Whether the company proposes itself to AC Milan as a potential partner or AC Milan identifies the Club on the territory, there are some criteria for the final choice:

• Territorial - no overlap with other Football Schools already present, for foreign football schools the Country of reference is also considered with particular attention to the economic, social and sports context.  
• Sports – good-quality sports facilities, presence of qualified staff
• Methodological - sharing of the basic principles of the project, orientation towards training, promotion of fair play and sports culture
• Commercial - financial sustainability, development potential, management and communication organization.

After the selection process, definition and undersigning of the agreement there is the technical and management training in which AC Milan, through AC Milan Academy coaches, the Staff and the Training School follows, supports and leads the Football School in its integration with AC Milan Integrated Method and with the organizational requirements deriving from the partnership.

The tools used are various and continuous throughout the duration of the membership:

• Presence of AC Milan Academy coaches – Key point of AC Milan Football School project is the direct and periodic presence in all the affiliated soccer schools of an AC Milan registered coach (“AC Milan Academy Coach”). AC Milan Academy Coach has the key role of bringing the method and principles of AC Milan Football School project within the football school, supporting - through a technical and organizational consultancy - the Club's activities on and off the field, organizing training and updating the courses of football school’s coaches and promoting meetings and discussions with all the figures involved in the project (managers, coaches, professionals, young people, parents, institutions). In some Foreign Football Schools (Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait, Japan) AC Milan Academy Coach stays for the entire football season at the football school and he is a true sports director and organizational reference.
• AC Milan’s Training Schools Courses - Managers and coaches’ training, together with constant information towards parents, are the strength of AC Milan Football School project and it’s one of the means by which the Football Schools have the opportunity to learn and to deepen the Integrated Method proposed by AC Milan. For this reason, the Training School has studied an innovative and structured training course based on the needs of all the Football Schools and their coaches, both for those approaching the project for the first time and for those who have already followed the training path proposed.
• Meetings among managers - Structured meetings are organized periodically in Milan (at least twice a year for football schools in Italy) attended by all the football schools participate. AC Milan Academy meeting with the Managers is a very important moment to share and compare ideas and experiences and to update the tools and innovations proposed by the project.
  Project managers’ dedicated visits are foreseen for foreign football schools, given the geographic distance. The visits are aimed at strengthening the link between Football Schools and AC Milan, directly supervising the work carried out on site and organizing meetings with parents, local institutions, media and sponsors.
• Dedicated activities – The project foresees also dedicated activities such as the Milan Cup, the International Clinic, visits and activities at San Siro stadium, visits to Casa Milan, training days at CS Vismara to strengthen the link and to create communication moments with affiliated companies. Moreover, all Football Schools use the official kit AC Milan Football School.

INTERNATIONAL CLINIC AC MILAN FOOTBALL SCHOOLS

AC Milan Football Schools are present in 11 Countries and 5 continents (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania) and they create a real Network of languages, cultures, habits, different religions in which football and AC Milan colors become an occasion to meet and for a common way of communicating. The importance of the diversities and the sporting and cultural comparison are the key themes of the International Clinic of AC Milan Football Schools, a week organized at the end of the football season in Milan and open to all international AC Milan football schools. Young players train together deepening the AC Milan Integrated Method applied in all Football Schools and they have the opportunity to get to know Milan, with visits to the city, the Italian culture and AC Milan.

Young players from Kuwait, US and Lithuania participated in the last edition of the International Clinic, held from June 19 to June 23.

BANCO BPM MILAN CUP

From June 15 to June 18 the annual tournament of Banco BPM Milan Cup took place, it’s the event that closes AC Milan Football Schools' season. There were 92 teams from 42 different clubs representing the 87 AC Milan Italia Football Schools for a total of about 1700 young players aged between 8 and 13. The tournament is reserved to 6 categories of children born between 2004 and 2009. The participants were accompanied by their families, so the event was attended by overall several thousand people.

In addition to the many "challenges" on the playing fields of the Vismara Sports Center, young players, coaches and parents were involved in activities aimed at promoting fair play and sports culture. In particular during the opening ceremony the teams parade with a banner with a sentence related to the tournament, to fair play and to the spirit of AC Milan Football School. The best banner - "You play with your feet, you win with your heart" - proposed by AC Milan Football School GE.CA from Naples, chosen by a jury, that will become the official slogan of AC Milan Cup next year. In addition, the winners will be invited to attend an AC Milan match during the 2017/2018 season and the winning banner will be displayed by the stadium’s speaker before the kick off.

The Staff of AC Milan Training School during the tournament has always been present on the pitches to supervise the activities and it has organized a series of training meetings with the Coaches and information meetings with the parents.

AC MILAN JUNIOR CAMP DAY

The seventeenth edition took place on March 18 and 19 in the prestigious headquarters of AC Milan Youth Sector. Two days dedicated to AC Milan with about 300 children from the over 100 places that hosted Adidas Milan junior camp in summer 2016 in Italy and in the rest of the world.

Friendly tournaments with mixed teams for the young players born in 2002-2003 and 2006-2007, the visit to Casa Milan – AC Milan’s headquarters and the exciting parade of all the young players who colored San Siro Stadium field during the match “Milan – Genoa” are just some of the activities organized and dedicated to the participants and their families, coming from 20 nations driven by the great passion for football, for AC Milan, but above all by the desire to live a unique experience.

The opening ceremony of the friendly tournaments with the fair play oath made in three different languages and “in concert” by the young plyers was certainly one of the most engaging moments as it was the emblem of the spirit of this event: football as a vehicle for sports culture.

“On behalf of all the participants to the AC Milan Junior Camp Day, I promise to support the spirit of fair play and the welcoming atmosphere of the event with loyalty and pride, avoiding any behaviour contrary to the tournament’s code of conduct, both on and off the pitch.

I participate in this event because I want to have fun and meet new friends, to measure myself with other young players and other cultures. I hope to give and receive emotions, to feel fans’ support, regardless of the flags, colours, races and religions.

May the best win, and may fair play, loyalty and peace lead the best.”