Spanish Youth Development

Hey guys, i have a report to do at college regarding Spanish youth development and how they are so far ahead compared to other country's.

Can anyone tell me the process of how it all works like programs they run, what they focus on at the early ages, there mentality about football, grass-roots to elite etc.... Or if you have any good articles i could read about it please leave a link for me.

Any help would be appreciated!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8688093.stm

I had to do something similar once, there's a little bit in this article about the number of coaches Spain have compared to other major footballing nations, and the style of play that is encouraged. In particular this paragraph:



I'm also guessing that they play on small pitches with small goals in order to focus on and improve technical ability, you could compare that to over here where 11 year olds find themselves on massive pitches with huge nets and whoever can boot the ball up field the furthest gets a round of applause. There's probably less focus on the result in Spain and more about encouraging kids to play football the right way.

Have you tried google?

Thanks BR appreciate that. I have loads of information on Scotland but its just Spain im struggling with, i thought there would be loads on it! I'll keep looking. If you find anything else that you find please let me know!

It's not 100% relevant, but there was a good piece on In Bed With Maradona about Falkirk's youth policy and the influence of La Masia.

These have some pretty general info as well: thesun.co.uk & dailymail.co.uk

De[endant on how much time you have I'd recommend this Barca book. Gives a great insight into how the system worked with the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc