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USA Players Live The Life of A Pro Player on FUTURES Programme
Barcelona is one of the world’s hotbeds for futsal. It is home to the UEFA Futsal Champions League Winners and Spanish Champions and has a thriving youth futsal scene that produces some of the best talents such as FC Barcelona star Adolfo.
And for 9 days it was the home of 115 male and female youth players from all over the United States who went through a rigorous selection process to make it to this stage. They lived the life of a professional player and gained an insight of what it takes to make it to the very top.
They underwent training with professional coaches from both Spain and Brazil with a world-class training programme designed to test and develop their technical and game understanding abilities. They played games against local teams including FC Barcelona to give them a competitive challenge that is just not possible back home.
They got to understand the game at the highest level by attending 2 professional futsal matches, FC Barcelona facing recent Spanish Cup Champions Jaen and two teams battling to make the end of season playoffs. They also had a meet and greet with three FC Barcelona players, giving the opportunity for the players to learn what it took them to play in the biggest club in the world.
It is not just the players that left having enhanced their abilities. 9 American Coaching Directors completed a thorough theoretical and practical education programme. As well as classroom sessions, they assisted the professional coaches during the players’ sessions giving a unique opportunity to tap into the knowledge of years of coaching experience at the professional level.
The players, coaches and parents were based just up the coast from Barcelona in the renowned tourist destination of Costa Brava with one day of the schedule dedicated to visiting one of the world’s most historic soccer stadiums, the Camp Nou, and exploring Barcelona City Centre.
In following articles, we will be looking up and close at the FUTURES Programme with insights from players, leading coaches, professional players and club managers. Stay tuned!
*ABOUT DOUG REED*
Doug Reed is a professional futsal player from England whose passion for the game has taken him across the world to report on top stories and provide insights from someone inside. Visit his website at www.dougreedfutsal.com or follow him on social media via @DougReedFutsal.
