British footy is not for the faint of heart. It’s one thing to know that second-hand and quite another to experience it directly as the Okotoks United U14 boys returned home from an overseas tour to Wales and England with some bumps and bruises and invaluable experience on the pitch. “They were perhaps pleasantly surprised with how well they did against the city league team,” said head coach Matt Lumsden. “Their expectations coming off the plane and stepping onto the field were perhaps quite low, but they exceeded our expectations for the first portion of the trip. “They got a bit intimidated by some of the bigger, more physical players at the start of the tournament, by the end of it they adapted really well for the style of football.” So much for jetlag. Benjamin Odd scored twice, Sam Griesser, Logan Piccott, Charlie Godec, Eric Tudur all found the back of the net in the 8-1 triumph over AFC Rumney to kick off the tour in South Wales. “The first day we landed we had a game against a comparative Tier I team for our age group from the Cardiff area,” Lumsden said. “They play in the city league, a bit like our Calgary league here. “The boys, that was one of the best games they played. They were full of energy, full of enthusiasm.” They took their energy into sightseeing in the Welsh capital city, visiting Cardiff Castle and acting as tourists before getting back on the pitch the next day. The second match saw Okotoks line up versus Cambrian Academy, dropping a narrow 5-3 decision to the Welsh squad. “That was probably the best game we had all trip,” the coach added. “It was end-to-end, a great atmosphere, there were probably 250, 300 people watching, in a small valley town and it was a brilliant experience for the boys. “We were 4-3 down with a minute to go and our central midfielder (Godec) was about six inches from getting his foot on a ball to equalizing and from that the goalkeeper picked it up and they scored on the break with the last kick of the game.” Following an academy training session with Cardiff City — featuring a stadium tour to see what the Premier League team goes through on match day — the Okotoks lads charted their course to the home of the self-proclaimed ‘best band in the world.’ Home not only to Oasis, but perhaps the world’s most famous club soccer team Manchester United and the best team in the Premier League, Manchester City, England’s third-largest city was the venue for the English International Super Cup. Age, experience and physicality proved to be huge factors in the tournament. Okotoks, a team featuring 2004 born players, played against primarily older opposition who go by school year rather than birth year. Still, United held its own against older and bigger combatants. “The one thing that was noticeable was how physical the game was,” the coach added. “Between the two boxes there probably wasn’t a team as good as us, just in the attacking box they were ruthless in front of goal and really clinical and defensively they didn’t look like they would concede whereas we struggled from set pieces and balls in the air.” United finished the tournament with the bronze medal in the B draw. After dropping a heartbreaking semifinal to the Las Vegas’ Demillio Academy on penalties, they rebounded with a 3-2 victory over Scotland’s Balloan FC in the medal match. “We played very well in our last game in proper British football conditions, there was sideways rain, the wind was howling,” Lumsden said. “Overall it was a very good experience for them, they got to see what the standard is and how they matched that. “Ultimately they’re very close.” Okotoks roster: Christian Bell, Keean Bown, Colton Burkard, Liam Eppleston, Charlie Godec, Sam Griesser, Kurt Hymanyk, Gabriel Janik, Amman Letta, Evan McLeod, Ben Odd, Logan Piccott, Josh Ramirez, Brandon Russell, Eric Tudur, Luke Wiggins.
