FranceItaly Trip

The US Youth Soccer Region I 1990 ODP Boys Team traveled through France and Italy durning May 2006. In addition to training activities, the team participated in the XVI Trofeo Renzo Trovo Tournament, May 19-21, 2006 , in Campagnatico, Italy. The team included 18 players [Roster], Coaches Rob McCourt and George Nazario, Trainer Sheila Noecker, and Team Administrator Karen Oliver. This summary was prepared by Karen Oliver.

The team arrived in Paris, France on Sunday, May 14, 2006. They were transported to the hotel by bus. While in Paris the team stayed at Hotel Le Saint-Maurice in Saint Maurice (southeast of the city). Saint Maurice is a suburb of Paris. The streets are narrow with small shops and cafes. The subway is within walking distance of the hotel. Each day while we were in Saint- Maurice the team trained on a local soccer club’s field.

On Monday afternoon the team went into Paris to see the sights and to visit the PSG soccer store.

Striking a pose outside the PSG soccer store while we were waiting to go eat at Pino Pizza Italian Restaurant

Tuesday we traveled by bus to Gernand Sastre National Technical Center, commonly referred to as Clairefontaine. It is the national football center and academy of France. It is located 50km southwest of Paris. Clairefontaine is one of the finest football academies in the world. It has the reputation of producing some of the world’s most gifted players.

It is an immense football center. It has 138 acres of land and boasts 66,000 square meters of turfed grounds. It has an outdoor stadium and an indoor stadium.

The best young soccer players in France come to Clairefontaine for training and development of their technical skills. Most of the players that attend here are often tracked by established French clubs and go on to have very successful careers.

Clairefontaine is located in the heart of the Rambouille Forest. The center opened its doors in January of 1988. It is named after the French Federation president and longtime official, Fernand Sastre. The center also includes a medical building, gym, fitness room, restaurant, residency buildings and a cafeteria.

The Region I Team had a scrimmage against the U-16 French National Team who are in residency at the Clairfontaine training site. We did not score in this match and the final score was 5-0. Despite the loss, it was indeed a privilege for our team to play at such a spectacular facility and to play a team of such caliber.

On the way to the Louvre the team stopped at a corner café. Some tried a freshly made crepe and others had an ice cream.

Unfortunately, the team did not have time to tour the Louvre. They walked around the interior court yard and the exterior of the building. The Louvre is immense. It’s truly amazing that a building of this magnitude was built without modern technology.

We were late arriving into Rome on Thursday, May 18, 2006. It was to be a 2 ½ hour drive to the hotel and the team had a game scheduled for 9:15 PM. The director of the tournament accompanied us on the bus ride and phoned ahead to this restaurant and asked if they could accommodate 18 starving soccer players. It was a family owned restaurant. Everything was homemade. They served us pasta, salad and bread. It was our first meal in Italy. They were warm and extremely pleased that players from the United States had stopped to eat at their restaurant.

The restaurant had soccer club banners displayed all over the restaurant so we added to their collection by giving them one of ours. Coach Rob McCourt presented the wife of the restaurant owner with our Region I banner.

The tournament was held in the small town of Campagnatico, which sits on top of a hill 275 meters above sea level. It overlooks a valley and you can see for miles. It is a quiet little medieval town.

We are the first American team that has ever been invited to participate in the tournament.

This was the 20th year for the tournament. Roberto Trovo’ is the tournament director, and for the last 16 years he has dedicated the tournament to Renzo Trovo’, his son, who passed away 16 years ago while playing soccer.

We played a friendly match with the U-16 Campagnatico club team when we arrived on Thursday evening. The score was 2-0 with Region I winning.

We visited the fortress, Rocca di Montalcino, that was built back in 1361. Today it has vineyards growing all over the hillsides surrounding the town. It is famous for its wine. The players were able to walk around the town and to see the local shops and markets. We definitely found the ice cream shop!

On Saturday, we did not have a game. We traveled to Siena where we spent a few hours wondering around the streets enjoying the shops and sights. It has a large square where there is a famous horse race held each year called the “Palio”. Siena has some beautiful and very old churches. As in all the places we visited it was full of history and the time was much too short to see everything there was to see.

Team photo before the match between Region I and A.C. Siena. The score of this match was 0-0. With this tie combined with the number of goals scored in their first match, Region I won their Group and advanced on to the finals.

Region I Results

Region I vs. F.C. Genoa 3-1

Region I vs. A.C. Siena 0-0

Region I vs. F.K. Rijeka 1-1, 4-5 in Penalty Kicks

Yannick received MVP award

Jan received the award for
best goal keeper