FC Barcelona announce U.S. expansion of “Escola” youth camp programs
FC Barcelona: The mere name itself conjures up visions of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and the world’s most attractive, adept style of soccer.
The accomplished technicians who operate the Barça system know that, and have looked to capitalize on the power of their club’s brand by building a global network of “Escolas,” soccer training academies designed “to spread the Barça name and transmit FC Barcelona’s work philosophy and values to the rest of the world.”
FCB established its first United States Escola in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 2014 – one of only 19 such academies on five continents around the world at the present time, providing select young players of both genders ages 5-14 with exposure to the legendary Spanish club’s training platforms in a nine-month season program on both a “recreational” and “competitive” basis. Barça also operate Canadian Escolas, first in Vancouver and now also in Toronto and Edmonton.
“We teach the players the basic concepts of football in order for them to be able to deal successfully with sporting challenges in the future, while also teaching them the values that are so representative of FC Barcelona: respect, effort, ambition, teamwork, humility,” FCB’s website proudly explains.
Now the “Blaugrana” are feeling bullish enough to announce a U.S. expansion that will see the training concepts of the Escola replicated in camps to be held at 20 locations across the country, including the Philadelphia, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Maryland, Kansas and Atlanta areas. The camps will take place “between March and August of this year.”
Barcelona’s board of directors approved the new initiative on Monday, along with a similar move in Japan; they recently branched out into the Australia/New Zealand region as well.
“The director of each international project has been trained here to ensure the communication of the Barça methodology so we can guarantee the quality demanded by Barça,” FCBEscola director Oscar Grau told Barça TV.
