Season kicks off for Under-16s
The time of the transition from Under-15 to Under-17 has been increasingly preoccupying youth development football in recent years, without a solution on the horizon, however. Faced with the impossibility of finding a competitive educational process for this age group, the PAOK Academy chose the local amateur leagues, as well as the EPS cup.
And so the wait is also over for PAOK’s Under-16 side, who kick off in the B group of the Alpha amateur division, facing AE Filyrou today 22.10 (4:30 p.m. at the St. Vasiliou stadium).
The Under-16s, therefore, will take part in two competition this season. In the EPS Cup and in the EPSM Alpha division championship. It has already been drawn in the 2nd group of the championship together with the following teams: AE Filyrou, AMS Nikopoli, Aris Kavalariou, Doxa Perivolakiou, Ethnikos Lagynon, Iason Avgis, Makedonikos Ag. Vassiliou, Nea Genea Asvestochori, Niki Heraklion, and PAOK Stavros, while in the first round of the EPS Cup they will face Ethniki Lagynon.
It is a first-class opportunity, essentially, to have a series of competitive games for this age group, without of course, seeing winning a competition as an end in itself, but the experience, the performances, and the dynamics of what is esseentially a men’s championship
The Under-16 squad is essentially made up of last year’s Under-15s, which were finalists in the first unified pan-Hellenic championship held for this age category by the Super League. They are youngsters born in 2007, who this year will train and test their strength against … men. The core of the team remains the same, as does the coaching team of Dimitris Orfanou and Stelios Bikas, while we welcome three new young players to the PAOK Academy, Efthimios Dimos, Haris Kosmopoulos and Paschalis Stylos.
The Under-16 squad for the 2002-23 season consists of:
Goalkeepers: Michael Pourliotopoulos, George Panagiotidis, Klimis Kyriakidis
Defenders: Georgios Kosidis, Konstantinos Vyrsokinos, Pavlos Tsiotas, Dimitrios Bataoulas, Pavlos Bayios, Dimitrios Sellas
Midfielders: Anestis Mythou, Athanasios Panou, Vasilios Eleftheriadis, Bedri Dunga, Fotios Vassili, Athanasios Papanikopoulos, Nikolaos Dimopoulos, Ilias Drigakis, Efthymios Dimou.
Forwards: Nikolaos Theophilou, Georgios Romanidis, Haris Kosmopoulos, Ioannis Tsifoutis, Antonios-Panagiotis Tsitsilas, Paschalis Stylos, Petros Karakostas.
The technical team:
Coach: Dimitris Orfanos
Assistant coach: Stelios Bikas
Fitness coach: Vassilis Leftheroudis
Goalkeeper coach: Dimitris Kryonas
Doctor: Iraklis Giannaros
Physiotherapist: Giorgos Giannikos
Minder: Yiannis Klagas
