The Trust’s youth teams recently visited Barcelona to take part in the 2026 Copa Santa tournament. Around 80 kids, making up eight teams, made the journey to compete in the international tournament.
Nathan Khan, Football and Education manager, spoke about the success of the visit, saying: “We left at seven o’clock on Thursday morning to Birmingham airport, flew over to Barcelona, checked in, had a nice relaxing evening and got up early on Friday.
“All teams did really well. The U9s, both U16s teams and the U11s all progressed through to the finals on the Sunday. Both of our U16s teams progressed to the final, which meant that we finished as winners and runners-up in that age group.
“The U9s got third place, which is a fantastic achievement for them. The U11s finished fourth, again, they did brilliantly. All around, a good weekend away for all of the lads. There were lots of tired faces up at six o’clock on Monday morning to fly back. But it was a really, really positive trip.”
Nathan also commented on the excellent conduct shown by the kids, explaining: “All immaculately well behaved. We received various comments, one from a teacher at Birmingham airport, as we flew out, who commented on how well-behaved, polite and well-mannered the lads were.
“We also got stopped in the hotel and again received comments that for a group of kids of that size, they normally have all these problems, but our group’s behaviour was perfect.
“EasyJet also commented about how they were slightly concerned when we boarded the plane with that many kids, but commented how well behaved and polite the ladies were on the flight, which is only a credit to themselves.”
