As school-age children celebrated the first days of spring break Tuesday, one boy was just returning from the adventure of a lifetime.
Braxtin Anderson, 10, of Albert Lea this year was selected to train at Barça Academy Camp, a premier soccer academy in Barcelona, Spain. The fourth-grader said he has been playing soccer since he was 6 years old.
Barça Academy Camp is operated by Futbol Club Barcelona and takes place at Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper training ground, which belongs to the club. According to the camp’s website, Barça Academy is an intercultural program that aims to teach technical and tactical concepts of football [soccer] according to the working methods used by FC Barcelona players.
Anderson attended the academy with about 200 other young athletes.
All were selected based on their athletic abilities, observed by a scout, as well as their ability to emulate the FC Barcelona values of humility, effort, ambition, respect and teamwork.
“There is not a lot of people that get picked from each group, and I was the one who got picked from the group,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he really enjoys playing soccer and likes learning how to improve. His favorite things are having the ball and meeting new teammates. He also likes the challenge of going up against another team.
“Two seasons ago, we almost beat the team that was almost impossible to beat in the league,” he said.
Anderson said he is currently working on teaching the sport to his brother, who is 2 years old.
Going to Barcelona was Anderson’s first time outside of the country. He was joined by his aunt, Amy Martin.
Denise Williams, Anderson’s grandmother, explained that even though Anderson was with a family member, he slept at the academy while his aunt stayed at a hotel. She added it was pretty much the first time he had experienced that much independence.
Students attending Barça Academy typically got about four hours a day to spend with their families and do other leisure activities, Anderson said.
While at the camp, Anderson and the other participants played soccer, went on tours and got to go to two soccer games, one women’s league game and one men’s champion league.
Anderson also said he got to meet retired professional soccer player Marc Valiente, which was one of his favorite parts.
Anderson said he learned a lot about positioning and passing while at the camp, and he plans to take these new skills to his team in Albert Lea.
To attend the training, Anderson had to miss seven days of school. He currently attends Sibley Elementary. Both Anderson’s grandmother and aunt agreed that some of spring break would need to be spent doing make-up work.
After that, Anderson will be ready to get out on the field and show the world what he has learned.
The post Albert Lea boy selected for Barcelona soccer training academy appeared first on Albert Lea Tribune.