 Vasco da Gama Club’s U11 select team is busy preparing for the 15th International U11 Football Tournament of the Azores, to be held this week April 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.
The team has already landed in Ponta Delgada, the region’s largest city and where the tournament will be hosted.
The International U11 Football Tournament is one of the largest youth sporting events in the Azores, bringing over 3,000 people to the Azores.
The Club’s participation follows an invitation that was extended in December 2022 by officials of Clube União Micaelense, the Azorean Club hosting the Tournament. Featuring 7-a-side football, the tournament comprises 24 teams organized into 4 groups. After the group stage, there will be elimination stages to determine the winner.
Vasco da Gama’s select team is part of Group D, which also includes ACF Pauleta, CAAF Atlântico, Arlander FC, and FC Flamengos. Other teams are visiting from as far afield as Italy, Kazakhstan, Uruguay, Cabo Verde, Canada, and the USA.
The Select team comprises Lucas Amaral, Cameron Camara, Julian Hands, Jasper Herrick, Roman Gaglio, Seth Neill, Eben Oosthuizen, Ryan Renaud, Nikolai Shaw, and Austin Viera.
Germano Botelho, Director of the Vasco Youth Program, will lead a coaching staff consisting of Enio Vieira and Reed Gaglio. They will coach the young athletes and chaperone them throughout the trip. Dr Sylvanus Nawab will serve as team medic. Richard Ambrosio, President of Vasco da Gama, will formally lead the delegation.
After a long journey that saw the team travel to New York JFK and catch a red-eye flight to Ponta Delgada, the young sportsmen still had enough energy to explore the Azorean city and to take part in a spontaneous pick-up game with returning tournament champions, Bayside FC, from East Providence, Rhode Island.
Outside of the football pitch, the Team will get to visit the picturesque Lagoa das Sete Cidades and take in the sights of the still volcanically active village of Furnas.
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