Radical FootballConference

2026

25-26 July 2026

Timișoara, Romania

Understanding Youth Player Development: How Learning Emerges in the Game

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500 spots available

“If you only know football, you know nothing about football.” - Juan Manuel Lillo

Rethinking how children learn football

Radical Football Conference brings together coaches, researchers and educators who want to better understand how children learn and grow in football. Across two days of presentations, conversations and practical sessions, the conference explores the environments that shape the development of young players.

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⚽ Celebrating Football

Football is more than competition and results. For children it is also a space where confidence grows, curiosity appears and relationships are formed. Radical Football Conference creates a place to reflect on the environments we build around the game and how those environments influence the experience and development of young players.

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📖 Development and Learning

International speakers bring perspectives from research, professional academies and grassroots football. Through presentations, discussions and practical sessions, the conference explores how learning in football emerges from the interaction between the player, the task and the environment. The aim is not to offer ready-made answers, but to deepen the understanding of how development actually happens.

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🌍 Who Should Attend

Radical Football Conference is open to anyone involved in the development of young players. Coaches working in grassroots football or professional academies. Academy directors and club staff. Researchers and educators in sport and learning sciences. Parents and practitioners interested in how children experience football. Anyone interested in understanding how children learn and grow through football is welcome.