Miami Dade College (MDC) and the FC Barcelona Foundation signed a cooperation agreement in Miami today for the launch of FútbolNet, a program that will aim to improve the performance of students in difficulties with football as an educational tool.
Eduardo Padrón, rector of the MDC, and Jordi Cardoner, vice president of the FC Barcelona Foundation, signed the agreement at a ceremony held at the university center where Maria Valles, the Foundation director, and former Barça player Juliano Belletti were present.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Cardoner gave Padrón a team jersey with the MDC letters printed on the back and assured, addressing those present in Spanish and English, that the signing of the educational agreement means a “return trip” of the club to the United States .
Cardoner highlighted the four human values promoted by the Foundation: “humility, effort, ambition, respect and teamwork”, qualities that the program FútbolNet now wants to instill in students between the ages of 14 and 18 who participate in the program.
The purpose of the six-month program is limited to helping “children with social, economic or behavioral problems”, a non-profit initiative already implemented in 50 countries that has benefited 2,000 children.
The program, which seeks to promote “illusion” in the boys, will be underway next year and will take place on the North and Kendall campuses of the MDC.
The FC Barcelona Foundation and the MDC share fundamental aspects in the field of education, such as the “eagerness to educate and benefit people” without distinction of social origin or any other kind of difference, Padrón said.
This Foundation initiative, “unique in its kind” and soon to be operational in New York, will provide support to students with values of football as values for life and “conflict resolution”.
The signing of the agreement coincides with the friendly match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona on Saturday, the second “classic” in history outside Spain and the first in the United States.
