FC Barcelona to train Indian kids

UEFA Champions League and Spanish La Liga champions FC Barcelona is coming to India to train Indian children in its way in a partnership with Conscient Football. This was announced yesterday at a press conference in New Delhi.

Aspiring youth footballers in India will now have the opportunity to be trained by one of the world's best youth development programs created FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona is globally recognized for its ability to develop players with 50% of its current first team flowing through its youth system. The club plays an integral role in its country's global football success, having eight of its players on Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup winning squad and scoring 100% of the team's goals. They have tied up with Conscient Football and will launch their entry into India through their trademark FCBarcelona Soccer Camps. The first of the week long camps will be held in early 2012 in the NCR, offering world-class training under the same successful methodology that has produced leading football stars like Pique and Victor Valdes.

Xevi Marce, Director of FCBEscola, during his visit to India said, "We are excited to partner with Conscient Football to introduce FC Barcelona in the country through FCBCamps. India is an important and strategic country for FCBarcelona given their growing interest in football."

Last year, the FCBarcelona Soccer Camps were held in 22 cities across the world and were attended by 18000 young footballers. The training offers the participants a chance to live and experience the FC Barcelona way for a week under the expert guidance of their coaches. Scientifically developed, the training program is divided into three segments - Introduction, Pre-Training, and Training for children in the age groups of 6-17 years. These camps serve as a major stepping-stone for the participants who wish to move to more serious training. For the India Camps, the FCBEscola Technical Team will travel from Spain to oversee preparation and execution for all Camps hosted in the country. It will provide youth with access to the highest levels of football training and development and will be open to all interested on a first come first serve basis.

Conscient Football is a grassroots football development initiative dedicated to raising the bar in football programming across the country. In a very short time of two years they have demonstrated success through their organization of the Conscient Premier Football League (CPFL) that has over 800 participants in the NCR, week-long Soccer camps and exposure trips to major international football destinations. In keeping with their belief that the coaches are the key to deeper success, they have tied up with the AIFF to execute Coach the Coaches programs. The first such program - AIFF 'D' License course in India was completed last month at their Heritage School Gurgaon campus. They now plan to create new programming leveraging FCBEscola coaches and methodology.

Anu Jain, Director Conscient Football, expressed, "The main objective is the development of youth footballers on a wide spread and sustainable basis guided by the best in the world. We plan to build a solid foundation upon which Indian talent can be nurtured and grown to become champions in football and in their own lives."

The natural progression from the Camps will be to setup the FCBEscola, the official football school of FC Barcelona. This is the trademark after school intensive training program that trains the players year round, three times a week. It caters specifically to players aged 6-14, prepares them for the rigors of professional football and is a major feeder school to the club's world class academy La Masia. This residential youth academy has produced superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Victor Valdes, Carlos Puyol and Andres Iniesta to name a few.