FC Barcelona pay tribute to the 'rondo'

FC Barcelona is known around the world for its style of football. A way of playing that is epitomised by the ‘rondo’, a warm up exercise with the ball that encapsulates the way the blaugranes play the game, from the very smallest in the youth football setup to the stars of the first team. For Barça the ball is the star of the show and that is echoed by the more than 300 boys and girls who form part of the football teams at La Masia.

In tribute to this exercise that so embodies FC Barcelona’s way of playing, the Club has decide to pay tribute to the ‘rondo’ as part of the Setmana de la Masia (La Masia Week) event which also includes the presentation of the youth teams on Tuesday at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.

Players from the youth teams, Barça B and Barça Women teamed up to record a special video that pays tribute to the football teams’ unique philosophy. You can see the players enjoying themselves, from the U12 team upwards ending with Barça Women and the B side, showing the qualities of speed of thought, awareness of space and body control that play such an important part in FC Barcelona’s way of playing.

Since la Masia was opened in 1979, more than 150 players from the youth system have made their debuts for the Barça first team. A select band, such as Carrasco, Amor, Sergi, Ferrer, Guardiola, Xavi, Puyol, Víctor Valdés, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro, Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto have all gone on to play more than 150 times in official competition for the first team. For all of them the ‘rondo’ has been a vital element in their development, giving them the skills to help continue Barça’s unique way of approaching the game through almost four decades.

A week of activities

The Setmana de la Masia (la Masia week) kicks off on Tuesday 14 November with a workshop day on combining sporting and academic life at the 1899 Auditorium at Camp Nou. The event will include the following contributors:

• Carles Folguera, director of the Masia 360 programme at FC Barcelona.
• José María Amorrortu, sporting director of Lezama, Athletic Club Bilbao’s youth academy.
• Chiara d’Angelo, psychologist at AC Milan and Università Cattolica in Milan.
• Susana Regüela, responsible for Youth Development at the Sports High Performance Centre in San Cugat, near Barcelona.
• Pablo Borras, coordinator of the youth teams at Club Estudiantes basketball team

President Josep Maria Bartomeu will attend the presentation of the 16 youth football teams and the four women’s youth teams on Tuesday 14 November at Pitch 7 at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.

One new development is the presentation of the 23 team who form part of the youth set up for the other four professional sports teams at FC Barcelona (basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal) which will take place for the first time at the Ciutat Esportiva on Thursday 16 November, also with president Josep Maria Bartomeu present.

The week’s events will come to close on Friday 17 November with a talk on the proper use of social networks for the parents of the almost 700 sportspeople who form part of the Masia 360 programme. The conference will be led by Francesc Grau from the UOC Business School, an expert on the Management of Business in a digital environment. The take will take place at 7.00pm at the 1899 Auditorium at Camp Nou.

*All times are CET