BARCA summer camp?
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Anonymous
| Any experiences? I am referring to the local one in DC for one week in the summer. Thanks! |
Anonymous
If you do it, go to MD or VA. The talent levels at these Barca camps are generally higher further out and the camp will be more fun and rewarding if your kid is a serious player. Barca DC camp a few years ago was a lot of rec players whose parents like Barca. The camps can be fun but your kid should be ready to work and sweat. |
Anonymous
Depends on your expectations. If you have a younger player then he/she will be coached by local coaches with an occasional word or glance by the Barca coaches. For me, it was not worth the daily pilgrimage from NOVA to Boyds, MD everyday for a week. Had it been strictly or even mostly Barca coaching then I'd reconsider it. Plus the camp fees are higher than most local clubs and professional clubs (Ac Milan camp etc..). |
Anonymous
| it is a low intensity soccer camp, which can be a good thing for hot days in summer. |
Anonymous
The Barca camp is $449 for a week. Atletico de Madrid in DC is $699 which is similar to the defunct Arsenal soccer camp price. |
Anonymous
| Did anyone have a child go last summer? Seems like it's a step up from other camps we're looking at so am looking for recent experiences |
Anonymous
| How does the Real Madrid one compare? |
Anonymous
|
Some, very select camps, are run directly by the clubs and are usually invite only. These involves coaches flown over direct from the club or scout/coaches they have in country looking for new talent.
The vast majority of the camps you see advertised are actually just 'franchisees' of the name, run by a local organization with some possible training / support / certification from the team's training division (depends on the club). As such you are kind of at the mercy of who the coaches are that week and what other players are there that week. |
Anonymous
The first year they came to DC, it was mostly A team kids. The level was very high. They did not come to DC for a few years after that, just Leesburg and Boyds. It's harder to get facilities in DC. We missed last year when they finally came back to DC. We planned to go back because my kids had such a great experience at that first camp 4 years ago. This was when there were only a handful of the Barca camps in the US and ISL was the one running them. It was very professional and highly competitive. There were players staying in hotels for the week that lived in other states for the experience. I think the quality has gone down as they have exploded in numbers around the US. But, there are usually enough players that they will match levels by moving a player into a higher age group. However, the level of training is higher than most area soccer camps. Summer camps are a very tricky beast, you are always going to get a group of kids that the parents just want off Xbox for several hours a day and then kids that truly want to be there. It's not unique to soccer. My kids find the same thing at basketball camp, etc. It is annoying for kids truly there for the sport. The ones that do not want to be there are also a major PIA for the coaches and their behavior is draining for them. My kids have done the one in Leesburg and really enjoy them. They have been moved/grouped with other players of similar abilities in higher age groups. We found the same issue with the Ajax/Dutch soccer camps. Really excellent coaches and training, but a mixed bag of players. That's not fault of the camps. So many people are on vacation and who is around any week is a crapshoot. |