The Peterborough United under 11s were invited by the Football League to the Grassroots Live event at the Birmingham NEC at the beginning of June.
Head of Youth Dave Robertson and Centre of Excellence manager Lewis Webb accompanied the eight youngsters who travelled to the event and it was day to remember for everyone who took part.
Michael Ford, Daniel Jarvis, Harry Holland, Ben Ewers, Charlie McKay, Tom Snare, Josh Burrows and James Goode departed London Road at 9.45am and after breakfast, made their way to the arena.
Goode said: 'We left the Posh ground at 9.45am and went to Tesco and had a choice of breakfast. Most of the lads had scambled egg on toast and even the coaches had friend breakfast. We then got back on the mini-bus and made our way to the NEC.
'It was the first time that any of us had been to the NEC and it was a huge arena! We had a look around when we arrived and were able to complete activities before preparing ourselves for our demonstration.'
Before the day, the players were put through their paces by Robertson and Webb and the lads were ready to showcase what they had learnt. The training exercises that the players undertook involved 1v1 and 2v1 match situations and they were also able to showcase their own skills.
After the demonstration, the Posh squad were able to pass on advice to other youngsters who went through the same situations. After completing almost two-hours on the pitch, the youngsters were then able to see some of the famous faces who were at the show.
'Although we were actually on the pitch for around two hours, it felt a lot less than that. It was great to see people like ex-Scotland manager George Burley, Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelen and many others.
'We watched a free-styler called John Farnworth who was amazing. 'Fordy' even had a go trying to repeat his skills, but he struggled! We then had a go on the speedkick machine and they make you wear special boots for your attempt. I got 51mph and I don't think anyone beat that. We wanted to have a go at the Crossbar Challenge, but the queue was too long.
'It was a great day out and it would be wonderful to be able to attend again next year. We arrived back in Peterborough at around 6pm and the lads were still talking about the event,' Goode concluded.
