LEZAMA

Located in Lezama, about 10 kilometres from Bilbao, these facilities constitute the foundations of Athletic Club and its philosophy, since this is the origin of our reserves and youth academy which sustains the idea of having our very own home-grown talents, a defining characteristic of the organization.

Lezama hosts Athletic's first team and Athletic EFT (Women's), as well as ten base youth teams, previous stepping stones that a player must overcome before reaching the first team. Bilbao Athletic (Second Division B), Women's B, two Junior teams (19-17 years old), two Cadets (with ages between 16 and 15), two Youngster teams (14 and 13) and two Children's teams (the youngest, 12 and 11 years of age) make up Athletic's base; these are the teams in which they are formed and from where they will emerge to make up the professional squad.

The Lezama facilities count with, distributed in 14,760 m2, four standard-size natural grass pitches (one of them with a grandstand for 1,500 spectators) and two artificial turf, also standard size, in addition to a covered pavilion, with an artificial turf ground, gymnasium, fronton, medical centre, service building and player residence. Likewise, facility users have ample parking and a bar at their disposal.

To the infrastructure of the facilities we should add the human resources through which Athletic's academy work is strengthened. These human resources in Lezama include so much the coaches, as the physical trainers, medical staff, masseurs, pedagogues and psychologists that try to complete the sporting and human formation of the base team players.

In Lezama, the work done with the different teams is unique and shared by all the technicians of the club. The player is a key element, a cornerstone in the formation process, and the game the fundamental means of learning through which he assimilates concepts. Along with the optimisation of the player's sporting performance, we try to reach an integral training of such by developing aspects of his personal formation. It is all about obtaining, at the end of the process, a psychological human profile of the Athletic player that is in compliance with the demands of current-day soccer and that represents, on the other hand, the values and the idiosyncrasy of the Club.

The idea of Lezama extends beyond the facilities. Athletic Club supervises the work of a number of clubs that comprise the rojiblanca structure. The youngsters that prevail in these teams develop specific training in any of the 13 development centres that the club has for this purpose throughout the Basque Country.