The 10 players, all aged between 11 and 15, will head to Manchester next January for about 10 days, during which time they’ll participate in a two-day training camp with the England national football team and train at Manchester City’s world-class facilities.
They’ll also play in about six matches against local premier league academies.
Coach Simon Couldstone says the opportunity arose after last year’s Christchurch International Cup, one of New Zealand’s top youth footy tournaments. The Queenstown under-11 team excelled at that event and was subsequently approached by former Manchester United Academy player Adam Thurston, who’s since founded Auckland-based Pro Project, which aims to help young footballers reach their full potential.
Through that initiative, the Queenstown players will travel to the UK alongside 30 other kids from Auckland. They’ll be travelling up north regularly for training as a group before they head overseas.
But the trip isn’t coming cheap — the group’s fundraising goal is $150,000.
He’s keen for anyone to get in contact if they have jobs the kids can do to earn a bit of money — "we don’t just want to hand this experience to them, we want them to really earn the value".
To contribute towards the trip, visit shorturl.at/Ix8vf
