Kocaelispor U19

Kocaelispor U19 took the U19 Regional Development League in the 2024–25 season, beating 1923 Mustafa Kemalpaşaspor in the final to bring the title to İzmit for the first time.

The academy sits underneath a senior side built from a 1966 merger of three İzmit clubs, Baçspor, İzmit Gençlik and Doğanspor, and it carries the same green and black and the same nickname, Körfez, taken from the bay the city sits on. Where the first team fills Kocaeli Stadium, the U19 side plays out at the Vinsan Youth Facilities.

That gap between the two levels is also where the academy's case rests: Metin Tekin and Orhan Ak both came up through the İzmit youth ranks before making their names with the senior team. The rivalry with Sakaryaspor, played out at senior level as the Marmara Derby, gives the region's football its sharpest edge, though it is the first team, not the U19s, that carries that fixture.

Having won the regional title, the group now looks to build on it at the next stage of the development pyramid.