With the MotoGP World Championship coming to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, five riders from the top two categories traded in their two-wheeled rockets for soccer balls recently during a visit to the FCBEscola Austin, which, incredibly, is located inside the track. The five riders were Pol Espargaró, Alex Márquez, Alex Rins, Mattia Pasini and Joe Roberts.
During the visit, the five learned all about the Barça methodology from Marcel Lizano, the Local Project Director in Austin. Linzano gave them the history of the Barça Academy and, later, asked them to train with some of the kids, with whom they worked on basic ball control skills that are the foundation of Barça’s renowned playing style, as well as the values taught by the FCBEscola around the world.
The FCBEscola project has been rapidly expanding in recent years, and North America has led the way in the number of new openings. There are currently six FCBEscolas in the United States, plus the Barça Academy New York and the Barça Academy Arizona. The FCBEscola in Austin is the largest in terms of number of children, with over 550 boys and girls only nine months after opening its doors. The Austin Academy has two facilities, one of which is in the Circuit of The Americas, where it has two fields to train on.
