Following the hygiene protocols guaranteed by the head of the House Mr. Grigoris Karavelis to the letter, the house opened its doors again in the summer to accommodate 35 players (33 from the PAOK Academy for football and two from the basketball division). Numbers are less this season, as each room now accommodates only one person.

In the House, those staying follow a specific program, including proper nutrition, medical care, psychological support, and tutoring, and have access to buses that ferry them to the training center where there is a state-of-the-art gym. Most of all, though, they enjoy security, stability, and a healthy routine. Not something that is guaranteed everywhere in the strange times…

The building has 1,260 square meters of space (180 sq.m. each floor), and it was renovated to make it completely child friendly. On the seventh floor a recreation and recreation area has been created, while there are also a number of kitchens. The children’s rooms are split between four floors, while there is a medical office, administration office and four classrooms. Both the Junior High School and the High School, where the children attend classes, are very close to the house. Distances are minimized, and time is spread out appropriately for all guests, while the daily schedule is strictly adhered to.

Staying in the hostels for the 2020-21 season are: Panagiotou, Pipiliaris, Balomenos, Manolioudis, Tsioptsis, Koulierakis, Darelas, Spyrakos, and Smyrlis from the Under-19s, Babouras, Sinanai, Iordanidis, Kagogasiros, Kalogilos, Kastidis, Deligiannis, Goumas and Pasachidis from the Under-17s, Lekka, Nikolakoulis, Ganopoulos, Adam, Theodosiadis, Taxiarchis, Papaevangelou, Almasidis, and Ignatiou from the Under-16s, Zoumbi, Tsintsolis, Politakis, Tsombanis, and Vryzas from the Under-15s, and Dunga from the Under-14s.

Those who go the long-distance way

There are, of course, always those children who choose to stay in their family home and chalk up a lot of kilometers every day to come and train and play. From the «babies» of the Under-7’s, to the teenagers of the Under-16s, the list of those who defy the long distances is also a… long one for the 2020-21 season. Depending on the age and the requirements of the educational process, the journey from home to training or competition and back, is done at least three times per week, at the most it’s six times! Let us applaud, then, parents, grandparents, and relatives, who support the young players by eating up the kilometers on a daily basis. And for the youngsters themselves, who never complain, don’t get tired, and who study and sleep in the car, our admiration is a given.

So from the Under-16’s there’s Koutsioudis who travels from Krini, Halkidiki, and Sova from Assiro. From the Under-15s there’s Magis from Serres, Kesidis from Prochoma, Koumenos from Kilkis, Kalioglou from Philadelphia, and from the Under-14s there’s Vassili who travels from Kilkis and Kontogiannis from Drama. From the Under-13s there’s Minasidis who travels from Skydra, Avgitidis from Drama and Kaipis, Tsemalidis, Provatidis from Kavala. At Under-12 level, Nikolaidis comes from Kilkis, Aivazoglou and Tunousidis from Kavala, Danidis and Kalpakidis from Komotini. For the Under-11s, Tentolouris travels from Larissa, Avramidis from Kavala, Anastos from Veria, and for the UNDER-10’s there’s Geladaris from Veria. For the Under-9’s Grigoriadis travels Kilkis, from the Under-8s Matsikopoulos travels from Serres, while lastly, from the Under-7s, Papadimitriou travels from Kilkis.