On August 1st, the U14 girls embarked on a once in a lifetime trip over to Europe to both visit and train with the parent Club. The team had the opportunity to be fully integrated with the Celtic youth academy system. The girls trained in first class state of the art training facilities and were trained by Celtic coaches. As part of the visit they had lunch at Celtic Park stadium every day, played games versus international opposition and went to see Celtic play their opening game of the season at Celtic Park. Throughout the visit Jonathan Burns and John McStay, two of our camp coaches, accompanied the team providing both guidance, hosting and even support during the games.
The first game played was against the Celtic U14 Academy team. This was a highly competitive team that were solid throughout as you would expect from a team of this caliber. The girls from Florida were at a disadvantage from the start by playing on Astro turf and with a size 4 ball. Our girls provided good opposition but had to defend for our lives for large parts of the game. The girls overcame a dubious penalty kick which was saved and with 5 minutes left to play we were able to steal a goal and come away with a 1-1 tie. A great result for an American team.
The team played two other games, unfortunately losing both, but playing well and coming away with the respect of the opposition and the Celtic brass. The girls made friends, one girl is coming over for vacation to Florida and will train with us during the visit. The team also made memories that will last a lifetime experiencing not only the soccer aspects but also many of the cultural things Europe and in particular Scotland has to offer.
I believe every team at our club should go on this trip. If you see a parent who went on the trip go up to them and ask them how they felt about the trip. What we also received from this trip is the sense of what it is like to be a part of “Celtic” the honor it is and how it is a way of life, not just soccer. Truly a once in a lifetime trip
We will be adding pictures from the trip over the coming weeks so be sure to check back.
