Train at Home with the World’s Best

Over the next four weeks, you, along with the coaches of the famed Barça Academy, will help your player develop four key soccer skills: dribbling, passing, shooting and juggling.

In each email, you will receive training activities to try with your player, each one progressively more challenging than the last. As you sample the activities, you and your player will figure out which skills they’ve already mastered, and where they still have room to develop — because every player is different.

Each video helps you, as the parent, understand the why and how of each activity. But you’ll also learn to recognize what proficiency looks like. 

When your player gets proficient — or if they get bored — they’re ready for a new challenge. We’ll show you how to make each activity a little different, or more challenging, to keep things fresh.

We provide the activities and the guidance. It’s up to you and your player to set the pace — together. You set the goals — together. You see the progress — together.

And if you share the results with us, we’ll let you know how far your player has come at the end of their training.

You’ll notice that the Barça Way is built around repetition — but this is not reps for reps’ sake. You and your player will constantly check in about what you notice, what’s hard, what’s going well and how these seemingly simple games can — over time, with practice — completely transform the way your kid plays the beautiful game.

The FC Barcelona curriculum on MOJO assumes a general familiarity with core soccer skills. While all are welcome, the harder games tend to work best for players age 10 and up.

Dribble with control. Pass with purpose. Shoot with confidence. Juggle with flair. Train at home the Barça way — only on MOJO.

Week 1: Dribble with control.

Dribbling is the first and most fundamental soccer skill. When dribbling the Barça Way, the focus is on control and keeping the ball close. 

Players will practice: 

• running with the ball in open space 
• changing direction while dribbling 
• controlling the ball in motion 
• turning and dribbling off a pass

You’ll need: 

• four cones (or if you don’t have cones, water bottles, toys, or balled up t-shirts work fine as markers)
• a soccer ball
• a wall (or another player — i.e. you)

Week 2: Pass with purpose.

Johan Cruyff, the inimitable FC Barcelona coach, once said, “Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right time, to the correct foot of your teammate.”

Here is where you start that process.

Players will practice: 

• controlling the ball off a rebound 
• passing freely 
• passing the ball from different distances
• a useful passing combination 

You’ll need: 

• two walls, flat perpendicular surfaces or a garage 
• a soccer ball
• four cones or markers

Week 3: Shoot with confidence.

Every player loves to shoot on goal. But developing the kind of control, strength and precision to score takes time and — you guessed it — practice. 

Players will practice:

• running with the ball and shooting to finish 
• receiving and shooting the ball
• shooting the ball from a controlled position
• moving the ball around a defender to shoot

You’ll need: 

• a small goal (or, if you don’t have a small goal, create a target on a wall with duct tape)
• five cones or markers
• a soccer ball

Week 4: Juggle with flair.

Players don’t just juggle for bragging rights. Juggling translates into increased focus, increased confidence and increased ball control.

Players will practice: 

• juggling the ball straight up and down 
• a tricky juggling move 
• showing off their juggling skills
• moving the ball in sequence

You’ll need: 

• a soccer ball
• four cones or markers