Beyond the Game — Football Abroad
Play
Football-first. Train. Play. Compete. Experience Brazilian football from within the game.
- Duration
- 7–10 days
- Group
- 6–25 participants
- Based in
- São Paulo
From US$2,300 pp
Amini Football and Development
Beyond
the Game
Football. Brazil. Beyond the Game.
Three international football experiences · São Paulo, Brazil
01The idea
Football is bigger
than the game.
Brazilian football is not simply something you watch or play. It is a culture, a community, a language, an industry, an identity and a way of connecting people.
- Sport
- Culture
- Community
- Identity
- Education
- Career
- Art
- Connection
Three ways to live Brazilian Football.
02Three ways in
Three ways to live Brazilian Football.
Different experiences for different reasons — not versions of the same trip.
Beyond the Game — Immersion Excursion
Experience
Matches. Stadiums. Supporters. Culture. Brazilian football experienced from the inside and beyond the pitch.
- Duration
- 10–12 days
- Group
- 6–16 participants
- Based in
- São Paulo · potential Rio de Janeiro
From US$2,800 pp
Beyond the Game — Scholar-Athlete Brazil Program
Play. Live. Learn. Change.
A residential international student-athlete experience combining football, culture, inquiry, community and positive action.
- Duration
- 2 weeks
- Group
- 6–25 participants
- Based in
- São Paulo
From US$3,000 pp
Starting prices per person.
On every programme, chaperones and staff are consistently present for under-18s travelling alone, including in accommodation and lodgings. Under-18s are separated from over-18s and adults in any mixed group.
03Football Abroad
Play
Train, Play and Compete in São Paulo.
The football-first stream. Participants live the rhythm of a Brazilian football environment — technical and tactical work, small-sided games, competition, recovery and match analysis. Primarily for ages 16–22; 15-year-olds considered case by case.
On the ball
Ball mastery, first touch, passing, receiving, dribbling, decision-making, conditioning and recovery.
Understanding the game
Positional behaviour, spacing, pressing, transitions, team principles and tactical examination — not drills for their own sake.
- Futsal
- 7-a-side
- 11-a-side
- Friendlies
- Academy exposure
- Portuguese football vocabulary
Club access, matches and visits are offered where available and subject to confirmation.
04Beyond the pitch
The player is more than football.
A different football culture, unfamiliar teammates, another language, real competition and real uncertainty. That is where resilience, leadership, communication, adaptability and confidence are built.
What happens if football changes, ends, or takes a different direction?
- Coaching
- Scouting
- Sports science
- Performance analysis
- Media
- Football management
- Agency
- Entrepreneurship
- Administration
Exposure and education, not recruitment. No trials, contracts, placements or club selection are offered or implied.
05Immersion Excursion
Experience
Experience Brazilian football.
For people who love football but have no wish to train as footballers. Matches, stadiums, supporters, chants, rivalries, museums, clubs, food, Portuguese and samba — São Paulo, with potential Rio de Janeiro experiences.
Playing is optional and recreational — a kickabout, futevôlei, beach football, futsal, or the famous Brazilian rachao. There is no daily training requirement, and no tactical curriculum.
06Scholar-Athlete Brazil Program
Scholar-Athlete Brazil Program · The most ambitious of the three
Play. Live.
Learn. Change.
A two-week residential international student-athlete experience in São Paulo, where young people from diverse backgrounds live, train, compete and learn together while exploring football as sport, culture, art, social institution and vehicle for human development.
Amini owns Amini Beyond the Game. The Scholar-Athlete Brazil Program is currently seeking endorsement from an international education institution. It is not yet endorsed or approved by any such institution.
Safeguarding for under-18s
Chaperones and staff are consistently present for under-18s travelling alone, including in accommodation and lodgings. In any mixed group, under-18s are accommodated and supervised separately from over-18s and adults.
07Safeguarding & care
Safeguarding is not a footnote
Their safety comes first.
Every Beyond the Game programme is built around the wellbeing of the young people on it. Safeguarding is a core component of the experience — planned, staffed and supervised, not assumed.
Chaperones and staff, always present
Chaperones and staff are consistently present for under-18s travelling alone — on the pitch, on excursions, and in accommodation and lodgings.
Under-18s kept separate
In any mixed group, under-18s are accommodated, lodged and supervised separately from over-18s and adults.
Across all three programmes
The same safety and safeguarding standards apply to Football Abroad, the Immersion Excursion and the Scholar-Athlete Brazil Program.
08The four movements
Play
Football · competition · performance · creativity · joy
Live
Residential life · Brazil · culture · relationships · independence
Learn
Inquiry · research · reflection · critical thinking
Change
Community engagement · Football for Change · positive action
Mind · Body · Character · Culture · Community · Purpose
- Mind
- Inquiry, research, critical thinking, data
- Body
- Training, competition, recovery, sports science
- Character
- Resilience, leadership, courage, adaptability
- Culture
- Brazil, Portuguese, supporter culture, identity
- Community
- Grassroots, women's football, local partners
- Purpose
- Football for Change, careers, life beyond playing
09Inquiry
Football can teach us about the world.
How much power does football really have — and what happens when we deliberately try to use it for human development?
Experience→Reflect→Question→Understand→Act
Unite peoplebutDivide communities
Create opportunitybutReproduce inequality
Enable mobilitybutCreate exploitation
Empower womenbutSit in unequal structures
Welcome refugeesbutExclude outsiders
Generate wealthbutLeave grassroots underfunded
Credibility comes from questioning football, not simply celebrating it.
10Football for Change
From football to action.
Identify→Research→Design→Pitch→Act
Participants choose a real question — football and education, women's access, refugee integration, grassroots access, sustainability, player welfare — research it, map the people involved, design a possible response and pitch it.
The Amini Circle
- What happened?
- How did I feel?
- What did I learn?
- What challenged my assumptions?
- What did I contribute?
- What will I do differently?
Reflection turns activity into education.
Immersion Portfolio
Football development, cultural observation, interviews, research, leadership and personal growth — documented across the two weeks.
My football beyond football.
11The Cup & the approach
Proposed · subject to confirmation
The Beyond the Game Cup.
A proposed three-day Friday-to-Sunday culmination: around six teams, round robin, top-four playoffs, semifinals and a final. Preferred format 7-a-side, with 11-a-side as an alternative and futsal as a fallback.
The Amini approach
Football + Brazil + International experience + Culture + Human development
The advantage is not any single component. It is the integrated experience. Brazilian youth take part as partners, not as objects of observation.
The Amini Football Lab is an enabler, not a prerequisite; programmes run through external football facilities where required.