Sunday the 29th of January was a very special day at Field 5 of the Sports Complex Joan Gamper with the visit to the Barça Foundation by the male and female players from the La Caserna Football Academy. Oleguer Presas, who was a FC Barcelona first team player between 2002 and 2008, is one of the trainers of this team in the city of Sabadell, created in 2017 from a popular and self-managed project. The La Caserna football academy proposes to live football far from competitiveness, giving more importance to the people than to the results and avoiding gender stereotypes.
First thing in the morning, the female and male players from La Caserna visited La Masia building, along with their trainers, and then played two simultaneous friendly matches with the Barça Foundation. As usual, both teams divided their squads, in this case based on age, so that no one was left without playing. The experience was, in any case, highly enriching for everyone. After the football matches, a group of players and coaches from La Caserna visited the FC Barcelona Museum.
Statement by Oleguer Presas, former Barça player and trainer of La Caserna
“It has been a pleasure to play in such a beautiful and enjoyable environment, we have had a great time and it has been a great experience for the youth and children of La Caserna. Also, the football was very good".
“For an entity with the impact of Barça to have a team like the Barça Genuine Foundation seems to me the best way to convey its values. You can see that they have made a lot of effort, not only in terms of sport, but also in the support of the people who make up the team. We are all different and we should all have the opportunity to participate in all capacities".
“Barça is the club dear to my heart, I have always said it. I had not been to La Masia many times and it has been very nice to visit it and learn how it takes care of talent, not only in terms of sport, but also in terms of people".
