Magical Purples Excel in Holland
We call this group the ‘magical purples’ as what they have achieved in the last 12 months is nothing short of miraculous. This is a bundle of kids who defied the lure of ‘pro youth’, decided to stick together as a Unit, and absolutely loving it.
Coached by head coach Dean Foy with assistance from John Carnwath and Scott Gallagher, this group just never give up.
It all began in the North of England when they chose to compete in the illustrious Dalston Cup. They had a phenomenal run which had English scouts crawling all over them. They won this competition with conceding a single goal, including a nail biting semi-final shoot out which had the crowd, the parents and more importantly the players and coaches on tenterhooks. Their nerves were shattered. But the ‘magical purples’ brought home the silverware. Unbelievable performance.
Chancing their arm again in December, they had the cheek to attempt the Corpus Christie Cup in Blackpool, in December, a trophy that has never managed to cross the Scottish border. A weather catastrophe. Sleet, rain …. the lot!! But nothing could deter these ‘magical purples’. Not only did they win the final, they won it against all odds by beating the team that they lost to in one of the earlier section games. How cheeky was that? We couldn’t believe our eyes.
An announcement that they were going to Holland in March gave me the ‘heebie jeebies’. My last trip to this exacting tournament brought back memories of playing Dundee United pro youth in the final and losing 5-1. Problem was Dundee United played their semi-final at 1.00 pm, we played ours at 2.00 pm and the final was at 3.00 pm. No excuses.
Revenge was what I was looking for. Un fortunately I had to attend the Irish Dancing World Championships in Killarney and the dates clashed. I know where I would like to have been!!!
It was like a dream come true. The texts, the calls, the videos, the Facebooks were screeching their way across the airwaves as these ‘magical purples’ went on a rollercoaster ride. Game after game they won, oops, a draw ……jitters again, but nothing could stop these guys. They cruised the final and brought home the Holland Easter Cup. Magnifique!!!
I cannot thank these kids, parents, supporters, coaches for putting SBC back on the ‘International Map’ again after a fairly long drought. And even from a UK perspective, we have been a bit luckless of late but the ‘MP’s’ have rectified that too. The world is their oyster now as they attempt Ireland in October, the Gothia Cup in Sweden next Easter, and who knows what else these little superstars will attempt. Now there is a challenge if ever I seen one. Gothia ………phew…… It’s the biggest tournament in Europe. Can these ‘MP’s” do it. I wouldn’t put it past them.
