League of Ireland and EA SPORTS LOI Academy set for creative play development weekend

The League of Ireland together with the EA SPORTS LOI Academy is set to host another MU15 Development Weekend focussed on "creative play." The event will take place on 27 and 28 April at FAI HQ in Abbotsown, following the success of last year's inaugural event.

This year, each club will participate in three fixtures against teams of similar ability, and where practical, against clubs they seldom meet due to geographical constraints.

Instead of traditional wins, teams will aim to gather 15 points throughout the day by completing various creative challenges.

These include scoring from strategic moves such as diagonal passes, overlaps, third man runs, one-on-one situations, one-touch finishes, and inventive set pieces.

The rules stipulate that every player must start at least one game and play a minimum of 40 minutes throughout the day, ensuring fair play and participation.

EA SPORTS LOI Academy Development Manager, Will Clarke, expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming weekend. "We’re really looking forward to hosting such an exciting day for our EA SPORTS LOI Academy MU15 teams," he said.

Clarke highlighted the importance of the event in fostering player development: "The Weekend will ensure the players face new creative challenges with the development of all players at the heart of the event."

Clarke also noted the unique opportunity for teams: "It’s exciting too for the players and staff to face some potentially new opponents who they won’t usually face during the season by bringing all of the teams around the country together."

He concluded by acknowledging EA SPORTS' role in the event, "We’d like to thank EA SPORTS for helping us put the weekend together and wish the players and staff the best of luck in the weekend.”