This past week, more than 30 Copper Mountain coaches spent Monday and Tuesday together — three classroom sessions, three live field sessions — training directly with Todd Beane, founder of TOVO Academy Barcelona. For the fieldwork, Eric Adams’ U14 N1 team took the pitch so our coaching staff could watch Todd teach in real time, with our own players.
This wasn’t a one-off clinic. It’s just the start.
Who is Todd Beane? Todd spent 14 years working directly alongside Johan Cruyff — one of, if not the most influential figures in soccer history (seriously! look him up) — building the Cruyff Institute and later Cruyff Football, before founding TOVO Academy in Sitges, Spain.
Why this methodology, specifically? TOVO is built on the same positional-play principles that shaped FC Barcelona’s legendary La Masia academy. That lineage is on full display right now: Spain just won the 2026 World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0, and did it with a core of Barcelona-trained players — Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, and breakout defender Pau Cubarsí all started for Spain. That win made Spain the first nation ever to hold both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time, since their women’s team, also built around Barcelona stars like Aitana Bonmatí, won in 2023. It’s a philosophy built on intelligence, skill, and character — using desirable difficulties to teach players to read and think the game, not just repeat drills.
What changes for your player? You will start to see rondos, positional play, and small-sided training games as the backbone of practice. And it may look a little different than what you’re used to: no lines, no laps, no lectures – more chaotic at times, messier, with players thinking, executing, and assessing.
This is the product of two full days our volunteer coaching staff invested on their own time because they believe it makes Copper Mountain a stronger place to develop.
We’re proud of our coaches, and we’re just getting started. More to come soon on what this means for your team.
