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Last week, my daughter and two other kids that we car pooled with from Newton attended the FC Barcelona Soccer Camp. I usually drove the return leg so I was able to hear about how the camp went.

It was an unseasonably hot week, with the heat index climbing to nearly 100 degrees by the last day on Friday. Though the camp tried to keep the kids cool, they ran up and down the soccer field for most the day, although they had a one hour hot lunch in an air-conditioned cafeteria at Middlesex Academy. They also two 15 minute breaks and many, many water breaks.

My daughter, age 11-years-old, said that she did drills that she had never done at any other camp or practice before. The drills were not meant to be fun and games but are actual drills the Junior Academy team does in Barcelona. She, like the other 150-160 kids, treated the Barcelona coaches with reverence and appreciated their feedback, even when cryptic due to limited English-speaking ability.

 The coaches in yellow are from FC Barcelona. The coaches in red ran the camp groups and were local hire. It was a great partnership!

“Use inside foot. More reliable.” was her first piece of advice from the Barςa coach.

“Touch. Outside foot. Good.” was a high compliment on her last day.

The traffic to Concord at 8:30 in the morning was, frankly, brutal. With construction on Route 2 and on the street that led to Middlesex Academy, the morning commute took about an hour. The return commute was much better at around 45 minutes. With no traffic, it would take about 30 minutes.

The last day was scrimmages. The coaches (mostly local) played goalie! One group’s local coach could not make the last day so the Barςa coach filled in!

After the first day though, I realized that my commute was short. Some of the kids had come from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Another boy came all the way from Columbia (not South Carolina, South America!). Still, another came from Europe. Some families were camping out — literally — at campsites for the week! It felt like an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime!

There are, you see, a few spots to play with the junior Barcelona team and many families saw this as a scouting opportunity to get in front of the coaches that make that decision. Not a bad strategy either! The coaches from Barcelona were engaged and actively helping the kids all throughout the camp. Each group had one Barςa coach assigned to it.

Nearly 150 kids ages 8 to 16 participated at the FC Barcelona Soccer Camp in Concord, MA despite the searing heat. Each child received a certificate from the Barςa coaches.

My car pool kids who were older said that they would sign up again. They loved that this camp was all about soccer. Even at other soccer camps, they said, you didn’t play soccer the entire time. Sometimes you spent time in the pool or talking. They loved it. There was talk about even going to Barcelona for the camp since it is not returning to Boston next year.

I hope they come back soon! We’d definitely go back!

Images from Summerfuel.