In 2023 Trident is taking a group of 16 Boys to the UK for a 18 day whirlwind football tour. The tour will see the group play high level football against several clubs, watch Premier League and EFL games in famous stadiums, tour famous football clubs, visit Chelsea FC’s training complex for a VIP tour and meet All Whites Captain Chris Wood.
The trip will also see the group visit Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. For the most part of the trip the team's base will be in Yorkshire. The coaches will ensure the boys are well rounded on the tour as they are also exposed to culture through gallery visits and museums, a real trip of a lifetime. Year 9 Tait Nelson says he is looking forward to the stadium tours - especially his favourite team's stadium - Arsenal’s. He says watching professional games is going to be a highlight, and he is sure it will inspire him even more to be the best footballer he can be. Year 11 Eli Wetting is looking forward to going to his team Newcastle’s home town in the UK and playing high level football.
Tait Nelson says the opportunity to go on the Football UK tour in 2023 is something he is really looking forward to, “I have heard really impressive things about it from my brother who went on the last tour”. Eli was booked to go on the tour in 2021 which was cancelled due to Covid 19 and says “I am really pleased that I will now get to go in 2023 while I am still here at Trident. I want to take my football to the next level, being exposed to top international football means I will have more experience and it will be the extra motivation I need to put myself forward in the professional football career I am aiming for.”
Over the next two years the group are going to be doing lots of fundraising - marshalling at motocross events, working to take care of tracks for horse trail riding, quiz nights and other initiatives that enable everyone that has committed to going to be able to do so.
Tait is in the Junior Boys Football Team and says of his experience “I am enjoying being able to play really competitively. Before coming to Trident, I was with Ohope Soccer Club until year 6 and then Tauranga All Stars Academy. Trident is known for its good coaching and having great football teams so I am stoked to be on the team and that we get to play in the top division of a great competition - I will be playing my old teammates this weekend and I anticipate a good game. Being part of the football team means more than just football, we are a close team, we have been through team building from early on in the year and have lots of encouragement from our coaches - in football but also in all of our schooling. It will be great to travel with some of these team mates and make memories of a lifetime.”
Eli is in the Senior Boys Football Team for the first time and says the team is great because “we push ourselves and each other to be the best team we can be. Our coach provides us with mentorship, he makes sure that we have a solid foundation to build our football to the level we want to take it. Like Mr Barr does with the juniors, Mr Stanhope helps our team to perform highly in everything at school, he holds us accountable for being the best we can be all round. Lots of my team I have known since primary and intermediate, and lots of them are coming on the UK tour, it will be great to wrap up my whole schooling journey with these guys.”
We wish the tour group all the best with their fundraising efforts and look forward to sharing more details of the tour with our Trident whanau as they are finalised.
Missing from the photo are Kayan McCoubrie and Ollie Fort.