Clairefontaine

National Technical Centre entrance

Le Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre (English: Fernand Sastre National Technical Centre), commonly referred to as INF Clairefontaine ("Institut national du football de Clairefontaine"), INF, or simply Clairefontaine, is the national association football centre that specializes in training French football players. The academy is one of twelve élite academies located in and around France that are supervised by the French Football Federation (FFF). Only the best players from the Île-de-France région train at the Clairefontaine academy. The eleven other academies are situated in Castelmaurou, Châteauroux, Liévin, Dijon, Marseille, Ploufragan, Vichy and Reims, Réunion, Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, and Talence.

Clairefontaine opened in 1988 and is named after Fernand Sastre, the president of the FFF from 1972–1984. The academy is located 50 km southwest of Paris at Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines and is one of the best known football academies in the world. It has a high reputation of producing some of the most gifted French players including Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas, and national team top scorer Thierry Henry. The academy is also used to house the national football teams of France and the centre drew media spotlight following its usage as a base camp by the France team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

History

In 1976, French Football Federation president and longtime official Fernand Sastre desired for the creation of a national centre of football. The project was initiated by Ștefan Kovács, who was inspired by the former Romanian communist training centers. Six years later, the FFF selected Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines as the site of the center. Construction of the centre commenced in 1985 and lasted nearly three years. The centre opened its doors in January 1988. During the 1998 World Cup, which France hosted, Clairefontaine housed the French national team. That same year, the FFF named the centre in Fernand Sastre's honor. A bust of Sastre was put on the grounds in 2000; also present on the grounds is a statue of the FIFA World Cup.

The best young football players from the Île-de-France region (of which Paris is the capital) stay at Clairefontaine from 13 to 15 for training and development of their technical skills. Most of the players that attend here are often being tracked by established French clubs and go on to have very successful careers. Today, many top local clubs play at the grounds. The academy continues to develop some of France's most promising talents in Hatem Ben Arfa, Vassiriki Abou Diaby and Gabriel Obertan.

Process

Registration

In order for a player to be selected to the Clairefontaine academy, he/she must be at least 13 years of age, have French citizenship, and be living and playing within the Île-de-France region, though players living in the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure can also apply and be selected. Registration for new players at the academy normally begins in October the year before players enroll at the academy when perspective applicants are 12 years of age. Players have until December to register with their club for acceptance into the academy. The first set of trials are carried out by each district within Île-de-France. Each district selects a set number of players who will traveled to Clairefontaine to attend a tryout, which is usually held over a three-day period during the Easter school holidays. After the three days, the academy director and officials will convene to select a maximum of 22 players with three or four of the 22 being goalkeepers.

Training and accommodation

Players who are selected to attend Clairefontaine stay and train at the facilities from Monday through Friday. Players are given the weekend off to go and visit family and, also, to train and play with their parent clubs. They are given school holidays off, as well. Players are also required to meet educational criteria. Players age 13–15 training at Clairefontaine attend the Collège Catherine de Vivonne de Rambouilet in Rambouillet. After departing Rambouilet, players enroll at the nearby high school Lycée Louis Bascan de Rambouillet with hopes that they will earn their Baccalauréat. All costs required to attend an academy are borne by the federation and the Ligue Nationale de Football.^[1]

Youth development

Youth development at Clairefontaine incorporates many principles on football with their students, such as:

• Making the player’s movements faster and better
• Linking movements efficiently and wisely
• Using the weaker foot
• Weaknesses in the player’s game
• Psychological factors (sports personality tests)
• Medical factors
• Physical tests (beep test)
• Technical skills
• Skill training (juggling the ball, running with the ball, dribbling, kicking, passing and ball control)
• Tactical (to help the ball carrier, to get the ball back, to offer support, to pass the ball and follow the pass, positioning and the movement into space)

Grounds

Clairefontaine is an immense football centre, encompassing 56 hectares of land and boasting 66,000 square meters of turfed grounds. It is located in the valley of Chevreuse in the heart of the Rambouillet forest. Clairefontaine has several training grounds, a stadium pitch and even an indoor pitch made of artificial turf. The centre also includes a medical building, gym, fitness room, restaurant and cafeteria. There are even three tennis courts on the grounds.

Photos

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Notable former students

Name	DOB	Club before Academy	Years at Academy	Club after Academy	Current Club	International
Nicolas Anelka	14 March 1979 (1979-03-14) (age 32)	Trappes FC	1993–1996	Paris Saint-Germain	Chelsea	France
Habib Bamogo	8 May 1982 (1982-05-08) (age 29)	ASV Châtenay-Malabry	1994–1998	Montpellier	Nice	Burkina Faso
Sébastien Bassong	9 July 1986 (1986-07-09) (age 25)	FC Saint-Leu	1999–2002	Metz	Tottenham	Cameroon
Habib Bellaïd	26 December 1986 (1986-12-26) (age 24)	Red Star FC	1999–2002	Strasbourg	Sedan	Algeria
Hatem Ben Arfa	7 March 1987 (1987-03-07) (age 24)	AC Boulogne Billencourt	1999–2002	Lyon	Newcastle United	France
Jimmy Briand	7 August 1985 (1985-08-07) (age 26)	CSF Brétigny	2000–2001	Rennes	Lyon	France
Garra Dembélé	21 February 1986 (1986-02-21) (age 25)		1999–2003	Auxerre	Freiburg	Mali
Abou Diaby	11 May 1986 (1986-05-11) (age 25)	Red Star FC	1999–2002	Auxerre	Arsenal	France
Issiar Dia	8 June 1987 (1987-06-08) (age 24)	AC Boulogne Billencourt	1999–2002	Amiens	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Senegal
William Gallas	17 August 1977 (1977-08-17) (age 34)	AVG Football	1992–1994	Caen	Tottenham	France
Thierry Henry	17 August 1977 (1977-08-17) (age 34)	ES Viry-Châtillon	1992	Monaco	New York Red Bulls	France
Blaise Matuidi	9 August 1987 (1987-08-09) (age 24)	CO Vincennois	1999–2002	Créteil	Paris Saint Germain	France
Mourad Meghni	16 April 1984 (1984-04-16) (age 27)		1999–2000	Bologna	Lazio	Algeria
Gabriel Obertan	26 February 1989 (1989-02-26) (age 22)	Paris Saint-Germain	2004–2005	Bordeaux	Newcastle United	France U21
Jérôme Rothen	31 March 1978 (1978-03-31) (age 33)	Versailles FC	1991–1994	Caen	Bastia	France
Louis Saha	8 August 1978 (1978-08-08) (age 33)		1991–1994	Metz	Everton	France

See also

• Aimé Jacquet
• Gérard Houllier
• PEF Ploufragan
• France national football team

References

1. ^ "Les conditions d'inscription". French Football Federation. 6 November 2010. http://www.fff.fr/dtn/actualite/479674.shtml. Retrieved 20 November 2010. 

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 48°36′52.07″N 1°55′27.55″E / 48.6144639°N 1.9243194°E / 48.6144639; 1.9243194