Standout student combines football with education

Football and studying go hand-in-hand in the VCF Academy project, and one young talent who has excelled in both aspects is Infantil player Luis Paulo Quevedo. He was recently given the Extraordinary Award for Academic Performance granted by the Valencian government's General Directorate of Educational Innovation.

The pandemic has, for the time being, postponed the award ceremony -just as it has prevented Luis Paulo from training alongside his teammates in recent weeks. However, it is another step forward for this young central defender from Vall d'Uixó.

“I am willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to fulfill my dreams in football and also in my studies. I want to try to reach the top in football and also have a good education," he told VCF Media recently.

“Studying is the most important thing in life, because with education you know that you will have a future. My dream is to be a professional footballer, but very few of those who want to become a Primera Division player get there and stay there,” he says, recalling the experience of his uncle, José Vicente Quevedo, who made his debut with Valencia CF in the mid-nineties but then was unable to continue his football career at the elite level.

Quevedo is willing to sacrifice his free time to make his dreams work, even with the added effort involved in travelling from Vall d'Uixó to the Ciudad Deportiva every day -a journey made more bearable with the bus that the club run in his area,and the support of teachers at the VCF Academy.