Road Trippin'

By IAIN KING, Toronto, April 2, 2018

HESWALL CAMP on the outskirts of Liverpool, sleeping in musty wooden dorms, breathing in the smell of soaking wet kit and living for the Beautiful Game.

This wasn't the Disney Cup in Florida or a slick college showcase in Washington. I was 12 years old, it was my first trip away as a footballer with my boyhood team East Kilbride Youth Club.

I loved every minute, even now 39 years later I can remember the elation as we won our games against strong English opposition and counted the minutes down to the bus arriving to take us to Goodison Park.

Everton 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0, the great Bob Latchford was no9 for the Toffees, Scotland's own Andy Gray the star striker for the team in those iconic gold and black jerseys.

We roared on wide-eyed from the terraces then went back to camp to get ready for another match the next day.

Back then I didn't fully appreciate all the hard work required behind the scenes from coaches like my mentor Bob McKinnon - whose son Rab would go on to win three Scotland caps - to get so many kids from the housing estates of my hometown down to Merseyside for a weekend they would never forget. I do now.

Over the last two months with the help of our invaluable North Torontos Nitros Team Managers Rochelle Fox, Emma Breen, Jamie Marshall-Reid, Pauline Tam and Rachel Young I have been grafting away on the travel schedule for our U11 and U12 division.

From close to our home turf in The 6ix with a trip to Oshawa for the Frank Sobil, to the Spring Kick-Off in Ottawa to the Lakefront Classic in Rochester and now a mooted adventure in Pennsylvania.

The summer months will be hectic but as a grassroots coach the reason you throw your heart and soul into the road trips is simple for me. Your own memories, knowing how much it meant to you - and the desire to have your players savour those feelings.

After that first journey south with EKYC I have been blessed as a player and a coach to enjoy so many great trips.

Under the educated guidance of the legendary Dr Bill McFadyen and our coach Hamish Somerville our Claremont High School team travelled to Canada in 1981 to compete in the Robbie International Tournament and play a series of exhibition games.

It was an unforgettable experience, for me a seed was planted. It may have taken me 36 years but eventually I did make it back here to call a country I love my home.

There were friendships, already strong, on that trip that were forged for life as we played and trained, won and lost, laughed and fought living out of each others' kitbags over 16 days to treasure.

I played my first game of organised football for EKYC with Craig Young up front and me behind him in centre midfield. Loading the bullets for him to fire, story of my life.

These days 42 years later he may be 3,500 miles away but the guy who is now assistant boss to former Celtic and Scotland no2 Billy Stark at East Kilbride FC is still my best mate.

He was my room-mate in Canada with Claremont, all that teenage angst over which one of our dreadful shirts we should wear out to try to impress the Toronto teenage prom queens who were a mile out of our league in any case.

SCHOOL DAZE...Craig Young second from left back row, me second from the right at the front with Colin McMurtrie second from right back beside the boss Hamish Somerville

It never left me, that knowledge of how much those experiences improved me as a player and as a coach and I savoured being part of East Kilbride Burgh United's trip to the Trofeo Mediterraneo in Barcelona.

My son Bruce's thumping goal from distance in our opener in that tournament remains one of my favourite football memories.

The imprint those days in the Canadian sunshine as a kid chasing my dreams left always stayed with me and 28 years later in 2009 it was a thrill to be the coach of a Jackton Boys Club side that included Bruce as they enjoyed their own Maple Leaf journey.

From the Robbie to reaching the Final of the Niagara Pioneer Tournament where we would lose a heartbreaking match that we dominated.

We shared some days together that the players, who are all now 21 years old, talk about to this day.

By the time I led East Kilbride FC Under-16s to Valencia for a week of learning and games in the Spanish sunshine the virtues of taking teams on the road was being debated inside the club.

Too much grief, what did they learn? They would take more from more concerted training at home.

I listened and sympathised with the views, especially on the costs of the trips for working families, but we had one last blast together with a group of players I had known since they were nine years old.

There are many aspects of coaching my own son I regret but sharing those times in Spain and Canada together will never be one of them.

STILL KICKING A BALL TOGETHER...with my son Bruce in my days at Airdrieonians

This summer's travels for tournaments throughout Canada and the States are something to cherish, after all the grind of hotel booking codes, organising buses, debates over rosters it comes down to the most important thing. The players.

In Ontario as a club we are allowed to offer our teams four Memorable Experiences, this includes their road trips. This has been increased from last season and it's something Ontario Soccer have got right. It matters.

For me journeys like this are VITAL, an integral part of your growth as a player but more importantly as a person.

Experience here already tells me we will face tougher tests in the tournaments than we sometimes do on league duty in Toronto. It will be a shock to the system for some of our young Nitros players.

How they cope with that is a huge facet of their development, yet every part as crucial is how they learn to behave together as a team. How to clean up locker-rooms, leave a good impression on restaurant staff.

It's 39 years now since I fell asleep knackered at the end of every full day in a ramshackle wooden dorm in Merseyside. Dreaming football dreams.

The memory remains, though, and that's why as a coach I will never baulk from the hard yards of getting a team on the road. The miles of smiles when you look back make it all worth it.