Sr. Boys’ Soccer Sharpen Skills on Trip to UK

It was just the second morning away, and already everyone knew that regardless of the score, the trip would be a success. The trip was the culmination of a plan from coaches Mr. Milonas and Mr. Townsend to challenge their soccer-mad students with an intensive experience in the UK that would push them to improve their skills.

The team left Toronto on Thursday, September 29th and played in that first game less than 24 hours after arriving in their host city of Leicester in the East Midlands of England. Over the next eight days the boys had four practices, played four games, watched two EPL (English Premier League) games, had two stadium tours, and finally, visited two top-notch UK soccer academies.

After that first game, in which they lost 3-2 to Rothley Imperial with Joey Bellotti scoring twice, the team traveled north to Hull to watch Hull City play against Chelsea. The highlight may have been the police escort out of town after the game. No need to worry as all the buses formed a long conga line from the stadium to the highway to ensure that visiting fans travelled safely on their way home.

On Sunday, they watched the Premier League Champions, Leicester City play to a 0-0 tie with Southampton. At half-time the team participated in the cross bar challenge where players were asked to kick a ball off the cross bar and earn a donation to a charity. As soon as the game ended they were whisked away to a two-hour training session at the Leicester City FC Academy.

On Monday morning, the team had a special two-hour tour of Leicester City’s home, King Power Stadium, and the obligatory stop in the gift shop. That evening they put the lessons they learned to good use in defeating Barrowtown, 2-1, with goals from Joey Bellotti and Alex Wyndham-West.

The next day brought a new challenge with CDS playing a very good local side, one of the best in Leicester, Selby Town. This time the speed and pace of the locals was too much and a late goal proved the difference as CDS fell, 1-0.

The next two days were filled with tours Old Trafford (home to Manchester United) and Blackburn Rovers Academy, plus a training session at Rovers. The team put all the lessons into action and on Thursday afternoon CDS capped their ‘British Invasion’ with a 3-2 victory over Wreake Valley Academy. Scoring for CDS were Aryan Hakim with 1 and Will Sherman with 2.

All that remained was a fantastic day in London for visiting Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and shopping. It was a whirlwind tour that our boys won’t soon forget!