Best Practice Ambassador
Excelsior Rotterdam
Developing the whole person through football, life skills and individual support
Featuring: Marco van Lochem (Head of Academy) and Jeroen van Galen (Pedagogical coordinator)
At Excelsior Rotterdam, developing talented football players means developing the person behind the player. The club’s philosophy goes beyond football performance and education, bringing together personal, social and psychological development as essential parts of the academy pathway.
As part of the EDU-DC project, Excelsior Rotterdam is presented as a Best Practice Ambassador, demonstrating how holistic development can become an integrated part of an elite youth football environment.
Through its House of Talents programme, developed in collaboration with the Excelsior Foundation, the club prepares young players not only for the possibility of professional football, but also for the many different pathways their lives may take beyond the game.
“Develop the whole person.”
This idea is at the heart of Excelsior Rotterdam’s approach.
The club recognises that football careers are uncertain and temporary. For that reason, young players are encouraged to develop competencies, interests and identities beyond their role as athletes.
The House of Talents translates this philosophy into a structured programme. Each month focuses on a different theme connected to personal development and life beyond football, including financial literacy, nutrition, leadership, resilience, mental toughness, career decision-making and personal responsibility.
Players take part in practical activities ranging from workshops on investing and healthy cooking to breathing techniques and sessions with military veterans focused on leadership and resilience. The content is adapted to the players’ age and developmental stage, ensuring that the topics remain relevant to their everyday lives.
Importantly, House of Talents is not treated as an optional addition to football.
On selected days, regular football training is replaced by personal development activities. Coaches participate in these sessions as well, making the development of young people a shared responsibility across the academy.
“Coaches are not only football coaches. They are developers of young people.”
This philosophy has become embedded in the way Excelsior thinks about the role of its academy staff.
Coaches are expected to understand what is happening in a player’s life beyond the pitch and to contribute to their broader development. At the same time, the club has introduced dedicated elite sports supervisors who provide players with additional individual support.
Their position is particularly valuable because they are independent from decisions about team selection and playing time. This gives players an opportunity to speak openly about personal challenges and concerns in a safe environment.
The supervisors work alongside coaches rather than replacing them. They help coaches better understand the personal circumstances of their players and encourage meaningful conversations between staff and athletes.
According to coaches Joep and Jens, this approach has helped create greater trust within the academy, with players feeling more comfortable asking for help and discussing issues outside football.
“Players should feel valued as people, not only as athletes.”
Another important element of Excelsior Rotterdam’s approach is the attention given to transitions throughout a young player’s journey.
The club recognises that development involves much more than progressing from one age group to another. Players must navigate entering the academy, moving between teams, approaching professional football and, for many, eventually leaving the academy.
Excelsior supports these transitions through personal conversations, home visits, formal review meetings and continuous communication with players and their parents.
The club also pays attention to players who decide to leave football voluntarily. These experiences are not simply viewed as unsuccessful outcomes. Instead, staff reflect on them and use what they learn to further improve the academy environment and the support offered to future players.
This focus reinforces the idea that the academy’s responsibility extends beyond producing professional footballers.
“Preparing players for life beyond football is part of developing them for football.”
What makes Excelsior Rotterdam particularly valuable as a best practice example is the way dual development has evolved from a concept into an embedded part of the academy culture.
House of Talents provides structure, dedicated supervisors offer individual support, coaches take responsibility for personal development, and players and families are actively involved throughout the journey.
Most importantly, the club does not see personal development and sporting success as competing objectives. Staff believe that players who feel supported, secure and understood are also better equipped to perform, deal with pressure and progress within football.
For the EDU-DC project, Excelsior Rotterdam demonstrates how a professional football academy can create an environment where sporting ambition and personal development strengthen one another.
The goal is not only to develop better football players, but to prepare young people for whatever comes next — in football and beyond it.