DC Youth program director visiting Barcelona’s football academy

That FC Barcelona is “more than a club” has been confirmed by the meeting held at the Barcelona Football Academy by Aleksandra Knežević, program director of Development Center for Youth and coordinator of the Life Champions concept, and Jordi Arasa, technical coordinator APAC of Barça Academy.

After getting to know each other at the official camp of FC Barcelona in Serbia during the summer of 2022, when members of the consortium introduced the present coaches and children to the values and principles of Life Champions, which in many respects coincide with the way of working and the values for which the football school of FC Barcelona has been advocating in a long period of time, contact continued and the next meeting between two sides was arranged.

During the conversation, information was exchanged about two related concepts, and the program director learned more about the methodology and values of the Barça Academy, as the flagship school of FC Barcelona for girls and boys aged 6 to 18.

“Bearing in mind the decades-long tradition and results in working with children and youth, Barça Academy is a model that we strive for in our further work on development of the Life Champions concept. We wish to integrate their rich knowledge and experience into the methodology of work with children and youth that we are currently dealing with, which puts the coach as an educator and pedagogue in the foreground. In this regard, one of the proposals we put forward during the meeting was that representatives of the football academy attend the camps planned for 2023, passing on their knowledge as experts to the coaches who would be part of this exceptional educational and sports process”, said Aleksandra Knežević after the end of conversation.

Also, bearing in mind the strength and visibility of the FC Barcelona women’s selection from the youngest categories, one of the proposals referred to its inclusion in the concept, which from 2023 would include both male and female life champions, promoting women’s sports and strengthening the position of a large number of girls and young women in football.

Jordi Arasa showed interest in the presented proposals, and the two parties will in the following period continue examining modalities for their potential implementation in 2023. During the following year a significant expansion of the Life Champions concept is expected, primarily thanks to the support provided through the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union and UEFA Foundation for Children.