In May 2026, Antonis Antoniou participated in an Erasmus+ job-shadowing mobility hosted by Panathinaikos F.C. at the club’s training facilities in Koropi. The mobility formed part of our Spatial Intelligence Enhancement Project in Sports Education, in the context of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
During the mobility, the coach had the opportunity to observe a highly structured youth-development environment and exchange knowledge with coaches. The programme focused on:
- Youth training sessions and coaching organisation.
- Spatial awareness, scanning, positioning and decision-making.
- Technical and tactical player development.
- Session planning and coaching methodologies.
- Exchange of ideas and practices with academy coaches.
The mobility provided valuable ideas that can be adapted to our own grassroots activities and contributed to the continued development of our coaching methodologies. It also gave the coach the opportunity to compare Panathinaikos' approach with other European coaching environments visited through the project.
“It was a great opportunity to experience the Panathinaikos training environment in Koropi and observe how a professional club approaches the development of young footballers. The mobility gave me new ideas around training organisation, spatial awareness and decision-making, but also a broader perspective on how methodology and the training environment can work together to support player development. I look forward to transferring this knowledge into our work and sharing it with coaches and young athletes.”
This Erasmus+ mobility demonstrated the value of bringing together professional youth-development practices and grassroots innovation. By observing methodologies in a highly structured football environment, we can identify ideas that can be adapted and transferred into our own programmes, supporting coaches and young players while continuing to develop our approach to spatial intelligence in sport.
We sincerely thank Panathinaikos F.C. for the hospitality and valuable learning opportunity, and the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union for supporting the exchange of knowledge and good practices across European sport.