Where football meets opportunity. A five-day immersion in American soccer for Brazilian football professionals, in Orlando during Nona Cup week.
The Nona Cup Summit, the Brazilian Soccer Professionals Summit USA, is for the professional who wants to understand the American market up close rather than from a distance. Coaches, club executives, agents and technical coordinators from Brazil spend five days in Orlando with the people already working inside it.
It runs during the Nona Cup on purpose. Talks, panels and workshops, a visit to UCF and to the training center of an MLS club fill the week, and then the room walks straight into one of the biggest youth tournaments in Florida, with more than 400 teams, following it from behind the ropes instead of from the stands.
The idea is simple. Nona opens its doors and puts professionals from Brazil, the United States and other markets in the same room, for five days, to create connections that turn into opportunities on and off the field.
The group is kept small on purpose, so the people in the room are the people worth meeting.
Head coaches and assistants who want to see how the American development model works day to day.
Directors and managers looking at structure, operations and how a club is actually run here.
Agents and player representatives mapping the real routes into college, MLS and USL.
The people who build curriculum and methodology, comparing notes with ours.
Anyone else working in soccer who wants the connections a week like this creates.
Talks, networking, the American market and a full look inside Nona. Everything the week is built around.
Sessions with people who run the game in the United States. Coaches, directors, agents and recruiters, on the record about how their side of the industry actually works.
Five days in the same rooms as agents, coaches, clubs, academies and investors from Brazil, the United States and other markets. The lunches, the dinner and the happy hour are on the schedule for a reason.
How a player, a coach or a club gets into the American system. College soccer, MLS and USL League Two, explained by the people already inside them.
A technical visit to the University of Central Florida to see the academic and athletic model of an American university from the inside.
A visit to the training center of an MLS club: the facilities, the structure and the elite environment behind a professional team.
The doors open. Our methodology, our programs, the operation behind the Cup, and where the club is ready to partner with academies and businesses in the market.
College, MLS and USL League Two. The three doors into American soccer, and what each one really asks for.
Academic and athletic scholarships, what programs look for, and how the recruiting calendar works from the first email to the signature.
How MLS is structured and what the development path behind it looks like, from academy to first team.
The main development league in the country, the one Nona FC plays in, and the road it opens toward the professional game.
The full week as it stands today. Times may shift slightly as speakers are confirmed.
On Saturday morning the Summit moves to the fields. The Nona Cup is running across the Lake Nona area with more than 400 teams, and the group goes behind the ropes to see how it is put together.
Scouts explain what they are watching for and why. The operations team opens up the logistics of running hundreds of matches in a single weekend. The media side shows how visibility gets built for a player and for a club.
The week closes on Sunday afternoon at the Nona Cup Awards Ceremony, with the Summit group in the room.
A block of rooms is held for the Summit at the Hampton Inn by Hilton. Each guest books their own room directly with the hotel.
One king bed, 55 inch HDTV, work desk, mini fridge and coffeemaker.
Two queen beds, 55 inch HDTV, work desk, mini fridge and coffeemaker.
Registration is open and the group is kept small on purpose. Secure your place for November, and reserve your room at the Hampton Inn before the October 27 cut-off.
collegeprep@nonasportsclub.com
