Just found this thread yesterday and read through all of it. So interesting. Thanks for all of the updates, I hope they keep coming.
So far, so good. For the most part, the week-long camp has gone well for the kid. Against Slask Wroclaw, currently tied for first in the Polish Ektraklasa, scored one, albeit on a penalty kick. That one ended 3-0 for Slavia. The next day against Mlada Boleslav, a first-division team outside of Prague that is the Czech version of Detroit due to it being the home of the Czech carmaker Skoda, now owned by VW. The game was, I assume, a bit easier than the match a day before with Slavia winning convincingly 5-1. Son had two in this one, including a goal off a free kick. Playing at midfield under the striker. Seems to like that role....
Not sure I've ever thought of Mlada Boleslav as Detroit despite the auto industry. I would say Ostrava is a more apt comparison due its relative size and socio-economic issues from collapse of heavy industry. The strong Skoda sponsorship definitely helps give Mlada Boleslav a better funded club than a town like that would otherwise have.
Automaking was the lifeblood for both. Obviously, Detroit is in the downward track of the cycle and Mlada Boleslav is much smaller. The sponsorship gives the team the kind of financial might it would otherwise not have.Shame no one goes to the games there, but that's true for lots of teams here.....
Oh, it is a comparison that makes sense, its just not one I've ever seen made. It's town of 40,000 and they normally draw about 3,500 which isn't too bad. I think in general attendance in European leagues (outside of the biggest clubs and leagues) can look underwhelming (especially by the perspective of American leagues) because we have a lot of smaller town teams and the actual cities normally have multiple clubs. As a league our attendance is more or less the same as what is realistically our peer-group (Switzerland, Greece, Denmark and Austria). They do deserve better though since they have an entertaining team, often looks like they have basically said to hell with defense and loaded up on attacking players. The biggest market dragging down Czech league attendance is probably my hometown since we've been so bad the past 15 years... in the 90s we set most of the domestic attendance records that still stand. Thanks again for all the updates, always find this thread informative!
After a bought of strep throat, back on the playing fields this week. Today, they have a light training session at eight and then get on the bus to travel to Croatia. Will be playing a tourney in Varazdin, which looks to be just a bit from the border with Slovenia and Hungary in the country's northwest. As there is an information blackout, really not too many details to report. Son says Hajduk Split and Dynamo Zagreb, two of the creme de la creme of Croatian soccer, should be there. Always a good test going up against teams from the Balkans, which are usually strong and super skilled. Due back at four in the morning on Monday. Hope to have an update after that. Had a meeting with his new coach, who said some really positive stuff. So that was nice to hear.
'Bout.' Embarrassing mistake. One of many I suppose. Anyway, as son is now more or less responsible for relaying what the coach tells the players, he forgot to mention he needed a copy of his medical insurance card before they left. Mom scrambled to get that done before the bus pulled out of the Slavia parking lot.
Second place at the tourney in Croatia. Highlight was the last group game against Dynamo Zagreb, arguably one of Europe's top academies. From all accounts, the boys played well, winning 2-1, after going down a goal. Son had the assist on the winning goal and played the whole match, about the only indication I have the coach was pleased with his play. In the final they played a team from Sweden that I had no idea existed: IF Brommapojkarna, which according to Wikipedia, is the largest football club in Europe in terms of total number of players from the youth ranks up to the pro team. Their team romped through this tourney, with Zagreb coming closest to beating them, losing only 1-0. Slavia went down 3-0. Two goals were scored by one player, whose age was later disputed by the Croatian organizers. My son said the kid, apparently from Nigeria, was 17. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. What I do know is that there were questions about the eligibility of some of the players on the team raised by the tourney organizers....So, overall a good experience for my kid, and though he didn't score, had assists. Not too bad considering he was just coming off a week of antibiotics to treat strep throat.
Today, August 25, the boys started league play. At this age group, the U14 national league covers all of Bohemia, with all the top teams and others represented. First match was against another Prague side, Slavoj Vysehrad, where, interesting enough, my son, Alex Wesolowsky, got his start at age four. The game was full-field 11 x 11, with two 40-minute halves. Six subs are allowed, under a new rule. Boy started first half, scored the first one quick on a tap-in, and had another one, and a nice assist, sending the ball across after taking it down the wing. First half ended 5-0. Vysehrad put up a battle in the first half, but in the second half had little left in the tank. Moreover, Slavia subbed out the middies, including son, and forwards. It was just one attack after another with the final score an eye-popping 21-0.
Although we got home late last night, waking up didn't seem a problem today. Slavia's in the Champions League for the first time in 12 years. Game against Romania's CFR Kluz didn't offer up a lot of soccer beauty, more a tense battle with both teams aware of what was on the line, but Slavia got a second half goal and now waits for the draw later today. Would be great to see Barcelona or Man. City in Prague or lots of other top teams in Prague.
Considering Cluj made it as far as they did on physicality and counter attacks, I would say Slavia's defensive game plan was smart and they advanced fairly comfortably from a semi-neutral standpoint. Cluj put 5 passed Celtic but basically forced 2 saves against Slavia (to Kolar's credit, one was a penalty). I know the U-19 has UEFA Youth League, but do you know if the younger youth squads attempt to strengthen schedule with Champions League?
That's a good question about the youth side of the Champions League. As far as I know, there is no such thing for the younger age groups, but I will check into this...
So @PhillyFury went public with his son's name and nobody else noticed? Good luck to you and your family, PF.
Thanks, @Dave Marino-Nachison. The funny thing is that I anguished over whether or not to slip his name in there. Thought someone would pick that up, but alas in the great scheme of Yanks Abroad my son's small fry, although it, of course, didn't go unnoticed by your vigilant newsman's eye.
Big news today. Scout from Heerenveen called this morning to confirm tryout/camp for Alex is on for the last week in October. This is a big step.
Good luck. Apologies if you wrote this already, but any thoughts on how typical this situation is for young players in the Czech Rep. who might be candidates to moves to other countries? Are they usually scouted around this age? Where are they generally spotted -- tournaments, league matches, etc.? And who is this scout, in a general sense if not specifically? Is he a full-time H'veen employee? Based in Prague? Or maybe someone who saw him elsewhere and followed up?
Hey @Dave Marino-Nachison I'd say at this age -- 13 -- it is very unusual for a kid here to be looking for a trial/camp outside the country. At this age, the players are shuffling around inside the country from some of the weaker teams to the top ones, namely Slavia, Sparta, and maybe Viktoria Plzen. All roads lead to Prague for the talented ones. The folks at Slavia have told me that scouts from all over Europe are regularly at the club grounds keeping tabs on certain players. Tournaments are also crawling with scouts, even at the U11 level. I think though at those earlier ages and with FIFA rules not allowing players to cross borders inside the EU until the player is 16 that there isn't much serious interest until they get closer to that age. In our case, I cold contacted Heerenveen, actually on a tip from @feyenoordsoccerfan who suggested I try them, saying they seem open to bringing in players. I sent a video, and lucky for Alex, it was a good game for him against Feyenoord in which he scored a nice goal and had some other good moments against a good Dutch side. So, I've been in touch with a scout inside Heerenveen, who is in charge of all player moves. I think we were lucky. I also tried to send info to Augsburg and they pretty much laughed at me when I said how old Alex is, saying at that age -- this was when he was still 12 -- anything can happen till the age of 16 when he could come over. For me, it's a low-risk option. He'll have off from school when we head to Holland. Travel there is doable. We'll load up the Volvo early on Sunday and head west, about eleven-hour drive thru Germany on the autobahn. Whatever happens, I think it will be a great experience to train with a top Dutch team. Hopefully it won't be the last time...