| 5 Recipients of the U.S. Center of Excellence " Experience of a Lifetime Tour" |
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| on 16 Apr 2008 | |
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Hello Sunny California...we've heard about the weather back home as we still continue to endure cold wet conditions. It still was a great time for the boys and the rest of us as we wind down our trip even though the weather has been less than kind. On Friday the boys had their last chance to prove themselves while playing a match against an older U-13 side from one of the local clubs in the area. The whole match was played in a constant down pour of freezing rain as the temperature was about 36 degrees. But the boys are showing great mental toughness and true grit which has really impressed the coaches over here because they havn't experienced this in the past from the youth american footballers they've seen come through. The Match ended in a 0-0 draw and the play on both sides was truely first class for this age level and it was a joy to watch even though we were cold and wet and a liitle tired from this busy week. All of our academy players did very well against a much bigger and faster squad. The center midfielder from the opposing team was a 6' tall player with a complete laser shot that he let rip several times. but our players not once backed down from him and as the match went on he became frustrated and was ineffective for the rest of the match. The Sunderland Academy team definetly controlled the tempo of the match and had a majority of the posession throughout. Both teams counter attacked very well and each squad had several great opportunities but both keepers were first rate and each made big time saves. After the game our whole group was shown a delightful send off by getting a farewell tour of the Suderland training compex. The facility is a state of the art home away from home type headquarters where players really do feel at home. Roy Keane said he believes to be a top premiership club everything must be first rate and done first class, then the players will play that way and believe they are a first rate team. I was told the facility cost 25 million pounds. Our players then got to go into the first teams locker room and see pictures of players and read notes from the coaches about game preparation and expectations for the season. They got to hold cleats of their favorite players and take pictures of anything they wanted. Then to top it off, they all recieved Sunderland gear, banners and pictures along with an autographed jersey. So the training is done and today on Sat. the 12th of April we head off to another Premiership match between Sunderland A.F.C. and Manchester City. I'm hoping for no rain and it's clear right now. And if it does come down, it still will not lessen the excitement for all of us as we endulge ourselves in this great soccer atmosphere. The 5 players who were recipients of the U.S. Center of Excellence " Experience of a Lifetime Tour" are as follows: Bryce Clark - Santa Clara Sporting Andre Morrow - PSA-SSJ Arsenal Gold Cody Buchanan - Central Valley Arsenal Gunners Lynden Gooch - Santa Cruz Breakers White Devin Castro - PSA-SSJ Arsenal Gold Cheers, Toby Bell Director of Coaching Pacific Soccer Academy U.S. Center of Excellence www.pacificsocceracademy.org <http://www.pacificsocceracademy.org> |
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