In the fall of 2023, Sportsefterskolen Aabybro had an Arena Pro G8 installed to ensure the best facilities for their players. Over the past 10 years, Sportsefterskolen Aabybro has consistently been among the best boarding school football teams in Denmark.
Competitive advantage with Arena Pro
In the fall of 2023, Sportsefterskolen Aabybro installed an Arena Pro G8 to ensure the best facilities for their players. Sportsefterskolen Aabybro is a Danish boarding school/academy with a focus on boys' and girls' football at all levels, ranging from beginners to elite players who compete at the youth national team level. Over the past 10 years, Sportsefterskolen Aabybro has consistently been among the best boarding school football teams in Denmark. They have developed a lot of players who today play football at the highest international level - including Joakim Mæhle (VfL Wolfsburg & Danish National Team), Magnus Christensen (Stabæk IF), Jeppe Pedersen (AaB), and Sofie Lundgaard (Liverpool & Danish U23 National Team).
To differentiate themselves from other boarding schools/academies and to create the best possible training environment for their players, Sportsefterskolen Aabybro has installed an Arena Pro G8. In this way, the boarding school has all the tools to develop the players' skills and provide a significant advantage in the competition to attract new students.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with Goal Station as a player and now I have the privilege to use the Goal Station system as a coach. We can provide the players with greater opportunities to improve their passing and finishing skills and customize a more individualized training program for each player. So, I believe we offer them something extra by having the opportunity to train with Goal Station equipment.”
- Sine Dyrby Hovesen, former Danish national team player and current coach for Sportsefterskolen Aabybro.
How does Sportsefterskolen Aabybro use its Arena Pro?
Sportsefterskolen Aabybro is achieving great success with its new Arena Pro G8. They employ Goal Station's innovative equipment and cognitive training methodology to enhance the players' individual development. The arena allows the school to conduct individual training sessions on specific details such as scanning skills, technique, passing, first touch, and footwork.
In the Arena Pro, they use the Rebounder Pro and Ignite Trainer to improve their players' technical skills with drills closely aligned to match situations where the lights act as opponents. Then the players are forced to orientate themselves and visually identify their “opponents” and potential passing options.
“It can get a bit confusing because the lights come on quickly and in different patterns. If you don’t orientate properly, you end up just circling trying to figure out where the next light shows.”
- Rebekka Sørensen, player/student at Sportsefterskolen Aabybro
In addition to Sportsefterskolen Aabybro using the arena as part of their training sessions for effective and match-related drills, the arena is also available for free use when the students get time off from school. This way, their students/players always have the opportunity to go down, practice, and have some fun with the ball on their own.
Through the Goal Station app, the students have access to a variety of exercises that they can perform. Here, they choose the difficulty of the level and the number of repetitions they want. After each exercise, the player is assigned a score in the app. Here, they can constantly track their progress and compete with themself and their friends. This way, the players get the most effective training, as they are constantly pushed to perform better.
The players love it
The students from Sportsefterskolen Aabybro love that they have this innovative training equipment to use for both their training sessions and spare time.
“I think it’s cool because you can apply it to matches. When we use the lights, they act as opponents. Then you can orientate and scan to check where they are and where to pass the ball next time.”
- Christian Skov, player/student at Sportsefterskolen Aabybro
Through the Goal Station app, the players can set a time limit on the drills, allowing them to challenge themselves individually to beat their time. Therefore, the players can compare themselves to their progress and work from the level
they’re currently at. A fantastic training tool and a very different way to train if you ask the coach Sine Dyrby Hovesen and player Mathias Hansen.
“Clearly, I achieve something else with the orientation and scanning drills here. And
that ultimately makes you a better football player.”
- Mathias Hansen, player/student at Sportsefterskolen Aabybro
