CROWIE'S CORNER

28 July 2009

Head of Youth development Duncan Crowie reflects back on the Engen KOC and discusses what lies ahead for the club's junior teams...

The number One under 17 tournament, the Engen Knock Out Challenge, has come and gone and it was a well organized event yet again.

Our Under 17 team ended 3rd in this year’s event, to some other clubs this would have been a success ending the tournament in that position but to us it was terribly disappointing.

Losing has never been a problem but the way you lose should give you some comfort. You must be able to keep your head held high by the type of performance you have put in.

This cannot be said about our defeat in the semi – final. We wanted to end the year’s last tournament off on a high but it was not to be.

Our other youth teams did quite well in tournaments during the year:

Under 13
Strandfontein TNT – Runners - Up
Trinitarians TNT - Winners

Under 15
Kensington TNT – Runners – Up
Chezmont Rovers TNT – Winners

Under 17
Cape Fish TNT - Losing semi finalist
Engen KO Challenge - 3rd place

Under 19
Macassar TNT – Winners
Metropolitan Cup – 5th place (Best finish for a Cape team)

It was at last good to see the organizers having some balls in expelling age cheaters from the tournament. It has become a real problem in our youth football.

Provincial Academy were the first club to be kicked out of the tournament and I know that there were other clubs who were lucky not to be expelled as well.

Now we have to concentrate on doing well in our domestic leagues.

From next week onwards all our teams will be playing one age group higher.

This will be a good challenge for our boys and it will definitely ensure that they stay focus on the task ahead, in developing into top class professional players one day.