SOCCATOURS
Training camp budget

<p><span>Before addressing the tempting topic of your destination, you should put some thought into what sort of budget is available for your team per person. After all, to exaggerate a bit, it doesn’t make much sense to request offers for a ten-day training camp at a professional destination in Spain to only later find out that your team’s budget is ‘only’ enough for a two-night stay at a youth hostel. So think about the following things: Who’s going to pay for the training camp? Will the players pay the whole amount themselves? How much will be paid for from the team fund, and how much still needs to be collected? How much will the club provide? Are there any sponsors who will pay a portion? Additionally, you should consider that, for some participants, there could be significantly more expenses on top of the official cost – for example if they take a trip to the city or you only want to book half board and they therefore have to eat one meal per day somewhere else. In particular coaches of junior teams should factor this into their decisions and make a recommendation for how much pocket money should be brought along.</span></p>

<p><span>We will generally only provide you with offers that already include all relevant training camp costs (excluding travel costs when you make your own arrangements). Specifically, this means that you can calculate the total cost down to the cent. All SOCCATOURS offers are transparent and provide all the details on the whole spectrum of services. There are no hidden additional costs. For our destinations that require air travel – for example Spain, Turkey, Portugal and Cyprus – we even include all costs for flights as standard, including <strong>the issuing of tickets</strong> and planned <strong>departure times</strong>. </span></p>

<p>It’s in our nature as humans to strive for higher and better things. You might be asking yourself how you could actually book the better (but of course also more expensive) hotel. Then you might also wonder how you can close the financial gap.</p> <ul> <li>Can the football division get a grant from the main club for the training camp? Or from the city or municipality?</li> <li>Can you gain a sponsor especially for the training camp who would then be mentioned in the report in the local newspaper?</li> <li>How could you improve the situation of the team fund?</li> </ul> <p>Some clubs organise sizeable annual festivities with many guests (e.g. wine festivals in autumn, Christmas parties with a tombola or carnival parties), with at least a portion of the proceeds going towards financing the training camp. Other clubs have fan scarves made which they sell during home matches. Maybe one or two of these ideas could work for your club.</p>

<p><span>We know teams that have financed their training camp with a sophisticated payment plan. This may not make the training camp cheaper, but the financial burden is spread out more evenly across several months. The players who have to pay for part of the winter training camp themselves pay a certain amount into the team fund over a period of several months. By the time you arrive at the destination, which is when the remaining amount is due, a considerable amount has already been paid. Some clubs, with the approval of the players, even go so far as to retain a portion of the points bonuses and use these funds for the annual training camp.</span></p>