Peña Anima Blaugrana supporters' group spreads Barça message in Shanghai

As a die-hard FC Barcelona fan, the idea of launching the Peña Anima Blaugrana was one that came rather naturally. I knew of Catalan and Chinese friends who also enjoyed watching the matches and so the group practically formed itself. 

Our penya (supporters' club in Catalan) is run according to the Barça philosophy, in that our focus is on quality rather than quantity. We're not looking to break any records in terms of membership numbers. We're well aware that in China it would be all too easy to fall into the trap of pursuing large membership figures, but we don't want to go down that route. At the moment, we have almost 3,000 followers on Weibo, one of the most popular social media platforms in the country, and yet we welcomed just 100 members following the initial round of membership applications. In June we're set to invite a second round of applications, from which a further 100 members will be enrolled. We want to ensure that our members have a perfect understanding of what Barça and the Mes que un club (More than a club) philosophy is all about.

The club has offered us its support right from the word go, promoting our group via their official channels, both from Barcelona as well as the club's offices in Hong Kong. We're tremendously proud of all of our members. They have a perfect grasp of the values which set our club apart from the rest, and they've taken these on as their own. It's really exciting to be sharing in this experience with them.

LaLiga's development throughout Asia is plain for all to see and this growth is enabling us to expand our horizons all the more. With every passing LaLiga event, the number of China-based followers increases. These events help to build loyalty amongst our supporters and serve to enhance a feeling of belonging. It's important that LaLiga continues to show a commitment to hosting events, and indeed that greater emphasis is placed on this, which would be good news for followers all around the globe. We have particularly special memories of the LaLiga Club event staged to mark the Barcelona v Valencia CF game. There was also the event which we organised at the Cabra restaurant for El Clasico, in which we once again benefited from LaLiga Club's organisational support. Both of these were fantastic footballing extravaganzas, although we're convinced that the best is yet to come. We're planning several events, including football camps and clinics - to be run with the club's assistance -, whilst we're also setting up our own football team to take part in tournaments against supporters' groups of other European clubs. Of course, we've also got trips planned to Barcelona to cheer the team on at live games.

All of this makes me feel like I'm in a privileged position. Barça is one big family and we at Anima Blaugrana are a part of that. Barcelona is far more than just a football club, it's a feeling of belonging and a way of life which revolves around a set of values which I share: the family, honour, dignity, effort, loyalty… Barça demonstrate on a daily basis that it's possible to compete and win things by being gracious and subscribing to certain values. This is the message that we at Anima Blaugrana are also trying to put out there.