Barry Town Academy’s U13 and U14 squads recently returned from an unforgettable tour of Gent, Belgium, packed with football, fun, and fantastic team spirit.
The tour was jam packed including a professionally led training session delivered by KAA Gent Academy Coaches, providing the boys with a top-level experience and valuable insights into elite European coaching.
Both age groups then faced tough opposition across two rounds of fixtures.
The U13s showed great resilience, narrowly losing 4-2 to KV Kortrijk before bouncing back impressively to defeat KRC Harelbeke 3-1. Dom Nash was in fine form, netting a superb hat-trick over the two games, with James Pughe adding two goals of his own.
U13s Captains on this trip, James McCarthy (Jambo) and Olly Saddler said, “It was an honour to represent and captain Barry on this tour and in Europe. We were very happy to win our second game and work as a team to perform well. We enjoyed the stadium tour and Belgian bowling experience and can’t wait to go again”
The U14s faced a challenging encounter against a strong KV Kortrijk side missing out on a victory but keeping their head up in regards to their performance. They responded admirably with a spirited performance against KRC Harelbeke’s U15s, narrowly losing 5-4 in a thrilling contest on a tough playing surface.
U14s Captain Evan Yarr said, “Results didn’t go the way we wanted on the tour but it was a great experience and we enjoyed spending time as a team and being able to celebrate with our U13s team mates on their victory”.
Off the pitch, the boys enjoyed well-earned downtime, they thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the Planet Group Arena, home of KAA Gent, seeing the values of the Belgian club and our own club align as community based clubs and were shocked to realise that even at Belgian Pro League level, the club still relied heavily on volunteers for it to run smoothly. Another highlight was the team bowling night and some well-deserved McDonald’s – all of which strengthened team bonds and kept spirits high throughout the trip.
A huge thank you goes to coaches Daley, Yarzi, Adam, and Warwick for their incredible support and guidance throughout the tour.
We’re already looking forward to next year’s adventure – bring it on!