WAC extends with Talent Erik Kojzek: The future is secured!

WAC extends with Talent Erik Kojzek: The future is secured!

Wolfsberg, Österreich - The Wolfsberger AC contracted its young offensive player Erik Kojzek by another year until 2028. The 19-year-old, who will play nine with the number of shirt, was very pleased with the contract extension and expressed his thanks to the club. In his acceptance speech, he mentioned particularly president, team of coaches, teammates, family and consultants who always supported him. His commitment to the WAC is particularly remarkable because Kojzek went through the entire youth academy of the association before he received his first professional contract last season after giving his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga against Sk Austria Klagenfurt on August 3, 2024. In this debut season, he scored ten goals in 24 games, mostly as Joker, and contributed three templates, despite two injury -related failures.

Erik Kojzek was born on January 2, 2006 and switched to the youth team of Wolfsberger AC at the age of twelve after playing at the Slovenian NK Korotan club. His development is impressive, and in June 2025 he was appointed to the U21 national team of Austria for upcoming friendly games. With his height of 1.95 meters, Kojzek brings special physical prerequisites that make him successful as a striker.

talent promotion in football

Erik Kojzek is part of a major discussion about talent promotion in football. A well-known problem that is also discussed in the German junior football scene is the so-called relative-aging-effect (RAE). According to a study, players who were born at the end of the year have less chances of being selected in the young teams. This is because children who were born in January are further developed on average physically. Talented players are often affected by this effect, since the selection of the strengths of many junior players who may have been born in later months do not take into account.

A new training and game philosophy that the DFB introduced should meet these challenges. DFB director Hannes Wolf emphasizes how important it is to increase the number of ball contacts through small field games and also requires reforms, including a daily hour of sports in schools to promote young talents more. There is considerable potential to increase the market values of youth players through more effective approaches in talent promotion.

In the overall view, it can be seen that football not only has to deal with the individual stories of players like Erik Kojzek, but also with structural challenges in talent promotion in order to develop the full potential of the boys.

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