Foot ball in t he Sun w it h friends proves a success. "Let's Go Team"

CVJFC U15/ 16 squad travels to Spain to compete in the Costa Daurada Cup!!

On April 1st, our U15/16 players and coaches, along with some of their family members, travelled to Salou in Spain to take part in the Costa Daurada Cup. Staying at Cambrils Park Resort and playing their matches at Mediterranean Sport Village (Futbol Salou), the squad would be competing alongside teams from across the globe.

The annual tournament is one of the largest in Europe and this year consisted of 103 boys teams, and 48 girls teams of varying age groups from countries including America, Canada, Spain, Sweden, England, Mali, Senegal, Mexico, Japan, Cyprus, Ireland etc. The majority of the teams that enter are either professional elite academies or affiliated to a professional football club. Clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Queens Park Rangers had representative teams in the competition, so we didn't have high expectations for a grassroots club based in a small village in the North of England!

The idea was always to give the boys an experience of a lifetime after giving service to the club from the age of 7 up to 16, in the knowledge that many might not be with us next year when they go to college or enter the world of work. As long as they showed a good account of themselves the results didn't matter, but the team exceeded all expectations. We also wanted to create a legacy within the club so that every future U16 team had a chance to experience a European tournament too.

The boys were impeccable both in their conduct and play and represented both our club (and country for that matter) in the highest manner. We were even the flag bearers at the head of the England group of teams in procession during the opening ceremony with other elite teams, including QPRbehind us Catterick Village Junior Football Club - Pride of Yorkshire indeed!

After drawing our first group match against San Marcial, we won our second against Salou before suffering our first defeat against American Elite Academy and Football Scouting organisation, Futstar/XRSoccer.

We had finished second in our group Official Costa Daurada Cup imageof Jack(vFutstar) against some of the best academies in the world and would now meet CF Martorell in the quarter finals, a club who's senior team plays in the sixth tier of the Spanish Football League. Unfortunately, some dubious refereeing decisions went against us and despite playing very well we were knocked out of the competition 3-0

Thanks to Mark from Rondo Travel for everything that he did to make the trip a success for all who attended.

What we have taken from the tournament is that as a club, Catterick Village JFCare doing things right and are developing our players into exceptional young men. As well as the way in which they conducted themselves throughout the whole week, mixing with other European teams, and remaining upbeat at all times, they played as a team, stuck by each other and proved that as long as they displayed mutual support and trust in their teammates, they could compete with the best. The entire trip has surpassed any preconceived expectations we may have had and would recommend the experience to anyone, so much so that we are now looking into the possibility of our team returning in 2 years time to compete as u18's alongside our u16's (currently u14's).

Whilst there, the boys roomed together, the whole party ate together at the same meal times and everyone spent downtime together with their family and friends. All of this was part of the overall vision to offer the boys a trip of a lifetime whilst making it as much of a team bonding occasion as possible, giving them endless memories and stories to tell once back home.

Outside of the football tournament, one of the highlights for the squad was a trip to Barcelona to take in the Nou Camp stadium and museum tour. Luckily for the boys, they got to see the stadium before Barcelona move out at the end of the current 2022/23 season for renovation works to begin Hopefully the boys will return in the future so they can then see the new and improved Camp Nou.

Since returning home we have distributed a form to collect feedback on the trip so this can be shared throughout the club. Players and Parents were asked to comment on the resort, travel, football facility and the trip as a whole, along with their highlights. Below is some of the feedback and highlights received

Gelled as a t eam , once in a lifet im e experience, lot s of great m om ent s, enjoyed playing against Int ernat ional t eam s, Cam p Nou t rip

I've spoken t o parent s I've seen before but not spent any t im e w it h. I t hink t his has been a really valuable part of t he t rip and I'm sure w ill m ake t he group st ronger

Don't sit at t he back of t he coach w it h t he boys, it 's t raum at ised m e.

The t herapy is helping!!

Being st uck in Dover and having a kickabout playing one bounce and t hen a 5 a side m at ch

Aft er w inning t he second m at ch w e played against Salou B all of t he lads w ent t o t he pool and seeing how happy everyone w as, along w it h t he Cam p Nou t rip

A great experience for all and w ould highly recom m end it t o everyone We have just t his aft ernoon booked a fam ily holiday t o Cost a Dorada

In July by car and ferry. If w e hadn? t of been last w eek it w ouldn? t have even been on our radar!

Absolut ely one of m y great est m em ories and w ould love t o relive it

Am azing t im e w it h m at es felt like w e got closer as a t eam

I really enjoyed it and it helped m e t o creat e a bigger friendship w it h ot her players as I?m fairly new t o t he t eam

It w as a great experience I loved it even w hen not playing foot ball I had a great t im e w it h t he lads

The coaches village w it h t he big screen w as great

Com ing Soon - A Souvenir program m e cont aining a full w rit e up of t he t rip so fut ure U16 squads and all club m em bers can see w hat t o look forw ard t o.

Throughout the whole process of getting our lads to Spain, the driving force behind everything from fundraising to arriving in Salou has been Darren Rhodes.

In recognition of everything that he's done for both the trip and the club as a whole, the boys made a special presentation to him following their training session held after arriving in Spain on the Sunday evening.

During the season the squad had held a fines system where players were punished for dirty boots, arriving late etc with the monies collected by Fin. Despite Daz telling Fin that the money was to be spent on the squad for anything they wanted to help with the bus journey to Spain, the boys opted to use that money to help purchase the framed shirt Further proof of what has been achieved with this group of players over the past few years and the adults that they are becoming.

All Daz has to do now is work out where it goes at home!!