# Sporting de Gijón (youth)

The Sporting de Gijón youth teams are integrated in the club's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
The final category within the youth structure is the Juvenil A under-18/19 team which represents the club in the top national competition. The successful graduates then usually move to the club's reserve team, Sporting de Gijón B which is also considered part of the cantera due to being a stage in progression towards the senior team, albeit competing in the adult league system.
The academy is based at the club training complex, Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo, which is often the name used informally to refer to the system itself.

## Background

The top football clubs in the Spanish leagues generally place great importance in developing their cantera to promote the players from within or sell to other clubs as a source of revenue, and Sporting de Gijón is no exception. Their youth recruitment network is focused around their home region of Asturias, and there are collaboration agreements in place with small clubs in the region.
Sporting de Gijón had many farm teams, like RD Oriamendi, until his official reserve team, Sporting de Gijón B, was established in 1960.
Sporting's academy, the Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo, built in 1974, is considered one of the most important football academies in Spain. International players such as Luis Enrique, Abelardo, Javier Manjarín and David Villa learned their skills at Mareo.
In 2010, Sporting youth graduate Míchel was sold to Birmingham City for £3 million, becoming the highest transfers in the history of the Asturian club, until the transfers of José Ángel to Roma, in 2011, by €4.5 million, and Jorge Meré to Köln, in 2017, for a fee between €8.5 million and €9 million.

## Structure
### Head coaches

The coaches are often former Sporting Gijón players who themselves graduated from Mareo.
| Squad | Age | Coach | Tier | League |
| Juvenil A | 16-18 | Ismael Piñera | 1 | División de Honor (Gr. I) |
| Juvenil B | 16-17 | Sergio Sánchez | 2 | Liga Nacional (Gr. II) |
| Cadete A | 15-16 | Alejandro Morán | 1 | Primera Cadete |
| Cadete B | 14-15 | Diego Galeano | 2 | Segunda Cadete |

## Current squads
### Juvenil A

    As of March 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ESP | Damián García |
| — | GK | ESP | Enol Muñiz |
| — | GK | ESP | Jonathan Sánchez |
| — | DF | ESP | Pelayo Suárez |
| — | DF | ESP | Ismael Azpiri |
| — | DF | ESP | Néstor Bustelo |
| — | DF | ESP | Rubén Expósito |
| — | DF | ESP | Alberto |
| — | DF | ESP | Miguel Prado |
| — | DF | ESP | Varo |
| — | DF | ESP | Alberto Espeso |
| — | MF | ESP | Pablo García |
| — | MF | ESP | Gaspar Campos |
| — | MF | ESP | Pablo Ferreiro |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ESP | Diego Díaz |
| — | MF | ESP | Nacho |
| — | MF | ESP | Iván Elena |
| — | MF | ESP | Mateo Arellano |
| — | MF | ESP | Rehber |
| — | MF | ESP | Jaime Izquierdo |
| — | MF | ESP | Yoel Palacio |
| — | FW | ESP | Daniel Sandoval |
| — | FW | PAR | Joel Sanabria |
| — | FW | ESP | David Ruiz |
| — | FW | ESP | Mario Buelga |
| — | FW | ESP | Bertín |

## Season to season (Juvenil A)

| Season | Lvl | Grp | Pos | Copa de Campeones | Copa del Rey |
| 1992–93 | DH | 1 | 1st | | First round |
| 1993–94 | DH | 1 | 1st | | First round |
| 1994–95 | Liga de Honor | Liga de Honor | 5th | | First round |
| 1995–96 | DH | 1 | 3rd | | Round of 16 |
| 1996–97 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | Semifinals |
| 1997–98 | DH | 1 | 7th | | |
| 1998–99 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
| 1999–00 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | Round of 16 |
| 2000–01 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
| 2001–02 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
| 2002–03 | DH | 1 | 8th | | |
| 2003–04 | DH | 1 | 1st | Champion | Round of 16 |
| 2004–05 | DH | 1 | 1st | Runner-up | Runner-up |
| 2005–06 | DH | 1 | 5th | | |
| 2006–07 | DH | 1 | 4th | | |
| 2007–08 | DH | 1 | 8th | | |
| 2008–09 | DH | 1 | 3rd | | |
| 2009–10 | DH | 1 | 3rd | | |
| 2010–11 | DH | 1 | 4th | | |
| 2011–12 | DH | 1 | 1st | Semifinals | Round of 16 |
| 2012–13 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | Round of 16 |
| 2013–14 | DH | 1 | 5th | | |
| 2014–15 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
| 2015–16 | DH | 1 | 3rd | | Quarterfinals |
| 2016–17 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | Round of 16 |
| 2017–18 | DH | 1 | 1st | Runner-up | Round of 16 |
| 2018–19 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | Round of 16 |
| 2019–20 | DH | 1 | 2nd | | — |
| 2020–21 | DH | 1-B/C | 1st/3rd | | — |
| 2021–22 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
| 2022–23 | DH | 1 | 3rd | | Quarterfinals |
| 2023–24 | DH | 1 | 6th | | |
* ↑ In March 2020, all fixtures were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. On 6 May 2020, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced the premature end of the leagues, revoking all relegations, declaring each divisional leader as champion and cancelling the Copa del Rey Juvenil and the Copa de Campeones for the season.

## Honours
### National competitions

* División de Honor (Group I): (first-tier inter-regional league)
** 4 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12, 2017–18
* Copa de Campeones:
** 1 2004 (runners-up: 2005, 2018)
* Copa del Rey:
** 0 (runners-up: 2005)