- Brera Holdings and Toronto Blizzard are launching a grassroots soccer initiative focused on player development across North America and three continents.
- The partnership draws on Blizzard’s past collaboration with Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich to develop a training model for young players.
- The program targets children as young as three, with development pathways extending into Brera’s professional clubs in Italy, North Macedonia, Mongolia, and Mozambique.
- Toronto Blizzard’s longtime owner-coach Giuseppe “Joe” Parolini has been appointed Brera’s Academy Sports Director for North America.
- Talent identification camps in Canada and training stints at European academies are expected to begin by summer 2026.
Brera Holdings (NASDAQ: BREA), a global sports investment group, is expanding its multi-club strategy into grassroots development through a new partnership with Canada’s Toronto Blizzard Corp. The two organizations will work together to create a player development pipeline for boys and girls aged 3 to 18, linking local Canadian talent with professional football (soccer) clubs in Europe, Asia, and Africa (https://ibn.fm/heS2l).
Brera, which owns and manages clubs in Italy’s Serie B, North Macedonia’s first division, and teams in Mongolian Premier League and Mozambique, will integrate its coaching methodologies into Blizzard’s youth programs. The goal is to provide early-stage training that can ultimately lead to professional opportunities across the Brera network.
The program follows a structure modeled in part on Blizzard’s 2022 initiative with FC Bayern Munich, one of Europe’s most successful football clubs. That earlier collaboration emphasized technical development and international exposure for promising youth players.
Giuseppe “Joe” Parolini, a Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and long-time owner of the Toronto Blizzard, has been named Academy Sports Director for North America under the new partnership. Parolini will also act as an advisor to Brera on its grassroots strategy.
“When I took over the ownership of the Blizzard in 1999, ensuring equal opportunities for women and girls to play and receive the same quality of training and development was very important to me,” Parolini said, emphasizing that Brera is the perfect partner to help bring new coaching philosophies to talented youth in Ontario. “Through this partnership, I believe we can identify talent, develop and create pathways to other opportunities such as Juve Stabia in Naples where I was born, Brera Strumica and Tiverija in North Macedonia, the World Squad, and more.”
Training camps are expected to begin in the Toronto metro area as early as 2026. Selected players may then have the chance to travel to Europe for further development. Camps will be coordinated by Toronto Blizzard, while delivery will involve both Brera and Blizzard technical staff. Regular communication between the coaching teams, including trans-continental video calls, is expected to form part of the ongoing collaboration.
The initiative includes plans for friendly matches between Brera’s clubs and Canadian professional teams, although these events remain contingent on financial planning and logistical viability.
Brera’s multi-club approach has drawn attention for its focus on lower-division football markets in emerging economies and its aim to build both men’s and women’s teams under a unified management model. The company’s acquisition of SS Juve Stabia in Italy and Brera Strumica (formerly Akademija Pandev) and Brera Tiverija in North Macedonia are part of a portfolio strategy aimed at both player development and financial sustainability.
Daniel J. McClory, Executive Chairman of Brera Holdings, said the partnership with Toronto Blizzard reflects the company’s interest in Canadian talent and its potential. “We’ve seen the incredible soccer talent coming from Canada, as well as at the NCAA programs of U.S. universities where Blizzard alumni have distinguished themselves,” McClory said. “Our partnership with Toronto Blizzard will allow us to share our clubs’ coaching philosophies as well as identify and help develop young talent in Toronto. We look forward to introducing this partnership to the Province of Ontario with the Blizzard, and bringing players to train at the academies of our clubs in Italy and North Macedonia, as these countries enjoy longstanding and particularly strong cross-cultural ties with the Toronto metro area.”
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.BreraHoldings.com.
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