The teams of the Pyunik Academy completed all their performances in the 2022/23 season of the Armenian youth championships.
Overall, our teams won 5 titles: Pyunik 2006 and Pyunik 2011-1 became cup winners, and Pyunik 2007 and Pyunik 2010-1 won championships. We also won in the Women's First Group of Armenia, where "Pyunik Girls" became the champion.
Ashot Avetisyan, the head of the club's youth program, spoke about the completed season and gave a summary assessment of the results achieved.
"I consider the results of the season satisfactory, despite the fact that we played more efficiently last year. Our teams won titles and medals, but we need to move ahead and for that there is still work to do. It is noteworthy that in the 2022/23 season at least 6 footballers of every age group were invited to the national teams, a total of about 50 children."
Besides local championships, our teams also participated in tournaments in Russia and Armenia, winning medals.
Pyunik 2011-1
Hovhannes Barbaryan's team participated in the Armenian U13 Championship in Subgroup M4 and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2011-1 won the Cup, being more accurate than Pyunik 2010-1in the penalty shootout of the final match. In the championship, Hovhannes Barbaryan's alumni took the first place in the subgroup and again competed with Pyunik 2010-1 in the decisive match, but this time failed to score a victory.
Pyunik 2010-2
Arsen Avetisyan's team participated in the Armenian U13 Championship in Subgroup M1 and in the cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2010-2 took the 2nd place in the championship with 35 points. Pyunik 2010-2 team reached the semifinals in the cup competition where lost to Vahram Dermishyan's Pyunik 2010-1in the penalty shootout.
Gagik Grigoryan from Arsen Avetisyan's team was invincible for the rivals and was named the best scorer of Subgroup M1 with 32 goals.
Pyunik 2010-1
Vahram Dermishyan's team participated in the Armenian U13 Championship in Subgroup M3 and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2010-1 took the 2nd place in the cup competition, losing to Hovhannes Barbaryan's team in the final. In the championship, our alumni achieved an impressive result and reached the final, where they defeated Pyunik 2011-1, becoming champion.
Hayk Grigoryan from Vahram Dermishyan's team stood out with an impressive result in the championship, becoming the best scorer with 42 goals.
Pyunik 2009-2
Gevorg Sargsyan's team participated in the Armenian U15 Championship in Group C2 and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2009-2 took the 2nd place in the championship with 37 points and reached the playoffs of Group CF, where they lost 2:4 to Sardarapat in the final. Gevorg Sargsyan's team dropped out of the cup competition in the quarterfinals, losing to Urartu.
Pyunik 2009-1
Sargis Nazaryan's team participated in the Armenian U15 Championship in Group A and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2009-1 lost the way to the Cup in the quarterfinals with a defeat by Vanadzor-08. The team placed 3rd in the championship with 41 points. In early June Pyunik 2009 participated in the Simon Cup tournament, from which our boys returned with silver medals.
Of Pyunik 2009-1 Andranik Yervandyan ended the season with 27 goals, becoming the best scorer.
Pyunik 2008-1
Sevak Aramyan's team participated in the Armenian U16 Championship in Group A and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2008-1 dropped out of the cup competition in the quarterfinals, losing 0:1 to Academy. Our team was 2nd in the championship with 33 points. Sevak Aramyan's alumni participated in 2 tournaments this year; the boys returned from the Sochi and Simon Cup tournaments with bronze medals.
Pyunik 2007-2
Levon Stepanyan's team participated in the Armenian U17 Championship in Group A and in the Cup. Pyunik 2007-2 came 7th in the championship with 12 points. Levon Stepanyan's team was left out of the Cup competition in the quarterfinals, losing 2:3 to Shirak.
Pyunik 2007-1
Davit Grigoryan's team took part in the Armenian U18 Championship in Group B and in the Cup of the same age group. Our team looked impressive in the championship; after 18 matches, Davit Grigoryan's alumni celebrated 18 victories and won the champion title ahead of time. The cup competition turned out to be tough for Pyunik 2007-1, where they lost to Noah in the 1/8 finals. In March Davit Grigoryan's team traveled to the Russian city of Sochi to participate in a tournament. Our team provided great competition among academies of famous Russian clubs and returned with silver medals.
Besides the premature victory of our team in the Armenian championship, there was another intrigue; Zaven Khudaverdyan overtook his rival in the last round and became the top scorer with 22 goals.
"Zaven is a good footballer, he has great potential and most importantly, he is a hard worker," Davit Grigoryan said.
The head coach also summed up the season, expressing his satisfaction with the boys' game and results.
"There were no problems in the Armenian championship, from the beginning, we knew that we would win it, though our rivals were older. I would assess the Sochi tournament as excellent, it was a great experience that everyone needed, we are ready for new challenges."
Pyunik 2006
Aram Gyulbudaghyan's team participated in Group A of the Armenian U18 Championship and in the Cup of the same age group. Pyunik 2006 came second in the championship with 37 points. As for the Cup, Aram Gyulbudaghyan's team won it, beating 2:1 their peers from Urartu in the final.
Pyunik 2006 player Artur Manukyan was named the best scorer of Group A of the Armenian U18 Championship with 14 goals.
"Artur may be unnoticeable on the pitch, but he does a job that I can't help but appreciate. He is hardworking and talented, but most importantly, he is a useful player for the team," Aram Gyulbudaghyan said.
The head coach also singled out the voluntary qualities shown by the team.
"After coming second in the championship, the boys found strength in themselves and fought for the Cup. We did our best to win every match, I am thankful to my team. I am also happy that many of my alumni have been invited to different age groups of the Armenia national teams.”
Pyunik Academy
Roman Simonyan's team participated in the Armenian First League. Our team finished the championship in the 7th place. During the season, many footballers were invited to the Armenia U21 national team. Vrezh Chiloyan was named the best scorer of the autumn part of the First League with 18 goals but got injured in 2023 and as a result conceded his place to a rival. This year Karlen Hovhannisyan, Vrezh Chiloyan and Vyacheslav Afyan from Roman Simonyan's team took part in the abroad training camp of Pyunik’s first team, being included in the main team's lineup for several matches.
Pyunik Girls
Armen Bareghamyan's team participated in the Armenian Women's First League. Our girls were included in the first subgroup and, taking the 2nd place, qualified for the playoffs. Armen Bareghamyan's team defeated 4:0 Shirak in the semifinals, and in the decisive match they gained advantage over Syunik Girls in the penalty shootout.
"The girls believed in this success until the end and we achieved it. We started the winter trainings earlier than others, we worked hard and the result was this title," Armen Bareghamyan, the head coach of the team, summed up the season.
We congratulate all the winners and wish them good luck in the upcoming season.
