NEWS - JULY: KOKKOLA CUP TOUR DIARY

A mixture of 97&98 players travelled to the Finnish town of Kokkola for the 27th Kokkola Cup. The tournament would see the team exit prematurely regards to the potential they showed. However the lessons learned and challenges the players overcame during their week stay, means they each left the tour knowing that it had been a huge learning experience, and one which should help them in developing over the next few months and beyond.

With a squad of 12 making the trip to Finland, Coaches Scott and Howard found out a lot about the players, and when finishing the tour could see the massive benefits that the different lessons they had learnt starting to sink in.

Arriving a day early provided the boys with ample opportunity to prepare extremely well for the tournament with close neighbours (literally for the tournament) Luton Town, providing us with a very competitive friendly inwhich both teams benefited greatly. The quality of the match enabled the boys to understand their team roles and also help them focus on their preparations for an early tournament start the next day. In a reasonably long tour for the players the coaches spoke about the need for an excellent "team" culture and that everything the players would do must be for the benefit of the team.

Hitting the tournament running and laying down a marker for the squad would be the message running through the players minds as they started the tournament. A comfortable 3-1 victory a pleasing start to proceedings. The 2nd match of the day saw the the boys produce a more clinical victory as the team shape, especially that of the defence started to bed down and there seemed to be some very encouraging habits forming.

Over the tour different individuals found different aspects of the tour challenging. Some needed to work on their confidence, others their diet and others when to focus on the job in hand. The correlation though, is extremely tight between the players weaknesses on and off the pitch. For example a player who is not responsible and takes a back seat off the pitch will often be the player not addressing issues on the pitch. Learning these lessons both on and off the pitch helps make the touring process so unique and the ground that can be covered during a relatively short space of time. From this understanding, as the player learns and develops the skills for being organised and responsible off the pitch, this characteristic is challenged on the pitch.

On tour the players had the experience of spending 45 minutes actually making their inflatable bed properly, rather than allowing somebody else to do it for them. This meant that the 45 minutes made a huge difference in their attitude from their first days display to their second.

The 2nd day of the tournament would start off slowly as the players had to relearn basic lessons in preparation, before ending the day with a magnificent performance as the tournament reached its knock out stage. A 7-2 victory carried little in the way of a major test for the boys and the coaches made a point of addressing the focus and hard work that would be needed in producing the best performances later in the tournament. The boys on returning to base camp (classroom), rested well and ate well before embarking on a mid afternoon fixture in their last group game before taking to the serious end of the tournament in the evening. The 3-1 victory in the final game owed a great deal to the boys who were really starting to take on board the information and prepare excellently as 3 late goals saw the team finish at the top of the group.

The way the boys took on their fuel and organised themselves for the next games was immense and the highest of tempo warms ups proceeded a clinical 5 minute goal rush which meant the game was over after 10 minutes. This focus and energy plus the great preparation provided the boys with a great lesson in a great preparation equalling in a great display. The performance was not one of luck but excellent professional standards. This fine victory was followed by a good warm down before a relaxing evening and early night.

Come the morning would the boys be able to produce the same excellent focus and professionalism for their quarter final? The quietest meal of the tour and serious nature of the boys showed that each and every individual was walking into the game in a fine frame of mind. The lesson they had learnt the previous evening with their fine victory had not been lost and the concentration and work ethic of the warm up suggested they were ready for battle.

Performance wise the game was the best of the tournament with good football being complemented by a work ethic and competitive edge sometimes missing from technically gifted boys. A lesson in concentration though would see Luton take an early lead before the boys played their best half of the tournament. Composure infront of goal would also prove to be the boys downfall, as the boys failed to convert their chances. The players disappointment at the end of the game was just the reaction the coaches looked for. The boys left the field with a heavy heart and their frame of mind would help them reflect on what had been an excellent 24 hours for the team.

Before the boys had their post match showers, the coaches talked about what it took to be the best. The dedication and practice along with a need to ensure actions spoke louder than words. The coaches also carried on the message of doing things the right way, which while often considerably harder than the alternative was the culture in which the players would have to immerse themselves in if they are to develop into top elite players.

The massive gap between games on day three gave the coaches the chance to highlight a number of issues that would serve the players well when touring in the future. 'Pack what you need, not what you want' was the motto for the afternoon and in serving up this message the boys needed to ensure they could pack themselves. The lesson would rear its ugly head on the return trip home, so when a number of the squad travel in the autumn it will be interesting to see how this transfers onto the next trip.

The final game of the tournament ended in disappointing fashion, with the boys never getting close to the two previous performances, and had it not been for an excellent goal from Luke Hancock the game was forgettable. The English disease of penalty failure would bring down the curtain on what had been an encouraging tournament. The tour though still had two days.

Sunday started with a 6:30am alarm call as the boys would be expected to be out on the practice field for 7am. The coaches wanted to continue the theme of 'what it takes', working the boys hard on their understanding of how to practice at home. Ensuring practice is deliberate and high quality is how players improve and the proof will come though increased performances in the future.

The rest of the day would be more chilled out watching finals and enjoying each others company. The evening gave the boys an opportunity to enjoy a meal of their choice and good food of a local Italian restaurant, helping them to really enjoy good food rather than having it for the purpose of fuel for matches.

Departure day saw the boys have a morning swim before departing the school for Tampere Airport. The flight home gave the boys a chance to catch up on a little bit of sleep, before smartening themselves up to meet their parents for the last leg of a long journey.

As always we have a number of thank you's on the trip. Firstly 27 years of organising a big football tournament was very much in evidence with us finding all parts of the organisation to be excellent. A special mention to Jorma Uusitalo who made a point of watching us through the tournament, we hope our long conversations will serve a purpose to helping you create a better level of player at your club in the future. The photos which were taken were far beyond the call of any duty you owed to us, although greatly appreciated. We look forward to working together in the future. 'The Team', which was central to everything and the 24hours of excellent professionalism and performance which makes the job worth while will be the coaches abiding memory of the tour.