On our previous blog, that was abandoned when hacked, we wrote a blog on the values we found when we visited Barcelona. We wanted to share that here.
The Barca Way
ProFormance Elite squads were lucky enough to be invited to visit Barcelona and we wanted to share some things we took away from our experience.
You can not visit Barcelona without being impressed by FCB. In fact do you need to visit to be impressed?
It is amazing, evening knowing their monopoly of the players in the region, they can produce players to play at the very top of the World game. It was important for us to give the young players at ProFormance Soccer Academy a chance to experience football the Barca Way.
The style of play promoted to the players was to use depth and space to pass, to try to play in triangles (triangulte to create space), to receieve the ball in front of you and to pay forward. To encourage players who make a mistake, pick them up and firs and foremost to have fun. Much of the Barca way is derived from the Dutch style, bought to the fields of La Masia by the Cruyff generation.
In our introcution to the coaches the coaches highlighted the Barca values and these were
+ Respect
+ Effort
+ Ambition
+ Teamwork
+ Humility
What stuck in my mind where some of the value we would see as old fashioned. The coaches immediately wanted players shirts tucked in and socks turned over above the knee. It was discussed about the pitch and the environment and making sure everything is left as it was found. It was good to look back at the field and see that not one water bottle was left on the field.
Some times we miss the little things, but those subtled changes in attitude, and to keep those five values with you, can be the difference. We hope these values are bought home to our training sessions.