Pre-launch — first 1,000 reviewers get founding-member status

Honest reviews of kids' football tournaments and academies.

Real reviews from real parents and clubs. Find out which international youth tournaments — and which weekly nurseries and academies — are well-run, fair, and worth your child's time. And which ones aren't.

Free forever for parents. No paid placements. No "sponsored" tournaments or academies. Ever.

Tournaments

One-off events your club travels for: weekend cups, international invitationals, summer festivals. Reviews you read before booking the flight.

Organisation Refereeing Facilities Hospitality Value

Nurseries & Academies

The weekly home of your child's football: nurseries, academies, training schools. Reviews you read before signing up — and stay aware of season after season.

Coaching Welfare & safety Fairness Communication Value
2review categories: events & weekly
0€cost to read or write
48hmoderation window
100%parent-written
Why we exist

We started this after a tournament in Sicily.

In May 2026, we travelled with our son to an international kids' tournament in Sicily. The brackets were rigged. The refereeing was a joke. Families had flown in from across Europe, and the whole thing was a stitch-up.

We were lucky — our son was old enough to shake it off. Not every kid is. And nobody, anywhere, had warned us. There was no review site. No watchdog.

The same gap exists for academies and nurseries — the places kids train every week. Parents pick them in the dark, on word of mouth, and find out a year later whether the coaching, the welfare standards, and the fairness are what they were sold.

So we're building one place for both. KickRater is the watchdog we wish had existed before we booked any of it.

It's free, it's parent-written, and the people being reviewed cannot pay us to bury bad reviews — ever. If we get this right, no family ever shows up to a manipulated tournament — or signs their child up to the wrong academy — without a heads-up again.

How it works

Read before you commit. Review when you've been.

A simple loop, designed to give parents real signal — not marketing fluff from tournament websites or academy brochures.

01 — RESEARCH

Search a tournament or academy

Find any youth tournament, nursery, or academy by name, country, or age group. See its overall rating and recent reviews.

02 — DECIDE

See the verdict

Five rating categories tailored to each — plus an honest "would you recommend?" answer from every reviewer.

03 — REVIEW

Share your experience

Five minutes after a tournament, or after a season at an academy, score it across the same five categories. Help the next family.

04 — ADD

Missing one? Add it.

Can't find the tournament or academy you want? Add it yourself in 60 seconds — the database grows from the bottom up.

Sample profiles

This is what a profile looks like.

Structured ratings make tournaments and academies comparable. Free-text reviews capture the human story.

Coppa di Primavera U12 — Catania, Italy

U10–U12 · 24 teams · 4-day tournament · 12 reviews
Organisation★★☆☆☆
Refereeing★☆☆☆☆
Facilities★★★★☆
Hospitality★★★☆☆
Value for money★★☆☆☆
Rigged brackets Biased referees Hidden fees Great pitches

The pitches were beautiful and the welcome was warm — but the tournament itself was a stitch-up. Brackets were redrawn after Day 1, and one referee called the same handball both ways inside ten minutes.

Mauro G. · Verified parent · Italy · Reviewed May 2026

Would you go again? No. Beautiful setting, but you can't trust the competition.
Crowd-built database

Tournament or academy not in our database? Add it in 60 seconds.

KickRater grows from the bottom up. If the tournament you're heading to — or the academy you're considering — isn't listed, you can add it. Moderators verify within 48 hours.

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Anyone can submit, both types Tournaments and academies follow the same submission flow. Parents, coaches, club managers — anyone with first-hand knowledge.
Live within 48 hours Moderators verify the listing exists, check the official website, and publish.
Wiki-style edits welcome Spotted incorrect age groups, wrong fees, or a missing training day? Anyone can suggest a fix. Changes are moderated before going live.
You're credited as the founder The first parent to add a listing gets a "Founding contributor" badge on the profile, forever.
Add a listing

Help us list one we're missing

Verified within 48 hours · You'll get an email when it's live

Five categories per side

Different things matter for tournaments vs. weekly training.

We rate what actually decides whether a tournament is worth the trip — and separately, what actually decides whether an academy is worth the season.

TournamentsEvents

What matters across one weekend.

Organisation

Refereeing

Facilities

Hospitality

Value

Nurseries & AcademiesWeekly

What matters across a season — or several.

Coaching

Welfare

Fairness

Communication

Value

How we stay independent

Two revenue streams. Neither comes from the people we review.

KickRater is and always will be free for parents and clubs. Here's exactly how the lights stay on — and why this model protects, rather than threatens, the trust we're asking you for.

Stream 1

Adjacent advertisers

Display advertising from brands that serve youth football around the game — never from the tournaments or academies we review.

  • Kit and equipment brands (boots, balls, training gear)
  • Sports insurance for travelling teams and youth players
  • Travel and transport companies, general hotels
  • Always clearly labelled "Advertisement"
Stream 2

Affiliate revenue

When you book travel or accommodation for a tournament you've researched on KickRater, partner links earn us a small fee at no cost to you.

  • Skyscanner flight search on tournament profiles
  • Booking.com hotel suggestions near the venue
  • Train operators (Trainline, Italo, Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn)
  • Always clearly disclosed on every link
Our pledge to you

What KickRater will never do.

We will never sell ad space to tournaments, nurseries, or academies. Not enhanced listings, not "promoted" placements, not "sponsored" tags. The people being reviewed do not pay us a cent. Ever.
We will never edit, hide, or remove a review because someone paid. Reviews come down only when they break our moderation rules — naming children, personal attacks, unverifiable accusations.
We will never charge parents or clubs to read or write reviews. Free for parents, free for clubs. Forever. The day this stops being true is the day this site stops being worth visiting.
How we'll keep the lights on: Adjacent advertisers (kit, insurance, travel — never tournaments or academies) and affiliate revenue from travel partners. Both clearly disclosed.

Be one of the first 1,000 reviewers.

Founding members get a permanent badge on their profile, early access to the platform, and a vote on which features ship next.