Once again, NEXT GEN USA took a team comprised of many of the top youth players in the US abroad to play the top academy teams of the world. If that’s not impressive enough, these trips are not just to say they were there, they actually compete well on this world stage. Last week in Bassevelde, Belgium at the U13 CUP BASSEVELDE, NEXT GEN USA finished ahead of REAL MADRID from Spain and PSG from France. In March, NEXT GEN USA had a team of U12’s advance out of their bracket at the MEDITERRANEAN INTERNATIONAL CUP in Palamos, Spain only to eventually be knocked out by an extremely talented LIVERPOOL squad. NEXT GEN USA is rapidly becoming a respected player on the International stage for their highly successful club neutral training and player progression system.
Tony Williams, NextGen’s Director of Youth Development said, “To come here with a group that has never played together before and finish ahead of European giants such as Real Madrid and PSG demonstrates the quality of talent we have in North America. To produce world class players for Professional Leagues and National Team Programs, our best young American players must be playing “Best with Best” against the world’s finest youth academies as early and as often as possible. It was especially rewarding to see the boys recognized for their behavior and professionalism, they were immaculate both on and off the field. These character qualities of responsibility, discipline, and respect are very important to learn as they will help the boys in life regardless of how high the soccer ladder they climb. The result of their personal development is more important than the results of the games.”
During the eighth day International development experience, the NextGen Squad participated in two-day training camp in Rotterdam, Holland hosted by S.B.V Excelsior, the Dutch Eredivisie Club that produced Robin van Persie. The group then made the short travel into Belgium where they trained at Club Brugge and played a warm up match with SV Zulte Waregem.
To Nominate a special player that you may know about, contact TONY WILLIAMS at tony@nextgenusa.org
*Special thanks to Will Kemp who contributed to this story.
