Rotherham United’s Academy recently sent some of their younger age groups to Bath for a series of games against Premier League Southampton.
The under 9, 10 and 11 age group headed up by lead foundation phase coach Jake Henry took on one of the country’s top Academies at Bath University, and enjoyed some considerable success as Academy manager Garreth Barker explains:
“We were contacted by someone I know at Southampton to ask if we would be interested in taking our younger teams like our U9s, U10s and U11s to their Academy. We were very grateful that they offered to pay for our transport, and Jake and his staff went down there for the full day.
“They went down to the Bath campus and had a series of games down there and the boys did well, won some games and enjoyed it.
"I’d just like to say thank you to the part-time staff that went down because it’s a 16-17 hour day and shows brilliant commitment on their part, but it was a great experience for the kids.
“That’s on top of the excursion down to St. George’s Park for the U12s that was an equally valuable experience.”