Beyond the Pitch: How the Juventus Academy Experience Builds Leaders On and Off the Field

At Juventus Academy Los Angeles, the goal has never been limited to creating great soccer players. The real mission is to help young athletes become confident, disciplined, and globally minded individuals who are prepared for whatever future they choose, on or off the field.

Sometimes that future includes professional opportunities. Sometimes it leads to elite universities. Often, it opens doors that families never even knew existed.

The story you are about to read is a perfect example of what happens when sport, education, culture, and mentorship collide in the right way. What began as a single training experience with Juventus turned into international travel, lifelong friendships, academic confidence, and, ultimately, acceptance into one of the top public universities in the world, the University of California, Berkeley.

This testimonial is not just about success on the field. It is about how exposure to a global club like Juventus can reshape how a young person sees himself, how parents see possibilities, and how experiences earned through commitment and character can elevate a college application just as much as grades or test scores.

Dear Matteo, I am writing you a very long and very overdue recap, thank you, update, testimonial, all of the above, for everything Juventus Academy L.A. and all of the related people and organizations gave to us as a family. Our son interacted with amazing people in truly unbelievable places, and everything he learned will take him far! Then a special side note and thank you for the network I was personally introduced to, which has benefited me in my job in the most unexpected ways. First, I'm leaving in 2 days for Torino, for our 3rd year in a row bringing high school kids from my school here in L.A. (Loyola) to a high school in Torino (Istituto Sociale) for a short exchange program. As you know, this is only possible because I went on the Juventus Training Experience trip in 2022 with all of you, and I started chatting with a lady in the lobby of the J Hotel, who happened to be a local teacher in Torino. Now we have built a full relationship between the 2 schools, and I've had the great luck of traveling back there with my students three times, staying at that amazing hotel, and bringing my L.A. students to a Juventus game each time. This coming weekend we will see Juventus-Napoli at Allianz after three full days of spending time around Torino with our host Italian students. Even more exciting, in April, 14 students from Torino will come to LA for a couple of weeks (first time in America for all of them) and stay in homes with Loyola families. None of this ever would have happened had we not taken a chance and jumped on board that trip you guys offered in 2022. But none of that is as wonderful as what our son Matteo got from his four years with the club. He learned teamwork, a champion's attitude, commitment, and so much more. He went three times to Torino with the team, twice without us, which was an adventure he talks about regularly. He made friends from so many places, learned to stomach tough losses without giving up, how to see a bigger picture, how to stay focused.

Mateo playing Goalkeeper at the University of Berkley.

Most importantly, his experience was a huge reason he landed where he is today, following one of his two dreams: either play professionally or attend an elite university. Juventus put him in a position at the end of high school to have BOTH of these very real choices. He was in talks to begin soccer tryouts in Europe, thanks to you and Juventus, but his other dream came true first, and he got an acceptance letter to UC Berkeley, the number one public university in the country, and agonized over it, ultimately deciding to pursue college first. How did he get into UC Berkeley? This was such a huge question! Yes, Matteo worked hard and was successful academically in high school, but we also knew that academics alone do not get kids into good schools in America: it is the whole application, with a heavy emphasis on "what else" a student can do while still maintaining good grades. His hard work with club soccer - the time commitment, the learning experiences, the effort, the attitude - everything involved with the late night practices, far away games, and balancing that with school and his Varsity high school team, factored into his application and pushed him to the top of the pile of Berkeley applicants for regular admissions (He didn't attempt to get recruited for college play side door admissions). And now he is living his best case scenario! He is studying math and environmental science at Cal AND is the goalie for UC Berkeley Men's Club Team, having tried out and been selected from among dozens of other athletes. His first season there they went undefeated, almost every game a shutout, playing Stanford, UC Davis, other heavy hitters in Northern California. Next he will look into trying out for the NCAA team, but first wants to finish his first year away from home strong. And if you can believe it, he was randomly placed in the student dorm that is on Piedmont Avenue, which seems fitting! I put a photo in the attached folder of it. We miss you guys and hope you will keep sending info about restaurant events that are always fun for us, and I'm sure we will cross paths again! We wish the very best to you and your family, to Manu, Santi, Sal, Jeffrey, and everyone else who made this a special time. And, although I have no photo evidence of it, we of course will never forget coming to the field for the first tryout and it was Alessandro del Piero there to conduct the tryout.

Mateo with Alessandro del Piero.

Not many kids can say that's how they first got introduced to their club! I've attached some of my favorite photos of his Juventus time. The folder has a couple of his current Berkeley soccer pictures mixed in as well. And, of course, Jovanotti :) "

The Juventus experience is often described in terms of training, competition, and elite standards. But stories like this remind us that its true impact goes much deeper.

Through international travel, cultural immersion, independence, and accountability, athletes learn how to handle pressure, adapt to new environments, and believe they belong in rooms that once felt out of reach. Those qualities do not disappear when the cleats come off. They show up in classrooms, interviews, applications, and life decisions.

For this family, Juventus Academy LA did more than prepare a player for high-level soccer. It helped prepare a young man to confidently apply to, gain acceptance into, and thrive at a world-class institution, while continuing to compete at a high level in college soccer.

That confidence was built over years of commitment, late nights, hard losses, international experiences, and moments like stepping onto the field for a first tryout led by Alessandro Del Piero.

Not every athlete will go pro. That has never been the promise. The promise is preparation. Preparation to dream bigger, to pursue multiple paths at once, and to know that discipline, teamwork, and resilience translate far beyond the pitch.

This is what Juventus Academy LA stands for. Building players, yes, but more importantly, building people who are ready for whatever comes next.