Soccer de Brazil started 10 years ago from one coach/founder, four children, and one dream…to be the best at developing children.

Fast forward 10 years, and Soccer de Brazil has become one of the largest unfranchised football academies in Australia. With programs in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, and St George areas, as well as various areas in Western Australia such as Mandurah, Subiaco, Baldivis, and Rockingham.

How It happened? We provide a high-quality coaching service, and are true to our vision, mission, and values. For Soccer de Brazil, that vision is to improve Australia as a soccer nation through effective youth development.

Our philosophy as a Soccer Academy is to inspire, entertain, and educate our players. It is through inspiring our players and making sure they are having fun that they are in the best state of mind to be educated.

But it doesn’t come without its challenges. One of our biggest challenges is the costs associated with running an academy. Also securing training venues, recruiting and retaining high quality coaching staff who want more than just ‘a job’, but actually want to help push us towards our vision.

Then of course is the constant battle trying to quash the perception that academies are profiteering charlatans.

How to overcome these challenges? We have our vision as our guiding star. We know that each day we are changing lives of children. We are teaching them skills that are increasing their confidence not only on the pitch, but in life.

We are always looking for business partners who can assist us in keeping costs to our players affordable in exchange for sharing the exposure we have through our branding. We have massive national exposure which is highly desirable to businesses that are looking to speak to a larger audience.

As for recruiting coaches and securing training venues, that is a matter of ‘watch this space. We will make some strategic changes in the next 5 years that will keep us at the head of our game.

It will be exciting to watch Australian football when our elite players come of age. The playing style of Australia will change. Our unique style gives players the confidence to take on their opponent in a 1v1 situation using creativity and flair should they need to.

So how have we managed to grow so quickly? Through referrals basically. Parents either hear about us through one of their friends whose children train with us, or they have seen our training sessions or had children play against us. Referrals account for over 70% of our new player base.

We also lose a lot of players and we are extremely proud of that. That is because they develop to a level where they get selected for other club’s Skills Acquisition Programs (SAP) National Premier League (NPL) youth teams. That is how we know we are doing a great job.

Sean Brohier
Managing Director of Soccer de Brazil