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The football landscape in the city of seven islands is set to usher in a new chapter as FC Barcelona will be launching its FCB Escola Football Schools in Mumbai. The training will commence on 12th September at Don Bosco High School, Matunga and St. Dominic Savio High School, Andheri(East). A total of 1000 players will have the chance to train at the academy. 500 players each in both the schools.
Acquiring good facilities was a challenge for the football school but they finally narrowed down on these two schools in the city as they felt, their values are in line with FCB’s sporting culture. Along with conducting yearlong training programmes, FCBEscola will also be investing into the sporting infrastructure of these schools.
While the likes of Manchester United did have training schools in some parts of India, they closed down their operations a while back. Currently, apart from Barcelona, PSG and Arsenal FC have their schools set up in the country. While PSG are focused on Delhi currently, Arsenal have a training programme functioning in Mumbai city.
The Spanish club’s relationship with India isn’t new. They opened their first school in New Delhi back in 2011 and currently have four training schools in the capital city. Aspiring players in the 5-18 age group are open to joining the FCB Escola training school- A 36-week programme that will cost between 50,000-70,000 rupees depending on the type of training.
This fee will include football kits, health and nutrition guidance as well as physiotherapy for the players. Apart from that, the school also plans to reward 10% of the students with scholarships. A surprising aspect of FCB Escola’s training programme is that kids who haven’t even touched a ball, get a chance to hone their football skills at the school.
At age 5-6, it’s impossible to predict the talent of a player solely based on skills. Hence the school focuses on motor skills to study the player’s ability as a whole. A strict player to coach ratio is also followed during training.
Admission into the FCB Escola happens throughout the year to ensure interested players don’t miss out if they have missed a particular deadline. Speaking at the launch, Antoni Claveria Mayol, FCB Head Football Schools said, “India’s passion for football has always been awe-inspiring and FCB Escola, true to its mission of nurturing talent, has found immense potential amongst the young footballers during its camps and in the football schools.
To ensure uniformity in training techniques, the club also has technical directors stationed in India. It’s paid dividends for them. At the recently held, U-17 Futsal World Cup, 3 players from the Indian team were from FCB Escola. The school also trained a couple of players who are currently part of the U-14 Indian football team.
They currently have 23 centres in 18 countries which include- India, Nigeria, China, Poland and Japan to name a few.
A great example of how good the FCB Escola program is that Chelsea recently agreed a deal to sign young goalkeeper Marcin Bulka from FCB Escola Varsovia, Poland, something that bodes well for the future of the schools in India.
