It is Europe’s most productive academy, nurturing and developing more players in the continent’s top five leagues than any other club. When it comes to transforming children into great footballers, Ajax are without peer.
So, when people express concerns that banning heading for children will leave them ill-prepared for the rigours of the professional game, Ajax offer the perfect counter-point.
Having looked at the research which linked heading the ball to dementia in old age, Ajax decided to alter their methods so now players are not allowed to regularly head a full-size ball until they are on the verge of the first team.
The youngest players on Ajax books (8-12) barely spend any time learning how to head the ball and when they do, it is with a small foam version rather than a leather or a plastic one. The focus instead is on technique, fitness and game awareness, with the ball rarely going above waist height.
Even between the ages of 13 and 16, there is little heading practice in training and on the few occasions it is part of the sessions, coaches merely gently throw balls in the air with the focus on technique, getting the ball to go in the direction you want it to safely, rather than generating power or distance.
It is only when players move into their development squad at the age of 17 that heading becomes a major part of their training programme, the club confident that players can still hone and master their heading technique in their late teens.
Ajax’s view is that as long as their technique is good, it will not take them long to adjust to the demands placed on them as a senior player when it becomes a vital part of the game.
Any doubts about the effectiveness of this method can be disproved by Ajax producing one of the world’s most expensive centre backs, Matthijs de Ligt, who left Amsterdam to play for Juventus for around £67.5 million last year.
In the last two years, other youth team graduates have also left for large transfer fees, including midfielders Luuk de Jong who signed for Barcelona for £75 million in 2019 and Donny van de Beek who joined Manchester United for £50 million earlier this year. Neither are renowned for their ability in the air, but neither is it seen as a weakness in their game.
“We do indeed take into account the scientific research in this field,” an Ajax spokesperson told Telegraph Sport. “Our youngest players (8-12) only practise a little bit of heading with a foam ball. At 16 they do a little bit more, but only functional and under supervision of the staff.
“It’s only in the highest youth teams (Under-17 and Under-18) that heading is a vital part of the training because we have to prepare them for professional football. It is not mandatory in Holland, but this is what we have done for some time [to protect our players.]”
