Inside FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia

It’s kids’ play at La Masia, the famous footballing academy of the legendary FC Barcelona. It’s also a philosophy, a brand, a virtual religion, reports Chetan Narula

Walk into Camp Nou and, even on anon-matchday, the 99,000-seater stadium takes your breath away. Coloured in the distinctive maroon and blue of F CB ar ce lon a, the words “Mesqueunclub” printed on the seats are unmissable. Translated from Cat alan, they simply mean “more than a club ”.

That is the identity of F CB ar ce lon a in Spain, nay, Cataluña. Football is away of life atFCB’ s grand home stadium, which has nurtured the likes of Lion el M es si,Xa vi, AndrésIniesta, Sergio Busqu et sand Gerard Piqué. But this all-consuming“way of life” is reflected more fully some eight ki lo metres away, at the Ci uta tE sport iv a Joan G am per.

This sporting complex houses administrative offices, medical set-ups and F CB ar ce lon a’ s first and second team’ s training grounds. Its most prized occupant is theyouthacademy, LaMasia. Amodern hos telling structure, it is enclosed behind tall trees, almost cut off from there st of the training complex and indeed the world.

La M asia means“The Farm house ”, which is precisely where the F CB ar ce lon a legend began. Established on the out skirts of the city, the club’ s earliest graduates enlisted ata 1702 farmhouse. The idea touse this place as a youth academy was mooted by the club’ s legendary player and manager Johan Cruyff, and it was established in 1979.

Glorious names such as Pep Guard io la, CarlesPuyol, GuillermoAmor, LuisMilla, ThiagoMotta, SergiBarjuán, VictorValdés, CescFàbregas, Luis García and Mikel Art eta passed through the gates of this facility and into Catalan footballing lore. Messi, Xaviand I ni esta spent time together at this old farmhouse in their format ive years and, in 2010, it received the honour of being the first football academy to train all three finalists forth eB al lo nd’ Orin a single year.

Ayearlater, onJune30,2011, the farm house shut forever and the youth academy moved to its present location .“The move allowed us to make important addition sin keeping with the requirements ofmodern-dayfootball. Today, this facility caters to nearly 300 young players, all of whom dream of playing for F CB ar ce lon a. We help nurture this dream ,” saidJuanJosé Luque, director of residence, LaMasia.

If it weren’ t for the club emblem sat every step, the main La M asia building could pass for a college dormitory with classroom sat the ground level. There are also recreation rooms and a common eating area along with kitchen sand administrative offices, all players staying on the upper floors. On the outside, the youth training parks are enclosed on all sides so that they are cutoff from the world. It is important to keep their focus on football. World ly distractions don’ t allow for dreams to come true.

The first point of interest on the outside is the artificial turf— natural turf plus 10 per cent plastic grass that is woven and laid carefully. Bend down for a feel, and your hand comes up wet, even under the bright noon sun.

“This is a specifically prepared combination for F CB ar ce lon a. It helps retain water, and that is important, because it helps in our style of play. The philosophy of our club is to keep the ball on the ground at all times and pass it around quickly. This is where we first sow these ed so four philosophy among the young recruits ,” said Luque.

C ruy ff is widely regarded as them an who gave definition to this Barcelona philosophy, also known as“tiki-taka”. The Dutch legend introduced the“ron do” at the club—players form a circle with one or two players inside, chasing the ball as it is quickly passed around .“Every training session begins with a game of ron do ,” the director said, with a proud smile.

His words rang true as an Under -17 training session commenced at the same time. The ron do assumed shape, and kick about started. It all just looked like a lot of fun, but ask as even-year-old— that’s how young you can be to try out at this great club—and he will tell you it isn’ t. It is a test of speed, quick decision-making and ability to see a pass, all from the youngest age group. Physicality counts only at higher age groups, but until Under-13, it is about agility.

Those who make the grade comet olive at La M asia once they are 13 or older. Here, daily routine is football training from 9 am and academic classes from 3 pm onwards, with food and recreational breaks in between.

It is a rigorous schedule that will eventually payoff, when professional contracts come forth, sometimes as early as 15 or 16. Even then, getting into the youth setup is no guarantee—not all rise to first or second team status, ofcourse. Manyare culled on the way, as groups become smaller and age brackets increase. Once your each the Under-17and Under-19 level, the normal 23- player squad comes into play.

The obvious question is: what of those who fail to graduate to the senior teams here at F CB ar ce lon a or even at other clubs? There isa recent story of a young football er who, at age 15, wasn’ t interested in studying further. His only interest apart from football? Styling hair. So the club administration arranged for a curriculum so he could open a salon if his football career didn’ t workout.

“We provide education here, football and otherwise. We have had kids train to be chefs while playing football, or in other cases, some kids have worked on receiving coaching certificates. Not everyone will become Messi, Xavior Iniesta. But they all love football, and don’ t want to be parted from it. Maybe they will style a football team’ s hair, cook healthy and delicious food for a club team, or even come back to coach here someday, starting from the youth levels,” said Luque.

In a footballing sense, this isa factory, as F CB ar ce lon a’ s success over the years reveals. Zoom out of the po mp and glory though, and La M asia is more than just an academy.