Ben Lederman still gets up early for school every morning so he can be finished in time for soccer training. He still practices, every day, at La Masia, the famed youth academy of F.C. Barcelona. He still spends much of his time at a place where he occasionally crosses paths with stars like Lionel Messi.
But Lederman, whose entire family moved to Barcelona from California in 2011 hoping he would someday become the first American to play for the famed club, has not been allowed to play in an official game for Barcelona’s youth teams in more than a year.