Professional Women’s Program

More Information

Preparing to make the leap to professional football is the goal of players who come to the Professional Program (MPEP), the flagship product of Marcet Football University which has a limited number of annual spots. Its complete duration of 10 months includes High Performance sports training, academic studies, and residence in the center of Barcelona, with the possibility of flexible schedules and general conditions according to the needs of each student and their families.

Every year, the Professional Program allows players from all over the world to come to Spain to improve their level of play and showcase themselves to reach elite football. In this sense, it is important to underline that Marcet does not intend to sign players, but to prepare them to be suitable for joining top-level professional clubs. This is the path followed by successful players like Berta Pujadas or Marta Pérez.

Berta Pujadas with Valencia’s jersey.

The MPEP is a demanding program, with two or three daily training sessions and a competitive calendar of the highest order that includes matches against the best youth academies in Spanish and European football, in a high-level competitive environment. But all this in no way detracts from the academic training. Because if a footballer’s life is very short, an ex-footballer’s life is very long. Therefore, it is essential for a successful player to also be a cultured person with academic preparation that allows them to forge a professional future once their sports career is over.

At Marcet, football and studies always go hand in hand. In fact, in this Academy, academic training is not only highly recommended but mandatory. The protagonists of its Hall of Fame are both professional footballers and students who have found success through studies. Therefore, each player has various training options depending on age, country of origin, or abilities. Any study is good if it serves to complement the player’s training and make them a complete person prepared for the future, as is the case with Maria Concha.

Program Objectives:

• FREEDOM, because a player is free when they master all the skills of individual technique and can do what they want during the match.
• VALUES, because developing these human strengths is essential to succeed both in football and in extracurricular life.
• INTELLIGENCE, because it is crucial to know how to quickly make the most appropriate decisions at every moment of the game and life.
• FUTURE EMPLOYABILITY, because the talents demanded by the best clubs in the world are the same as those demanded by the job market outside of football.
• ACADEMIC SOLIDITY, because the key is to use football as a catalyst to enhance students’ academic performance.

The Professional Program occupies the entire school year, from September to June. However, it is also possible to follow it for shorter periods. Marcet recommends contracting for 10, six, or three months, but participation in other time periods can be considered, with the minimum and base unit being one month. If a student wants to follow the course for a few weeks, then their option should be the Checking Program or some intensive courses like this one:

The program takes place in the city of Barcelona, at the facilities of Marcet Football University. Students occasionally travel to other places to compete and participate in tournaments.

There are four different registration modalities, which differ according to the number of services contracted:

• Afternoon-only Sports: Includes partial sports programming. Does not include accommodation, meals, or academic studies management.
• Complete Sports: Includes complete sports programming. Does not include accommodation, meals, or academic studies management.
• Daytime Sports and Academic: Includes complete sports programming, half board, and academic studies management. Does not include accommodation.
• Complete Sports and Academic: Includes complete sports programming, full board accommodation, and academic studies management.

Sports Programming

FACILITIES

• Four high-performance sports facilities located in the city of Barcelona, all with high-quality artificial turf (artificial turf):
  • 11-a-side fields
  • 7-a-side fields
  • Indoor Football Fields
• Gym
• Swimming pool
• Fitness room

TEACHING AND TECHNICAL STAFF

• Sports directors
• Certified coaches, with professional experience, empathetic and trained in the Marcet Method
• Field assistants
• Sports tutors
• Sports psychologists
• Physical trainers
• Analysts
• Nutritionists
• Physiotherapists

TRAINING

• Technical-tactical training:
  • Specific sessions by position
  • Special sessions for technical acceleration

• Conditional training:
  • Gym sessions
  • Pool sessions
  • Beach sessions

COMPETITION

• Participation in leagues within a club’s ranks (after obtaining a federative license).
• Tournaments, trips, and expeditions:
  • By invitation
  • Covered by the Individualized Travel and Expenses Fee.

EVALUATION

• MATRIX, objective-based evaluation system detailed and personalized through rubrics.
  • Initial, weekly, and quarterly evaluation:
    • Self-assessment
    • Match evaluation
    • Training evaluation
    • Evaluation of individual goals and post-match playing competencies
    • Individual tutorials with coach and analyst
    • Group tutorials with coach and analyst

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

• Personal and/or group work:
  • Orientation to dual career 
  • Mental strength 
  • Stress management on the field 
  • Planning, analyzing, and regulating pressure
  • Teamwork
  • Motivation and goal setting 
  • Visualization (practice in imagination)
  • Self-confidence
  • Emotional control
  • Attention and concentration
  • Error management
  • Acceptance and overcoming of injuries
  • Internalization of healthy habits
  • Design and implementation of routines
  • Periodic personal evaluations
  • Quarterly reports

PHYSICAL PREPARATION

• Load control and content programming
• Strength work specialist
• Task control specialist
• Injury rehabilitator and recoverer
• Evaluations:
  • Body composition
    analysis (Electric Bioimpedance Analysis with TANITA®)
  • Lower body strength analysis
  • Speed analysis
  • Postural imbalances analysis
• Player’s training and match profile through GPS technology
• Individualized work plans for the development and improvement of conditional qualities:
  • Strength training
  • Endurance training:
    • Specific improvement of football endurance
    • Body composition control
  • Injury prevention training:
    • General prevention plans
    • Plans adapted to player’s needs
  • Report and supervised follow-up:
    • Comparative individual report
    • Individual meetings
    • Group meetings
    • Training concept clarification sessions

NUTRITION

• Individualized evaluation, monitoring, and objectives:
  • Personalized nutritional programming for muscle mass development
  • Personalized nutritional programming for fat mass loss
  • Group educational meetings on nutritional concepts
  • Individual report:
    • Body composition status
    • Nutritional recommendations
    • Player feedback
    • Establishment of short-term goals

PHYSIOTHERAPY

• Professional sports physiotherapists belonging to RCD Espanyol
• Initial assessment according to individual injuries or discomfort:
  • Arthro-muscular evaluation on the stretcher
  • Injury assessment in specific gesture
  • Coordination of work with the injury readaptation specialist
    
• Management of medical services:
  • Scheduling appointments with specialist doctors
  • Scheduling appointments with podiatrists
  • Management of medical reviews
  • Assessment of injury medical reports
  • Medical transfers and medications (not included in the cost)

ANALYSIS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• Recording of matches and training sessions
• Sessions of New Technologies:
  • Smart ball
  • Stroboscopic glasses
  • LED goals
  • Neurostimulation through LED
  • Ball throwing machine
  • 360º cameras (goalkeepers)
• Video analysis:
  • Individual:
    • Establishment of personalized objectives after an initial evaluation
    • Follow-up analysis of objectives through matches, training sessions, and New Technologies sessions
    • Real-time analysis during training sessions
      
  • Group:
    • Common objectives:
    • Analysis of the team as a whole
    • Analysis by lines

BUREAUCRATIC PROCEDURES

• Federative procedures where applicable

Academic Education

OFFICIAL STUDIES

• The student and their family will choose the option / options that suit their specific case:
  • Studies in a Spanish school with an agreement with Marcet Academy, in the official system of Primary, ESO, Baccalaureate, or Vocational Training
  • MISC Academy: Studies in an international or private school (additional cost):
• Official studies of the American, British, French, Russian, or Mexican system with Laurel Springs School, Interhigh, CNEEL, or Cours Legendre schools under an official agreement with Marcet International Study Center (MISC)
• Academic accompaniment of the student in agreement with the own distance school, arranged and enrolled directly by the family
• Academic supervision of the student during class and study hours. Marcet Academy does not handle any procedures with the school, these must be carried out by the family or legal guardian of the student
• Professional training studies for the Official Title of Football Technician – Level I and Level II (from 16 years old and if requirements are met) (additional cost):
  • Preparation for physical tests:
    • Guidance and recommendations for the appearance in the essential physical tests for admission to official football technician studies Level I
    • Physical and sports preparation session at Marcet for these tests
      
• Language immersion (Spanish language, for students who do not speak it)
  
  • Spanish Language Immersion Plan
  • Preparation for official Spanish DELE exams from the Cervantes Institute
    
• Football Masters Program (from 16 years old and if requirements are met)
• Study hall – reinforcement classroom:
  • Academic reinforcement
  • Resolution of doubts
  • Explanation of topics that have not been clear in class
  • Supervision of daily academic homework and tasks
  • Support in school projects and assignments
  • Support in test and exam preparation.

ACADEMIC MISCELLANY

• School excursions and various extra activities
• Textbooks or digital books in the case of attending a Spanish school
• School uniform if applicable

BUREAUCRATIC PROCEDURES

• Procedures with educational centers:
  • Management of assignment of places in the study center
  • Enrollment of the student in the school
  • Collection and preparation of necessary documentation
  • Management with the school in the reconciliation of the student’s sports and school calendars
  • Request for official documentation from the school necessary for the student
  • Tracking processing of titles
  • Request for official certificates

• Academic procedures with the Government (additional cost):
  • Study homologation:
    • Guidance on the documentation to be prepared by the student
    • Monitoring of the preparation of the documentation by the student
    • Submission of documentation to the Government
    • Management and payment of corresponding fees
    • Request for Study Homologation
    • Request for Conditional Enrollment Certificate to the study center
    • Expedite monitoring
    • Guidance to the student on picking up the homologation and validation credential

PERSONALIZED TUTORING

• Academic guidance:
  • Academic guidance in the present:
    • Type and system of studies most suitable for the student
    • Determination of the need for study homologation
    • Guidance for taking official exams (if required)
  • Vocational academic guidance in the future:
    • Professional outlets
    • Training options applicable in the future

• Student support – Reference person:
  • Establishment and monitoring of personal academic objectives