Founder, Rick van Hoeven

I would like to tell you a bit more about myself and the background of the academy. The picture on the left side is me in Barcelona in the year 1999, supporting FC Barcelona with its team of Dutch players. The picture on the right side is me working for FC Barcelona in the year 2016. In between 1999 and 2016 a lot of things happened and one of those things is to made a dream come true.

At the age of 7, I was already a big fan of FC Barcelona and more than 23 years later I have been able to work for 3 years in one of worlds biggest clubs as a youth coach. After that period I started my own football academy in Barcelona, focused on individual and small group training sessions. In the local language the academy has the nickname ”Academia Naranja” referring to the Dutch color, orange, and its Dutch origins. This ”orange” influence in Barcelona started back in the days in 1973 with Johan Cruyff coming here to be the first Dutch player; and what a player. He became later the head coach of FC Barcelona and afterwards many Dutch players followed.

I am very proud to run our ”Academia Naranja” in the city of Barcelona and keep the connection between orange and FC Barcelona alive.