Joan Laporta visits Barça Foundation project in South Bronx, New York

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta and the director general of the FC Barcelona Foundation, Dr Marta Segú, have visited the Foundation’s project in South Bronx, New York City. The blaugrana party were welcomed by Andrew So, executive director of South Bronx United, who was given a commemorative shirt as a memento of the visit.

The US Barça Foundation project in South Bronx arose from an agreement with South Bronx United, an organization that uses soccer as an instrument for social change and integration in the community. The two entities set up an extracurricular program to foster personal and social skills and leadership among teenage girls and to ensure that they get equal opportunities. The main goal is for these youngsters aged 10 to 14 from difficult backgrounds to get the chance to use sport as a means to enhance their social skills and emotional welfare. The idea is to provide positive role models and foster commitment through different out-of-school activities at an age when children are sadly more likely to engage in other, more high-risk behaviors.

The US Barça Foundation is teaching the coaches and instructors from South Bronx United to use the SportNet Methodology to promote the values of sport, such as respect, humility, teamwork, ambition and effort, which are combined with already existing practices such as psycho-emotional workshops and sporting activities.

This is the first project to be run by the US Barça Foundation, a registered organization in the United States that will be developing Barça-related community actions throughout the country and will be raising funds for its international projects. The US Barça Foundation was established as a board of trustees, chaired by Joan Laporta and also consisting of Xavier Sala-i-Martin, first vice-president of the FC Barcelona Foundation; Bryan Bachner, Barça’s Managing Director for USA/APAC; Amani Martin, secretary of the US Barça Foundation; former handball player Xavier O’Callaghan who now manages the handball, futsal and rink hockey teams, and Dr Marta Segú.