A 13-year-old Bermudian has been playing football for the last year with Spanish youth club UE Cornellà with the hope of one day becoming a professional.

Antonio Carvelho was selected by Bermuda Athletic Association (BAA) director of football Kenny Thompson to attend a programme by the World Sport Academy in Catalonia.

He has spent the past school year at the Escaan International School of Barcelona after previously attending Mount St Agnes in Bermuda.

UE Cornellà is one of the most successful clubs in Catalonia and a feeder club for Spanish professional teams Barcelona and Espanyol and England’s Blackburn Rovers.

Carvelho previously played for Pembroke Hamilton Club (PHC) and North Village Community Club before joining BAA.

He won the Golden Boot Award as the top goalscorer while with North Village.

Just last week he spoke about his experiences to the Hamilton Rotary Club.

He said: “I started playing football when I was three-years-old at PHC.

“In the beginning my mom would have to push me on the field but by the end of that season I received the Most Improved Player Award and football has been a major part of my life since then.

“Because of BAA’s relationship with UE Cornellà I was able to travel to Spain twice a year with my team, be coached by professional coaches and compete at higher a level.

“In August, 2013, after many long conversations between my mom, coach Thompson and Soccer Stages I was able to travel to Spain to participate in the ten-month residential programme offered by Soccer Stages.

“Soccer Stages is the link between school, the residence and UE Cornellà. Really, they are the glue that holds everything and everyone together.

“I lived in the residence with about 23 other boys from many different countries. Only seven of us were from Bermuda.

“A typical day would start with breakfast at 7am, technification training from 8.30 to 10am, showers and a bus ride to the International School of Barcelona (which is about 45 minutes from the residence) to complete the academic portion of our day. Study hall is from 4pm to 5.30pm and three nights a week we have training with our teams.

“My games days are either Saturday or Sunday and they can be as early as 7am or as late as 7pm.

“This past season I played striker for the first half and centre back for the second half. My team finished third place out of 14 teams and I scored 12 goals which placed me in the top third of the scorer’s table.”

Antonio explained that each player in Soccer Stages programme receives quarterly reports from the Technical Advisor Albert Benaiges, a former Barcelona Academy Director, who helped with the development of the famous La Masia Barcelona Academy and has been involved in the development of players such as Messi, Iniesta, Xavi as well as Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona player and current coach of Bayern Munich.

“I have been able to enjoy a few professional games as well as visits to many historic landmarks and theme parks in Barcelona. I am learning to speak and read the language,” added Antonio.

“In order to prepare myself for the upcoming season, I have technification training at BAA from 6.30 to 7.30 every morning and CrossFit training from 8 to 8.45 three times a week.”

He will return to Spain on August 23 to start another ten-month programme.