A trio of budding soccer stars are on their way to Europe to showcase their skills and play some of the top professional youth academy teams on the Continent.
Maple Ridge’s Brody Thomas, Sebastian Boserup and Isiah Smith are among the 13 boys from across the province making the trip with the Excel Soccer Academy.
The team will spend five days in England and play two games against Coventry City and Tottenham’s youth squads. The team will then move on to Italy and play Bologna FC, Inter Milan, Brescia, Verona Hellas and a fifth club still to be determined.
“I’m really excited about the trip and I think it’s going to be a really good experience for everyone,” said Thomas.
“What I’ve tried to do is bring together a group of highly-skilled, like-minded players, who love playing the game and will have no problem integrating in a short time,” said coach Josh Smith. “I think I’ve achieved that, and I think the boys will definitely impress the coaches and players overseas with their abilities.”
Excel Soccer was founded by Tony Pensato, a former professional soccer player to give young Canadian players an opportunity to travel to the top soccer countries in the world and experience the passion and culture that makes soccer such a great game. The boys will benefit from the quality training leading up to the trip and the top-notch competition in Europe.