The trip of a life time

The players themselves summarized it best when they were asked to express their impressions of their trip to Holland. In front of their peers and traveling parents, and after enjoying yet another delicious team dinner, their last of their 11-day soccer excursion, each player was asked to state in a few words or phrases how they felt about their Dutch adventure. As expected, the 31 players involved all had different ways of expressing themselves, but certain words and phrases came back again and again, amongst them "Fantastic", "Unforgettable experience", "Unbelievable", "A trip I'll never forget", "Incredible soccer facilities here", "The trip of a life time".

For the coaches, and the parents who had traveled with the two teams, it was gratifying to hear that all the planning and effort that SIGMA had put into this trip were well appreciated by the youngsters. It was a full and action packed schedule that saw each team play a series of exhibition games, tour three large stadiums, attended three professional games and enjoyed two sightseeing tours.

Of the three pro games, the most interesting game for the players was the N.E.C. (Nijmegen) vs. De Graafschap clash. Well worth the bus trip right across Holland. In no time flat, the Canadian youngsters caught on to what Dutch soccer fans have been doing and enjoying for decades. It was a joy to see how involved they became as the exciting game progressed; cheering on players and good plays; dancing with the crowd when the home team scored.

Both Alkmaar and Amsterdam were a hit. It was difficult to tell whether the players were more impressed by the fact that they stood in front of an architectural masterpiece dating back to 1472 or the fact that there were six sports stores within a 10 minute walk. Holland had an instant spike in the economy those two afternoons. In addition, light training with emphasis on set plays was held from time to time on the practice field, next to and part of beautiful Hotel Akersloot in the province of North Holland. Without exception, the young "Canadezen" were received with open arms by the host clubs. As every club visited had ample dressing rooms, shower facilities, a cafeteria, numerous fields, the players felt like "pros". Never more so than at Ajax, Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, clubs which have their own large youth sport complexes complete with staff physiotherapists and a club doctor.

Because of their working association with the youth coaches at Ajax, SIGMA had received special permission to attend a training session of the first team of this world renowned club. What a thrill for the boys to see the "birthplace" of some of the very best players in the world, former stars such as Johan Cruijff, Dennis Bergkamp, Marco Van Basten; current Ajax scorer supreme Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Wesley Sneijder now with Real Madrid. The "Pit Bull" himself, Edgar Davids, put the icing on the cake after the session by making himself available to the SIGMA players for autographs and pictures, a gesture that was well received by the adoring young fans.

It was a treat for them to play against AFC Amsterdam, a club that was founded in 1895 and produced players such as Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. On the field, the two teams, U10 and U14, gave a good account of themselves and represented SIGMA well. The U10, for instance lost 5-4 to their mighty Feyenoord counterparts on a last minute goal. The U14 beat Den Bosch, a contender this year for promotion to the Dutch Eredivisie, by a score of 2-1. Most of the total of 13 games played were either won or lost by one goal. for a roughly 50/50 split in the win/loss column.

On summarizing the on the field exploits of his group, group leader Bobby Smyrniotis said" The reality of this trip is that we have competed against youth teams of some of the top pro teams and prestigious, ranked amateur teams in a country that is known for its excellence in soccer. We showed all of them that we can play the game at their level. But more importantly the boys have learned valuable life long lessons that will assist them in life both on and off the field". Coach David Zonneveld added "Seeing that our Dutch opponents have been playing as a unit on outdoor fields since last August they had two enormous advantages over us before the games even started. Yet, we competed stride for stride with them in almost every match. I'm proud of our boys. We at SIGMA look forward to building on this success for years to come".