Dubai British School returned home from a memorable 6 days in Spain following a Football Development Tour of a lifetime, Gulf Youth Sport reports.
The trip, arranged by PE teacher, Nicholas Clarke, visited the iconic football cities of Barcelona and Madrid.
The 34 lucky students enjoyed training sessions with club coaching staff at the first team training complexes of RCD Espanyol and Real Madrid, played two international challenge matches against local teams, embarked on behind the scenes stadium tours of both the Camp Nou (FC Barcelona) and Santiago Bernabeau (Real Madrid), and watched on as Lionel Messi and Neymar put on a footballing masterclass infront of 90,000 cheering fans at the Camp Nou, as FC Barcelona defeated Celta Vigo 5-0.
Nicholas Clarke said: "It's been a week packed full of once in a lifetime experiences. I am so proud of our students – the way they applied themselves in the coaching sessions and the performances in the challenge matches were the highlights for me. Seeing Barcelona win 5-0 at the Camp Nou is an experience that we all remember for a long time! "
Dubai British School fan favourite, Rory Clune, said: "Real Madrid is the best training I have ever experienced. I loved training on the same fields as my hero Gareth Bale and I enjoyed the Spanish coaching style, they make everything seem so simple!"
Rory's team mate, Owen Meisonnave, was equally as positive: "It was cool to play against Spanish teams and experience a different style of opponent, it's a more patient game here in Spain! Im proud of my team mates and happy that we scored so many nice goals today. We go home tomorrow but I can now say for the rest of my life that I've seen Messi, Neymar and Suarez play live which is so cool!"
Michael Pentland, Spanish programme co-ordinator at Trans World Educational Experiences said, "The students of Dubai British School represented themselves, their school and their families impeccably during their recent Football Development Tour. The students applied themselves during the training sessions, competed well in the challenge matches against Spanish opposition and, most importantly, thoroughly enjoyed themselves."
Trans World Educational Experiences is the proud Tours & Tournaments partner of Gulf Youth Sport. With over 10,000 passengers from more than 40 different countries travelling every year, Trans World has built an unrivalled reputation in the Middle East for providing meaningful sports travel experiences across the world since their inception in 2010.