Waitaki Boys’ High School pupil Jack White has been selected for the Football Otago Youth Development Academy squad that will fly over to Northern Ireland to play in the Super Cup Northern Ireland tournament in July.
The 16-year-old centre back was over the moon with the opportunity to play abroad.
"It’s going to be an amazing experience, I can’t wait."
He said he was loving being in an environment where the players push each other to be better and was looking forward to testing his skills against the other teams from around the world.
"Everyone there is good and then we get to go away and verse even better people. It’ll be fun, very difficult, a good challenge."
From an original pool of 44 players, a squad of 24 was selected with six of those being non-travelling reserves.
White was one of the 18 players confirmed to be heading over to the tournament.
The squad train together every second Sunday for five-hour sessions.
The team is heading over to England to have some warm-up matches before arriving in Northern Ireland.
The Super Cup tournament formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, was established in 1983 and has become one of the premier youth competitions in the world.
Last year’s tournament saw English Premier League giants Manchester United and Liverpool sending academy squads to compete.
Past players in the tournament include David Beckham, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire.
White was looking forward to playing against the Red Devils, who were confirmed to be returning in this year.
"It would be a dream to play against them."
White has played in the First XI for Waitaki Boys’ since 2022 and plays his club football for Timaru Thistle AFC.
His love for the game started from an early age.
"As soon as I was able to play football, I started it. Dad got me into it at Meadowbank and I’ve loved it ever since.
"You can play your football your way. You can make them not get the ball at all or play around them. It’s an active sport and I love it."
