From Calcio+15 to the Azzurre: Preparing Italy's female stars for the global stage
Thursday, June 12, 2025
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As Italy gear up for UEFA Women's EURO 2025, many of their players can trace the start of their national team journey back to the same development programme.
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Over half of the current Italy squad took their first steps towards the senior national team when they were selected for Calcio+15, an initiative which brings together the best of Italy's young female players and fosters their growth.
The programme, launched by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in 2007 and supported by UEFA's HatTrick programme, has produced several star players. This includes Manuela Giugliano, the first Italian woman to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
Directed by national team assistant coach Viviana Schiavi, who represented Italy at UEFA Women's EURO in 2005 and 2009, Calcio+15 combines a thorough scouting process with holistic development for female players at Under-15 level.
"I still remember the excitement of receiving the call-up for Calcio+15 and then reading the news on the FIGC website. It was amazing and meant a lot for me.
"During the programme, we realised we could really start our journey with the national youth teams. After that, I was selected for the Under-16 team – my parents were really proud of me."
UEFA's Europe-wide support for football development
Calcio+15 is funded by the UEFA women's football development programme (WFDP), which supports national association projects that develop girls' and women's football.
Between 2024 and 2028, each of UEFA's national associations is eligible for up to €300,000 per season through the WFDP. Of this total amount, €150,000 is for league development, €100,000 is for the minimum standards framework and €50,000 is for club licensing.
The WFDP uses dedicated funding from UEFA HatTrick, which redistributes revenue from the men's EURO.
By the end of HatTrick's fifth four-year cycle in June 2024, we had invested a cumulative total of €2.6 billion across our 55 member associations. A total budget of €935 million has been redistributed from UEFA EURO 2024 for the current four-year cycle.
Holistic development for young players
In total, 18 regional Calcio+15 teams operate across Italy, providing as wide a development pathway as possible. Each year, these sides come together and compete in a tournament – a platform for identifying national youth-team players.
Participants receive high-quality training on the pitch, while off the pitch they have sessions on nutrition, health and psychology.
The young players are also given a better understanding of the varied off-field career paths they can pursue in football, including as a doctor, physiotherapist, kit manager or press officer.
Current and former national team players, as well as elite athletes in other sports, provide the participants with insight into their own career journeys.
"We started the programme to give to players knowledge about more than football," says Massimo Tell, head of grassroots at the FIGC, who began working on the project in 2007.
"We wanted to cover topics that were related to football, such as the rules of the game, nutrition, lifestyle, psychology and tips about the future of football for girls' and women's football development."
"It's very important for the girls to have awareness about the different opportunities they have. We think Under-15 and U16 is a good time for them to consider which pathway they may wish to take in the future."
Award-winning initiative
Calcio+15's success in delivering an all-round education to young female players in Italy was recognised with the 2023/24 UEFA Grassroots Award for best education initiative.
The results have also been evident on the pitch – of the 25 players in Italy's squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, 20 came through the Calcio+ programme. Among them was Sassuolo defender Benedetta Orsi.
"For me, the Calcio+15 stage was a significant training and educational programme from all perspectives," Orsi said. "Being involved in that first training, dressing in the national team kit and passing the physical tests was really something else. Such experience made me conscious of what professionalism meant in football, enough to nurture hopes for development and a brighter future in women's football."