Social media isn’t just about showing goals and trophies - it’s about building a community around your football school. Parents, kids, coaches, and local fans want to feel part of something meaningful. Technologies are changing the way people consume content. According to the Pew Research Center, 15% of teenagers in the U.S. use social media “almost constantly,” with 73% stating that they visit social media pages every day. For the adult population, the consumption of social media content is around 2,5 hours a day, with people under 40 spending more time scrolling content than their older peers. The right social media strategy helps your football academy become a trusted local brand, attract new families, and keep your existing players engaged and proud.

If your target audience is online, that means you can reach them with your messaging and content. But please be aware of competition for attention. People tend to check social media several times a day in short bursts, so your content needs to grasp attention quickly.

Defining the brand voice and goals

When you are running an independent youth football school, it’s up to you to decide what tone of voice your brand should sound like. With a football school franchise and club-affiliation, as Shakhtar Academy is, you have a set of recommendations and brand guidelines to follow. Being part of the unbreakable Shakhtar family, a football school brand should also be seen as professional, but at the same time, family-friendly and fun.

Launching social media pages for your youth football schools is like opening the doors to your virtual office. Because this is exactly the channel you will use to form a community around your local school by increasing sign-ups and new enrollments to the training center, building trust, and showcasing results. A football youth academy’s tone should be inspirational, positive, and community-oriented.

How to tell a story via social media content

Parents and kids connect emotionally with stories, not statistics. Winning a trophy is great, but all those participating and following your achievements will cherish emotions more than just the fact of winning. Try to anchor social media content (photos and videos) around specific pillars, such as authenticity, heroism, or dynamism.

Authenticity. Tell the true, deeper story by capturing candid and intimate moments and emotions – from the first wins to the first falls, tiredness from the training, some doubts, etc. Celebrate individuality, be fun, be true to yourself, so your audience can relate to what you are talking about.

Heroism. Draw people closer to their heroes with images that capture them being extraordinary. Amplify moments that celebrate teamwork, show your ups and downs, and again, be emotional. Children from Shakhtar Academy often attend training sessions and matches of the first team. We’ve seen how inspirational this experience can be to the younger generations of football players. Share those moments, share their own teamwork on the pitch, share the story of their path to professional sports.

Dynamism. Choose compositions that best showcase action, energy, speed, and the training process. Place a kid, a coach, or a professional player in the center of your visual composition. Focus on their story.

What to post on social media if you are running a youth football school account

For the Shakhtar Academy football school franchise, we recommend several types of content for their social media pages.

• Visual: photos from training sessions, celebrations, match days, tournament participations, sport results, etc.
• Video: stories of children who joined the school (from the first day to current results, motivation, the first emotions), reels with the elements of the training process, match days, or even challenges, such as who scored more goals.
• Informative: announcements for the new groups, schedules, tournament participations, match days with the team, etc.
• Educational: why do kids need sport, what is the history of FC Shakhtar, advice to parents, etc.
• Quotes: testimonials from parents, quotes from the coaches, or professional players of FC “Shakhtar”.

Try to plan content several weeks ahead so that you can maintain consistency of posting. And remember that you are not just posting for the sake of posting, you are communicating the values that sports bring to the lives of everyone involved: coaches, parents, children, and the future of football in general.