Spanish club FC Barcelona on Wednesday announced its plan to open its first official football school, FCBEscola, in India.
The school, to be opened in association with Conscient Football, will start its operation at the Heritage School in Gurgaon later this year before expanding to other cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune.
Addressing a press conference here, director of FCBEscola, Xevi Marce, said, “We will do the same thing we do in Barcelona. It is not going to be easy. We will work hard to make this successful.”
FC Barcelona, which completed its first camp in India in December last, used its experience of working here to pursue its Delhi project. Even though details of the schools' programmes are yet to be finalised, Marce said the trainees (between six and 14 years of age) would be put through a structured methodology developed by the club.
Marce said he was aware of the fact that initiatives taken by several other European clubs had not produced the desired results in India. “We do not make any promise. Time will tell.”
Competitive exposure
Asked whether the FCBEscola trainees would get adequate competitive exposure, Marce said, “Tournaments are important. But without a solid base, these will not help. Our focus is on imparting wholesome training. It involves all players of the team. It is like the foundation of a house. Competition is the roof…We will go step by step.”
Antonio Claveria will be the technical director of FCBEscola Delhi. “Antonio is one of the best coaches. We will lose him in Barcelona,” said Marce on his colleague.
Anupama Jain, director, Conscient Football, said FCBEscola would slowly expand its operation to other parts of the country and at least five per cent of the seats would be reserved for talented footballers from economically backward sections of the society.
Keywords: Spanish club, FC Barcelona, football school, FCBEscola
is there anybody to tell me whether people above age of 14 can also join the school or not?
It is the most important step in Indian football history. I am the fan of Real Madrid but now i have to consider my decision again
They are saying that five per cent seats would be reserved for talented footballers from economically backward sections of the society. What is that? Are they not selecting all players on the basis of talent? Are they going to charge heavy fees for other seats? Free coaching for weaker section is OK, but it should not stop for 5 per cent. talent is not bounded by financial factors. The football talent could come from any strata of the society. If Barcelona wants to succeed in their efforts, they should avoid quota system and should concentrate on pure talents only, irrespective of their background.
Very well done!!! It's nice to see a famous soccer club opened it's
branch in india. Hope it shown light on the aspiring footballers in our
country.
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