Evolution in Ecuadorian football youth

Ecuadorian football has recently seen significant growth both at the national team level and with better results at the club level.

This phenomenon is mainly due to the fact that in this century it has managed to improve both in the administrative and sports fields, with modern infrastructures in most local clubs, giving better tools to each of the players to be able to provide better performance on the field.

In the case of the Independiente del Valle club, it has football schools in each area and region of Ecuador, generating a wide network in the recruitment of talent from an early age with the aim of developing and enhancing the capabilities of potential professional footballers. Since 2019, its subsidiary called Independiente Juniors competes in the Serie B of Ecuadorian football, due to regulatory issues this team cannot be promoted to the privileged series, but it is another way to be able to recruit footballers who can gain experience and experience, to later have an opportunity in the first category team.

The appearance of Independiente del Valle in the top category of Ecuadorian football was a starting point for a qualitative leap in regards to youth football in the country, as they provide better opportunities and support for both human and football development for the professional growth of the player, ensuring the emotional well-being, education and health of the children and young people who make up the ranks of the Valle club.

It is no coincidence that in the IDV youth academy some talents have been forged that today shine in European football and are an important contribution to the Ecuadorian national team. Such are the cases of Piero Hincapié, Willian Pacho and Moisés Caicedo who shine in the elite of world football, in addition to the latest sales of young talents such as Kendry Páez, 17, to Chelsea FC and Justin Lerma, 16, to Borussia Dortmund.

According to a study carried out by the British portal Football Observatory, Independiente del Valle has generated a total of 86 million euros in income from its youth-trained players in the last 10 years, making it the Pacific club with the most profitability in its youth teams.

This has caused other Ecuadorian clubs with a greater tradition to also pay close attention to their youth teams, both to provide economic support for a possible sale or transfer to other clubs, as well as to be able to compete better in each U-13, U-15, U-17 and U-19 youth tournament that takes place in the country and with the aim of new talents strengthening the first team.

The results are in sight, the Valle team has been able to reap positive results during the last six years at the youth level, reaching four consecutive U-20 Copa Libertadores finals and achieving a title in 2020 against the powerful River Plate of Enzo Fernández, Lucas Beltrán, Luciano Gondou and company.

There is still a long way to go and of course, there are still many aspects to be polished in the process to achieve excellence in Ecuadorian youth football, where IDV has made the leap in quality with respect to other teams.

The example of IDV has motivated traditional clubs such as Liga Deportiva Universitaria, Universidad Católica, Sociedad Deportiva Aucas, Orense Sporting Club, El Nacional, Barcelona and Emelec to give importance and allocate resources to their youth teams in recent years, managing to project very interesting football talents, finding cases of young footballers who have had the opportunity to debut in the first category and also some of them have been sold to football abroad.

In recent years, Liga Deportiva Universitaria has exported talents abroad, such as Pervis Estupiñán, who currently plays for Brighton in England and is considered one of the best left-backs on the continent. Also, Óscar Zambrano, who was loaned to Hull City in the second division of England this year, has been called up to the senior team to play World Cup qualifying matches. Given the imminent need to improve the lower divisions and follow in the footsteps of the Valle team, the Universitario club has invested in the construction of a first-class High Performance Centre in order to promote the development and evolution of the footballer both in youth and for the professional squad.

At the youth selection level, Ecuador has become competitive in this century in the different South American and world tournaments it has played in, where it has qualified for the world championships in the Under 17 and Under 20 categories, and in the latter, finishing in a historic third place in the 2019 World Cup in Poland.

This leads us to the conclusion that the growth and evolution of Ecuadorian football at the youth level is no coincidence.since it comes from several years of hard work that has allowed us to compete in a better way in each of the tournaments and categories that are contested at a continental and world level. Without a doubt, better days and many more joys are to come in the future, it is just the beginning of something really great.