totalBarça on Prezi

Profile

totalBarça is a socially responsible organization comprising a team of talented volunteers who are loyal FC Barcelona fans. They have come together from all over the globe and from all walks of life to channel their dedication to the FCB community by way of contributing to the operations, organization and development of totalBarca.com.

totalBarça’s mission is to develop totalBarca.com to become the ultimate destination for all who have an interest in FC Barcelona. The organization’s vision is to be socially responsible while wholeheartedly contributing to UNICEF via The totalBarça Project.

Team

Alexandra, Sweden

FCB Favourite: Club Identity

Alexandra started playing football at the age of 5, but watching football was nothing that really interested her – it was too slow and too boring and she was too restless. But Henrik Larsson still managed to become a hero and when he signed for FC Barcelona which was she decided to watch his debut game. For the first time, it was fun to watch football and Alexandra fell in love with FC Barcelona. The more games she saw and the more she learned about the club, the stronger her love grew for it. She has been a FCB member since 2008, attended 4 matches at Camp Nou and 2 at Mini Estadi. Recently, Alexandra has decided to move from Sweden to Barcelona, to get closer to her obsession. Another big passion of hers is writing; therefore, totalBarça became the perfect solution in bringing two passions together. Her dream is to become journalist close to the Camp Nou.

Amanda, USA

FCB Favourite: La Masia

After some friends introduced her to football with the World Cup in 2006, the Euros in 2008 convinced Amanda that the bravery of Puyol and the telepathic connection between Iniesta and Xavi were enough reasons to start watching these three players (and more) every week. A member of the Club since 2008-09 and a totalBarça contributor since 2010, Amanda resides near Washington, DC and spends most of her time living and breathing Barça. Those few moments of the day not dedicated to all things blaugrana sees Amanda making music for a living.

Bryan, Canada

FCB Favourite: The Crest

Bryan learned what FC Barcelona was during his undergrad days (long, long time ago) from a friend who was a Manchester United fan.  Fitting isn’t it?  But it wasn’t until some years later until he became a loyal fan of the Blaugrana.  He has never been to Barcelona, has never seen the team play live in-stadium, nor do either of those things matter to him.  The philosophy of the club is all that matters, which is the main reason why he got so entrenched in being part of the culé community.  Bryan is inspired by the team that he works with at totalBarça and looks forward to sharing the organization’s unique contributions to all sporting corners of the globe.

Dave (Stevenson), USA

FCB Favourite: City of Barcelona

Dave spent a lot of time in Spain, but his memories always come back to a winter in Barcelona in the late 1990s. During that time, he made weekly pilgrimages to the Bar Bambi II where he became acquainted with Luis Enrique, Rivaldo, Luis Figo and Patrick Kluivert.  He watched the team’s exploits in the company of drunks, thieves, clueless tourists, and passionate fans, all united under the banner of the beautiful game. 1998 and 1999 were epic years for the club, and he continued to follow the team after returning to San Francisco. He’s gone back to Barcelona many times since then, and some of his favourite evenings have been of spent in the company of fellow culés in modest watering holes, watching the team we love. Writing for totalBarça connects him concretely with Catalonia, and with a present in which Barcelona represents the zenith of modern football. These are glorious times for Barcelona fans around the world, and he feels privileged to help share them with all of you.

Dorota (doris86pl), Poland

FCB Favourite: Style we believe, Total Football

Doris fell in love with Barcelona some years ago, living in the Blaugrana world since 2006, became a totalBarça team member since October 2010. Doris spent most of her time being a loyal fan of Pale Knight, Don Andres Iniesta, and enjoying idea of total football. She is addicted to YouTube and videos about FCB. Besides watching football, she spends most of her free time watching Crackòvia, reading books, and learning languages. Devoted fan of Catalan indie music, crafter, and charmed with Barcelona.

Enrique (EnriqueSDS), South Africa

FCB Favourite: Member-owned and unswayable loyalty to the means rather than the end

Enrique has never known his life without football and Barça. He played football with high intensity from 7 to 18, peaking at 16 with a fleeting moment at a professional level. His father is Barcelona born and bred and as such has spent much time in the city and at the Camp Nou. His entire life, Barça was there: from his pajamas and bed sheets, slippers, poster, to a framed replica of Miro’s 75 anniversity homage and 15 original kits dating back to 1992. Barça and football were never a conscious choice, there was no moment when a decision was taken, it just was and for better or worse it cannot be tamed. Being called a Barça “fan” has never sat well with him. He’s culé, and it’s not the same. He loves sports in general, but nothing compares to FCB, nobody else actually matters, nothing else brings about feeling. A love of writing found a perfect partner in totalBarça.

Hady, Lebanon

FCB Favourite: Més que un club

Hady has been a Barça fan since as far as he can remember. It was passed down to him by his father, who lived in Barcelona for a very long while. He always talked about Spain and Catalunya – about their culture, language and everything. So, Hady learned the culture and the language and somewhere between all that there was Barça, something which to him is more than just football. Nevertheless, he only became the avid culé he is now after he was drained into the amazing style of play, especially with the arrival of Pep Guardiola. And because of his passion for Barça he landed at totalBarça, where he writes and translates. To him being part of tB is a privilege, something to brag about. Besides being a volunteer at tB, Hady is still a high-school student.

Harshawardhan, USA

FCB Favourite: Team Spirit

Watching the 2005-06 Champions League Finals as a neutral, Harshawardhan could not help but admire the magic of the club playing in red and blue. Further exploits of Puyol and co. in the forthcoming years convinced him that this was the club to watch – and cherish. A contributor at totalBarça since its inception, Harshawardhan loves the club philosophy, the youth system, the perfectionism and most of all the spirit of the team. Residing in Virginia, USA, Harshawardhan is working towards a PhD in functional brain imaging when he is not engrossed with the activities of FC Barcelona and its players.

Kavir, India

FCB Favourite: Footballing Philosophy

Kavir has been an ardent FC Barcelona supporter since the time of Rivaldo and Luis Figo, in an era which Barça had not met with much success. Nevertheless, the passion and dedication of the Blaugrana’s players and supporters struck a chord with him. Guardiola then came in and reinvented the way football was supposed to be played. Barça’s playing style and youth system are now a benchmark in world football. That, coupled with the humility and sense of belonging of the players, in spite of attaining so much success, makes Barça extremely special for him. His dream is to visit the Camp Nou some day and watch one of Barça’s matches live. In the time not obsessing about Barça, he works for a reputed technology consulting firm.

Maggie (Barcafandallas), USA

FCB Favourite: Style of play, because when it is at its best, it is more like an art form, a symphony of football, than a simple sport

As a mom (and teacher), she is probably the “elder” of the team, but is no less a diehard Barça now.  Also, growing up in the USA, “soccer” was not a sport in the forefront, so she got her first exposure to “real” football through the World Cup and then through Major League Soccer and FC Dallas.  She did not discover the incredible beauty of FC Barcelona until 2008, when she watched her spouse’s favorite team (FC Bayern) play Barcelona in a Champions League match.  It was love at first sight, because she had never seen such amazing skill and passing.  THAT was how football was meant to be played! She then subscribed to the cable Spanish-language channels, which is the only way to watch La Liga matches here in the Dallas area.  She visited Spain when in high school but has never been to Barcelona.  To return to Spain and see a live match someday is one of her goals, however.

María Inés, Chile

FCB Favourite: Camp Nou singing El Cant del Barça, and Xavi’s incredible passing.

María Inés has been a football fan since forever. She knew about Barça many years ago when the fashionable team in her home country was Real Madrid. During those years, Barça were the ‘underdogs’, the ones that never won anything. Her admiration for Barça started by enjoying the football of Stoichkov, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique, and now it has grown to the entire club, its principles and its philosophy. She has been fortunate to visit the Camp Nou several times, which included attending every single game of Barça’s worst season in La Liga, in 2002! Singing Barça’s anthem a capella, against Madrid this season, was her biggest moment as a Barça fan. She has been a totalBarça translator and writer since 2010. In her time not devoted to Barça, she works in the innovation department, in an oil company in Chile.

Mónica (Cerridwen), Spain

FCB Favourite: Club Philosophy & Values

Born and raised in Barcelona, she has been culé since she has been able to remember, as well as her whole family. For about 14 years of her life she didn’t pay much attention to Barça’s matches just because she preferred playing football rather than watching it and was aware of Barça’s achievements because they mentioned them on the news. Now, however, she is a passionate Barça fan and has been since 2006…even while having to combine work and university studies to be a pharmacist sometimes make it hard for her to follow all of the matches but, as the match ends, she looks up the match results on total Barça as soon as possible. You’re reading this because, after publishing a translation of a Crackòvia video on YouTube just for fun in 2010, total Barça contacted her to participate in their project, an offer which she delightfully accepted.

Roberto Curtis, USA 

FCB Favourite: Amazing technical skill required of each player

Roberto discovered the beautiful game at an early age by watching the Brazil and Flamengo of the early 90′s. After being an AC Milan fan for a few seasons because of Brazilian heros like Cafu, Emerson and Dida, Roberto switched his allegiance to the Blaugranes after a best friend and culé showed him the magic of Ronaldinho and the new breed of total football of Frank Rijkaard. He hasn’t looked back since.

There is actually a lot more people that make up totalBarça, but they are just shy at the moment

Opportunities

We are always looking for committed culés wanting to be part of a unique volunteer-based team that supports a growing FCB global fan community.  If you think you have the dedication, drive, and abilities to contribute to totalBarça in the areas of writing (journalism, translations, etc.), editing, video creation,  statistics, coding/programming, etc. – please complete the following application form.  If you are a suitable candidate, we will contact you and continue with your application.

Contact

If you have any words of encouragement, suggestions or general feedback, please feel free to write to us at web(at)totalBarca(dot)com.