy”.

Natàlia Arroyo

Vidal Paloma

Catalan Football Federation president Andreu Subies, vice-president Josep Llaó and sports director Marc Vives met with the coaches to support them on the task of preparing Catalonia’s participation in this season’s Spanish championships.

The Catalan coaches of the 2016-17 National Teams are: