The cantera (quarry) of Spanish professional football club Real Sociedad is the organisation's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.

[9] Real Sociedad's good standing in La Liga after being promoted back in 2010 – including qualifying for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League – was achieved using a large proportion of homegrown players,[5] with the vast majority of those hailing from the local province (which has a population of 715,000, a small catchment area for an elite football club, and with that potential pool of talent drained further by Athletic Bilbao also considering it a primary recruitment area),[10][2] indicating a high standard of coaching and development of the young players at their disposal.

The senior team qualified for the Champions League again in the 2022–23 La Liga season, using a squad containing some high-quality talent from various locations but with a strong Zubieta identity at its heart.

A notable exception to this local focus was Antoine Griezmann from eastern France who was integrated into the setup at a young age after his potential was identified by Real staff at an event;[18] in 2014 he left the club for a transfer fee of €30 million.

Over the next decade there was no further chance to participate due to the senior team failing to qualify (the alternative route into the Youth League would be to win the previous season's Copa de Campeones but Real Juvenil were unable to achieve this).

[31] Seasons with two or more trophies shown in bold[32] Seasons with two or more trophies shown in bold The club's purpose-built training centre and academy at Zubieta dates from 1982, but special mention should be given to the generation of players who emerged just prior to its opening: Real Sociedad were La Liga winners in 1981 and 1982 with a playing squad filled with homegrown talent (not all players were developed from childhood, but those who did arrive later were acquired from the region's local clubs in their teens or early 20s and improved further).