Relatório de Estágio Profissionalizante realizado na equipa masculina Sub17 do Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira, Época Desportiva 2024/2025

Abstract

This internship report was created as part of the requirements to complete the Master's Degree in High Performance Training at the Faculty of Sports of the University of Porto. The internship was carried out at Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira, with the Under-17 male team, throughout the 2024/2025 season. Completing this internship at a club with a regular presence in national youth competitions significantly contributed to my development both as a coach and as a person. It provided a unique opportunity to integrate into an experienced, competent, and well-structured coaching staff operating within a highly competitive environment. In this report, a personal and academic contextualization is presented, outlining the motivations and objectives that led to the choice of this internship. This is followed by the institutional characterization of Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira, the competitive context in which the Sub17 team was involved, the composition of the coaching staff and the functions assigned to each member, as well as the description of the competitive format. Subsequently, the objectives defined for the internship, the squad composition, the Game Model created by the coaching staff, and the Standard Morpho-cycle implemented throughout the season are presented. Summaries of the main events of the season are also provided, including the team's results and standings, with particular emphasis on the failure to qualify for the promotion phase. The final chapters of the report are devoted to critical reflections on the practice developed. Among the topics addressed are the role of the goalkeeper, the promotion of players to the senior team, and the integration of players from younger age groups. In particular, it is worth highlighting the sense of fulfillment gained from being involved in a high-performance environment, where I was exposed to new working methods that greatly enriched my academic and professional development. The main skills acquired during the internship were: the ability to provide assertive and effective feedback, communicate clearly and adaptively, manage and operationalize training, as well as to observe and analyze the game.