Four Surf Select teams traveled to London, England to compete in the inaugural Royal Preseason Cup from August 2^nd-8^th2022. On Tuesday morning our players and families made their way to the Berkshire countryside, with our teams based at the picturesque Bradfield College. After our opening team meeting, the teams took part in their first practices that evening.

The next morning we headed into the capital to watch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and visit Horse Guards Parade, Westminster, and Big Ben. Our players then had the opportunity to tour Stamford Bridge and visit the museum, home of Chelsea FC.

Thursday saw our teams participate in their opening games with friendlies against Reading City for our Boys 2009 and 2008 teams. Our Girls 2009s faced Sussex RTC and 2008s against Andover. The first evening of games saw wins for three of our sides.

Both Boy’s teams faced XL Academy from the Isle of Wight and Procision Academy on Friday as they looked to fine-tune ahead of the weekend. While our Girls 2009s took to the road to face Gloucester RTC, once again showing their quality and dominance on the field.

In the first of the marquee games, our Girls 2008s faced off against Tottenham Hotspurs U16s on Saturday morning. Our three other teams were on campus to support the girls! We showed excellent quality from the start, dominating the first half and taking a convincing lead into halftime. While there was an improvement from Spurs in the 2^ndhalf, our girls put on an exhibition at times with some excellent soccer on display. We finished with a big win and a shutout against the North London side.

Saturday afternoon, our teams traveled across London to visit the new Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, as Spurs faced Southampton in the opening weekend of the Premier League. A fantastic experience for our players and families to witness soccer at the highest level, in a sold-out stadium with the sun shining in North London!

Our Girls 2009s and Girls 2008s opened the Royal Preseason cup with two excellent performances and wins against Women’s Super League club, Reading Football Club. The Boys 2009s opened with a win vs Procision Academy U14s, while our 2008s also won by a goal against Wiltshire FA.

Our Boys 2009s made it two wins from two as they clinically dispatched Aldershot FC. The 08s faced a tougher test against Aldershot U15s, falling 2-1 after conceding in the second half.

In the final game of the Royal Preseason Cup, the Girls 2009s and Girls 2008s both faced off against another WSL club, Brighton & Hove Albion FC. First up was our Girls 2009s, they once again started quickly, taking the lead and showing their quality. They dominated throughout the game and picked up another convincing win to be crowned Champions of the first Royal Preseason cup!

Our Girls 2008s faced a bigger challenge as they went a goal behind in the first half to Brighton. However the girls didn’t panic and equalized before half time to make it 1-1. With less than 10 minutes remaining they found the back of the net to clinch a 2-1 win and win the Girls U15 Royal Preseason Cup!

On the Boy’s side our 2009s made it 3 from 3, with a hard-fought and deserved 4-2 win against Premier League club, Fulham FC U14s.  Our third Surf Select team to lift the trophy!

Finally, our Boys 2008s faced Fulham FC U15s. The Cottagers started well and showed their quality in possession but we held our own. The London side took the lead into halftime after scoring from a corner kick. We created some chances on the counter-attack but Fulham extended their lead in the second half, before clinching the win with their 3^rd goal late on. Congratulations to Fulham FC on winning the Boys U15 Royal Preseason cup.

Congratulations to the following players on being named Player of the Tournament-

• Boys 2009s- Sandro C- Match Fit Academy
• Boys 2008s- Aaron H- East County surf
• Girls 2009s- Sophia M- LA Surf
• Girls 2008s- Chloe L- New England Surf

The week concluded with a cookout for our players, staff, and families on a beautiful summer’s evening! Congratulations to our Girls 2009s, 2008s, and Boys 2009s on lifting the inaugural Royal Preseason Cup. Thank you to our players and staff for their efforts and quality during a fantastic week in England.

Our four Surf Select teams touched down in Dublin, Ireland on Friday July 22nd to make our first appearance at the SuperCupNI. The first weekend saw our teams finalize preparations for the prestigious event by facing local and international sides in friendly games. On Sunday evening our players and coaches took part in the tournament’s Opening parade and Ceremony through the town of Coleraine and local stadium, along with 75+ teams in front of a thousand local fans and supporters.

Our Boys 2009, 2008 and 2006 teams based on the North Coast, kicked off their games on Monday morning. Our Boys 2009s, competing in the ‘Minor Section’ came from behind to open with a 2-1 win vs Irish Premiership club, Glenavon FC. They followed up with a convincing 6-1 win vs Ballymoney United and a 5-1 win vs Dublin club, Home Farm FC.

They opened the scoring in Thursday’s semi-final vs Dundalk but conceded a late equalizer. They kept their cool to advance to Friday’s final after a 4-3 win on penalties. They faced Irish Premiership club Glentoran FC in the final at Coleraine Showgrounds. After going a goal down, they equalized before halftime to make it 1-1. A second-half penalty put them into the lead before adding a third. An excellent performance from our Boys 2009s to take the win and the championship, becoming the first-ever American side to win the SuperCupNI at any age group!! A proud moment for our Surf Select program.

In the ‘Youth Section’, our Boys 2008s opened with a 3-0 win vs NI National League club Castle Juniors. They took a 2-0 lead in game 2 vs Glentoran FC but in the end, shared the points after a 2-2 tie. The final group game saw them score four goals in the second half to defeat Ballymena United FC 5-0, winning the group on goal difference and advancing to the semi-finals. They faced Glenavon FC for a spot in the final. An edgy first half saw Glenavon take a 1-0 lead. The Northern Ireland side extended their lead early in the second half, eventually winning 4-0. The final game of the week also ended in defeat as they lost out to Linfield FC in the 3rd/4th place game, 5-1.

A glamour tie for our Boys 2006 team in the ‘Junior Section’ saw them face Manchester United on Monday afternoon. The team defended well for large periods but conceded twice during the game; although they created more chances in the second half, they started with a 2-0 defeat. The team faced tough opposition in County Antrim on Tuesday, who had won two of the past three U16 titles at the event. The boys were up for the fight and competed well but lost their second game 2-0. They bounced back Wednesday with a 6-1 win vs Mexican side Atlante FC. Thursday’s Vase category game saw them face another Irish side, County Armagh. Although dominating periods of the game, they were unable to take those chances, with Armagh scoring three unanswered goals. The boys finished strong with a 4-2 victory over San Francisco Glens.

Our Girls 2006 Blue team was based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, and competed in the inaugural Girls U16 tournament. They faced strong opposition in the category, including the U16 National teams of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland along with Glasgow Rangers FC, Scotland, Ottawa City SC, Canada, and Rush Soccer, USA.

They opened with a respectable 2-2 tie with the Republic of Ireland, followed by a 4-2 victory over Glasgow Rangers and a come from behind 2-1 win vs host nation, Northern Ireland. They advanced to Friday’s final, where they faced Glasgow Rangers once again.

A bright start from the team saw them rush to a 2-0 halftime lead. Although they conceded in the second half, they held their lead to be crowned champions! The second American side to lift the SuperCupNI following on from our Boys 2009s in the morning!

We look forward to returning to Northern Ireland next summer for the 2023 edition.

www.supercupni.com