What's going on with FCBEscola NOVA?

[Anonymous]

I can give some pros and cons for the next level program. Pros: kids got to play on their home field in front of college coaches/assistant coaches from Div. 1, 2 and 3 schools on their home field without paying extra money for an opportunity to showcase themselves. They also had informational meeting for Barca families, which we missed, but some families attended. Cons: the weather was horrendous (cold and pouring rain), DC United academy, which was scheduled to scrimmage one of Barca teams, cancelled on the day of the showcase (probably because of weather conditions), so Barca had to reshuffle the scrimmages and some of the teams had to play significantly stronger or weaker opposition than originally scheduled. It was a good event, although terrible weather made it very challenging for the players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can give some pros and cons for the next level program. Pros: kids got to play on their home field in front of college coaches/assistant coaches from Div. 1, 2 and 3 schools on their home field without paying extra money for an opportunity to showcase themselves. They also had informational meeting for Barca families, which we missed, but some families attended. Cons: the weather was horrendous (cold and pouring rain), DC United academy, which was scheduled to scrimmage one of Barca teams, cancelled on the day of the showcase (probably because of weather conditions), so Barca had to reshuffle the scrimmages and some of the teams had to play significantly stronger or weaker opposition than originally scheduled. It was a good event, although terrible weather made it very challenging for the players.

That's on point. I think it may have been better to reschedule if that was an option. As far as I know, this is the first time they tried it. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

[Anonymous]

When Barca came on the scene, it was billed as something completely different - IIRC, the talk was that they would do academy training, internal competitions and occasional competitions with other Barca schools. That seems to have morphed somewhat (maybe that is just my perception) -- and they are in local league play, local tournaments and developing a program for college placement...which is in line with what most clubs offer. So have things changed or was that always part of the plan? I'd love to see some completely different options, but my fear is that even if a club wants to do something different, the 'customers' end up forcing them to provide the same services as the other options in the marketplace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When Barca came on the scene, it was billed as something completely different - IIRC, the talk was that they would do academy training, internal competitions and occasional competitions with other Barca schools. That seems to have morphed somewhat (maybe that is just my perception) -- and they are in local league play, local tournaments and developing a program for college placement...which is in line with what most clubs offer. So have things changed or was that always part of the plan? I'd love to see some completely different options, but my fear is that even if a club wants to do something different, the 'customers' end up forcing them to provide the same services as the other options in the marketplace.

I think Barca has responded to market forces in some areas. Some things are for the better but in doing so they have certainly limited some of the qualities that did differentiate them from other clubs. But remember, many of those same qualities were also viewed as shortcomings by many as well. But many who criticized the high price at the exclusion of league play were not wrong in that assessment and so Barca added league play. Many people did leave the program simply because the high price and the lack of regular competition.

All that said, I really do not see a college placement program as a radical idea or even a bad thing to do. Many clubs offer similar guidance for their older players and I fail to see how Barca not offering such a program would be a positive thing at all.

[Anonymous]

RantingSoccerDad wrote:Did someone earlier in this thread, pre-deletion, ask me when my next book is coming out? It's scheduled for September.

Title?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When Barca came on the scene, it was billed as something completely different - IIRC, the talk was that they would do academy training, internal competitions and occasional competitions with other Barca schools. That seems to have morphed somewhat (maybe that is just my perception) -- and they are in local league play, local tournaments and developing a program for college placement...which is in line with what most clubs offer. So have things changed or was that always part of the plan? I'd love to see some completely different options, but my fear is that even if a club wants to do something different, the 'customers' end up forcing them to provide the same services as the other options in the marketplace.

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

What I have found to be different - and what for me matters most - is coaching. The coaching is amazing! It's positive, they encourage my kid's creativity, and I just got a full 5 page report from my DC's coach on every facet of play and on whether it is with the dominant or non-dominant foot.

I also see a certain style across the board, like each practice, multiple teams are doing the same type of drills, learning the same content.

The main downside I find is in the level of player in the academy, meaning that they have not yet reached a strong enough recruiting foothold to be consistently drawing top area talent.

And I personally would like to see the program reach a point where they have a DA ÷egment. EDP isn't a bad place to start, and I've always believed in pro/rel style leagues. Ultimately though, to be the best it is better to land in a league where you are playing the best.

[Anonymous]

Can’t speak as to the other coaches but Coach Pedro and Eduardo are class guys and highly qualified

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

Which teams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

Which teams?

It was the younger teams, probably those that didn't have EDP. I'm not sure what ages, but I don't think anything older than elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

Which teams?

06/07 boys teams. May have been others. It was scheduled last minute and not all players could make it on short notice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

Which teams?

06/07 boys teams. May have been others. It was scheduled last minute and not all players could make it on short notice

05s too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

Some teams did go and play against Charlotte’s Barca academy in October

Which teams?

06/07 boys teams. May have been others. It was scheduled last minute and not all players could make it on short notice

05s too

So 05-07 boys then. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Barca came on the scene, it was billed as something completely different - IIRC, the talk was that they would do academy training, internal competitions and occasional competitions with other Barca schools. That seems to have morphed somewhat (maybe that is just my perception) -- and they are in local league play, local tournaments and developing a program for college placement...which is in line with what most clubs offer. So have things changed or was that always part of the plan? I'd love to see some completely different options, but my fear is that even if a club wants to do something different, the 'customers' end up forcing them to provide the same services as the other options in the marketplace.

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

What I have found to be different - and what for me matters most - is coaching. The coaching is amazing! It's positive, they encourage my kid's creativity, and I just got a full 5 page report from my DC's coach on every facet of play and on whether it is with the dominant or non-dominant foot.

I also see a certain style across the board, like each practice, multiple teams are doing the same type of drills, learning the same content.

The main downside I find is in the level of player in the academy, meaning that they have not yet reached a strong enough recruiting foothold to be consistently drawing top area talent.

And I personally would like to see the program reach a point where they have a DA ÷egment. EDP isn't a bad place to start, and I've always believed in pro/rel style leagues. Ultimately though, to be the best it is better to land in a league where you are playing the best.

Totally agree with this post. It's similar in terms of talent level grouping of teams and you do have a mix of talents across the board, as a 2nd year family we have seen a influx of traditional 1st team level players join for various reasons so that counters the thought of only lower level players joining the club. May have been true in year 1, but I know we have several former 1st team players join from other large clubs. As this continues, the teams will inherently get more competitive.

The main difference is truly the coaching, they train the same across the board regardless of level, age group, or gender. My kid loves the training, but does wish there were more outside competition. I think the downside to internal competition is that you begin to play to the other team's weakness since you have familiarity and that sometimes inflates the perception of talent within the team. After seeing them in action across age groups, one thing is certain, they move the ball better than most other teams relative to their age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Barca came on the scene, it was billed as something completely different - IIRC, the talk was that they would do academy training, internal competitions and occasional competitions with other Barca schools. That seems to have morphed somewhat (maybe that is just my perception) -- and they are in local league play, local tournaments and developing a program for college placement...which is in line with what most clubs offer. So have things changed or was that always part of the plan? I'd love to see some completely different options, but my fear is that even if a club wants to do something different, the 'customers' end up forcing them to provide the same services as the other options in the marketplace.

I'm not sure why this year we haven't competed against other Barça academies. I don't know if that is planned for the spring or if logistics was an issue.

What I have found to be different - and what for me matters most - is coaching. The coaching is amazing! It's positive, they encourage my kid's creativity, and I just got a full 5 page report from my DC's coach on every facet of play and on whether it is with the dominant or non-dominant foot.

I also see a certain style across the board, like each practice, multiple teams are doing the same type of drills, learning the same content.

The main downside I find is in the level of player in the academy, meaning that they have not yet reached a strong enough recruiting foothold to be consistently drawing top area talent.

And I personally would like to see the program reach a point where they have a DA ÷egment. EDP isn't a bad place to start, and I've always believed in pro/rel style leagues. Ultimately though, to be the best it is better to land in a league where you are playing the best.

Totally agree with this post. It's similar in terms of talent level grouping of teams and you do have a mix of talents across the board, as a 2nd year family we have seen a influx of traditional 1st team level players join for various reasons so that counters the thought of only lower level players joining the club. May have been true in year 1, but I know we have several former 1st team players join from other large clubs. As this continues, the teams will inherently get more competitive.

The main difference is truly the coaching, they train the same across the board regardless of level, age group, or gender. My kid loves the training, but does wish there were more outside competition. I think the downside to internal competition is that you begin to play to the other team's weakness since you have familiarity and that sometimes inflates the perception of talent within the team. After seeing them in action across age groups, one thing is certain, they move the ball better than most other teams relative to their age groups.

How many 1st team starters from other clubs are now there? Which teams/gender/age groups? Please be specific.