FC Barcelona and Grande Sports World (GSW), a residential academy from the United States, have signed an agreement to join forces and create the ‘Barça Academy’ sporting residence in the city of Casa Grande, Arizona. The facilities will house an academic and football training centre for children between the ages of 12 and 19.

The players that form part of this project will also compete in the highest division of the US Soccer Development Academy’s (USSDA) youth football categories, in which the country’s top 70 clubs take part. This new residence will fill the gap between FCBEscola programs and college and professional soccer.

Therefore, the players from the Barça Academy will have the opportunity to continue growing, both athletically as well as academically, and will give them a good chance, when the time comes, to choose between professional football or to attend college on athletic scholarships. These athletes will be trained by coaches who have been part of the FC Barcelona staff in recent seasons.

The arrival of this new project to the United States reinforces the Club’s expansion that has been ongoing since last September, including the opening of the Club’s New York office and other sports-related projects that FC Barcelona has undertaken in the region, like the recent announcement of the creation of a team in the National Women's Soccer League, the country’s top flight.

Teaching Barça Values in the United States

Aimed at children, the main objective of FC Barcelona’s model is the training and education of its students. This model, exported internationally, seeks to extend the Barça brand and transmit the club’s philosophy of hard work and values to the rest of the world.

The Barça Academy works with its own unique model, based on the Barça methodology from the youth teams right up until the first team, with a creative and attacking style of play, and an indispensable message based on values: respect, humility, effort, ambition and teamwork. Its success has been proven.

FC Barcelona has different projects in the United States of America in Florida, Charlotte, Austin, Chicago, Northern Virginia, San Diego and Long Island, New York.

This academy further cements FC Barcelona’s footprint and stake in developing the soccer industry in America. Recently, the club announced its intention to establish a women’s team in the National Women’s Soccer League.

About Grande Sports Academy

Grande Sports Academy is one of the top USSDA academies in the United States. Grande Sports Academy was the first to offer a complete residency program that includes dorms, daily nutrition, a state-of-the-art sports complex, safety, security, education, tutoring, and affiliation with an MLS team.

Every Grande Sports Academy graduate has signed a professional contract or earned a college scholarship to schools such as Stanford, UCLA and Virginia. The U-20 U.S. National Team has five GSA graduates on its roster with no other academy in the U.S. having more than one player on the roster. Overall, 68 GSA graduates have competed on one of their country’s National Teams. GSA teams have won one US Soccer Development Academy National Championship, finished second twice and competed in the National Finals in four of its first five years of existence.

Grande Sports World has quickly become one of the finest sports training facilities in the United States and serves as a training destination for youth, professional and national teams from around the globe. U.S. Soccer named Grande Sports World the West Conference’s Best Training Facility for the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 Development Academy seasons.