theduke

My son plays football at Fencibles in Auckland and has been selected to go to the UK to play/trial with some top British Clubs along with 12 other boys all playing Under12s football, my son is the youngest at 9, the others are all 11 & 12.

The Football Association here in NZ do not want anything to do with these boys or to help at all with the cost, which I believe is the case with most sports here. We have in fact been told that if it were rugby they would have money thrown at them.

We are having a European Football Quiz night at Fencibles Clubrooms at Riverhills Park in Pakuranga on 11th Sept and would really appreciate if anyone here either wanting to get out and meet other expats or even have a Quiz night based around a sport we have know, could get along.

PM me if you are interested in knowing anymore.

Thanks
Andy

Am Loolah

Hi Andy.

Well done that boy - what a fantastic achievement. And what a disappointment not to have it recognised and supported.

Good on you all organising a fundraiser. Too far for us I'm afraid, but hopefully some people nearer will come out and support you.

Keep us posted and let us know how he gets on. (Only if he goes to Arsenal ... )

theduke

Thanks for your support, his mum is going with him for support, although it may just be for the shopping.

I am sure some people on here want to get out to something like this and meet other expats on a social occasion that can not be hard to make conversation around.

Kids over 8yrs are welcome as we have some games for them also, FIFA tournament on PS2 and a Wii Tennis Tournament will be held for the kids while the adults win the Grand Prize in the Quiz, lots of raffles and great prizes for all to be won.

Come on you know you want to! You will be made more than welcome. If you are new to the area this will be a great way to meet people who have been through what you are going through or are going through it right now.

Andy

BEVS

Yes. Well done that lad. You must be very proud of him.Sounds like a great way to meet people, get involved & help sporting youngsters.

I'm actually quite shocked by that and I hope the event gets the support it deserves.

theduke

Thanks BEVS, however no one on here is interested I think as no one has contacted me about getting along.

Come on guys!

Wooly_Cow

I am involved with Captial Footbal in Wellington. There are quite a few routes to get fudning for this sort of thing. My club, Seatoun, get funding for all sorts of club development activities including support for flights, accomodation and so on for our top teams.

Equally I used to be inlvolved with the English F.A. and know that there are reciprocal funding agreements in place for just the sort of costs you mention (we used to bring a group of Dutch and German youth teams to exchanges and tournaments in England). Equally the German FA (DFB) of which I am still a member have youth development programmes where various levels of support are provided. One event in about 1998 we paid for everything except flights for development players from around Europe (in fact I think we even paid for some flight in hardship cases).

Bottom line - I am surprised you can't find any support for your son.

I will ask around at my club and Capital Football and PM you if I find any avenues for you to explore.

Incidentally which clubs are interested? My former English club used to have players go to Southampton, Chelsea, Charlton, and Reading accadamies, and once again they provided various levels of support, from the club itself.

kejktfc

Hi Andy,

New here introduced myself on the forum yesterday. Couple of questions ref your son and his trip to the UK.

You may have noted that I have just spent the last three and half years in professional football in the England (managing the day to day off field activities, including youth development), at a Blue Square Premier Club. Have been pretty high profile the last couple of years, including reaching the 4th Round of the FA Cup last season and playing Fulham at our place.

Now the reason I ask, is firstly, these trials, who are they with and sorted them out? I mean the teams and is it a NZ based or UK based organiser.

The game is cut throat in relation to players, including and sometimes even more so young players. I used to get at least 50-100 CV's a week from players all over the UK and Europe (and sometimes S America/Africa).

The first thing that you must do when your young lad shows any aptitude is to make sure he receives decent coaching, which I am sure is happening, but to progress 1. It needs a lot of luck, and 2. a hell of a lot of talent, because it is really difficult to make it.

Now I know I am going off a bit but one of the worst things I have seen is the amount of money that can be made on the back of youngsters, and their parents chasing the dream. The only way to avoid dishing out futile money is to make sure the coaches and his/her organisation are top notch. I am not saying this is no the case here, but I hope you get my drift.

If you wish more than happy to discuss with you further and if you have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]

Kev