Sheepshanks, chairman of the English Football Association's (FA) National Football Centre at St George's Park, will join the man widely considered to run the world's leading youth football academy, FC Barcelona's La Masia, on the stage for a session on 'Meet the Champions of Tomorrow'. The session will focus on how to lead successful football academies and look at how the FA can learn from La Masia's 'value of having values' philosophy.
The highly-anticipated National Football Centre is set to become the home of English football development. The aim is for the centre to provide a world-class training and education facility for England teams at every age level.
Commenting on his role at the Forum, Sheepshanks said: "As important as 2011 was, 2012 will be even more significant as we finally open the doors to St George's Park. This project is about every element of football - education, personal development, human performance, technology, sport science, medicine and also training the next generation of coaches. I look forward to sharing the stage with Carles Folguera and hearing of his plans to keep developing La Masia's already successful academy."
Lucien Boyer, president and CEO of Havas Sport & Entertainment and general commissioner of Global Sports Forum Barcelona, added: "With FC Barcelona continuing to dominate domestic and international football competitions, the GSFB represents a great opportunity to hear from the man behind La Masia's development and understand the important role a proper education plays in developing the champions of tomorrow. St George's Park is an important step in the future of English football, so we are delighted that David Sheepshanks will be with us to share his vision for the centre. Having two of the leading figures from youth football on stage will give delegates an exclusive insight into the future of the game and provide the perfect setting to bring the Forum to a close."
The Global Sports Forum Barcelona 2012 will take place at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona from March 7-9. To register, visit www.globalsportsforum.org/prices-registation_en_us and follow the on-screen instructions. Members of the press are invited to attend free of charge.