University joins forces with FC Barcelona and Sheffield United

The University of Sheffield's Department of Hispanic Studies are joining forces with FC Barcelona and Sheffield United Football Club to promote the local and international educational possibilities of sport. A public lecture at the University of Sheffield entitled Barça, Sport, Culture and Education recently attracted over 100 people to the University to listen to and debate with Sr. Ramon Pont Amenós, Vice-President of the FC Barcelona Foundation and member of the FC Barcelona Board of Directors. Sr Pont said: "We have a strong responsibility to the young players, towards their families who have allowed us to educate them both in football and in life, and towards their future. We are their family, and therefore we have a responsibility towards everything that they do now, and towards what they will be able to do in their future." Sr Pont answered questions from the audience, particularly on an inspirational example of the educational potential of sport, the Masia. Louise Johnson from the Department of Hispanic Studies explained: "The Masia is what we might understand as the Academy, but it's much more than that. It's where young sporting talents from outside the city of Barcelona and from all over the world, live and eat together, train at the nearby facilities, and do their additional schoolwork.