Alfie and Asa’s weekend of a lifetime – June 2018
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After enjoying five days of the Real Madrid Football Clinic in Felixstowe, Alfie Rattle and Asa Heron from the under 12’s were selected to go and spend a soccer weekend in Madrid.
This was their reward for working hard, training hard and showing determination and team spirit ……………. flights, accommodation and travel all paid for. The only downside; dads went too!!
They got flights from Stansted, arrived in Madrid late Saturday morning and via the shuttle bus ended up in their hotel room by 2:00pm. Once they had collected their complimentary Real Madrid training kit, it was off by coach to the “The Ciudad Real Madrid”, the training campus of Real Madrid. Once they arrived, the two boys were introduced to the coaches and the other thirty or so children from eight different countries. A quick tour of the facilities that include accommodation, medical centre and in excess of twelve football pitches of various sizes and grass composition and then it was two hours of training in temperatures in excess of thirty degrees. What a venue.!!
After training it was back to the hotel for a cooling swim in the roof-top pool, a quick change into casual clothes and a bite to eat in the bar, before watching a world cup game on television. Once the match had ended the two boys retired to their beds for a well-earned rest. They were shattered.
The following day it was onto the bus at 9am for the short trip to the Bernabeu Stadium. All the children entered the ground via the players’ entrance and all the parents were ushered to the stand via a side door.!!! The parents waited patiently in the stadium and then, to the sound of the Champions League music, thirty children dressed in their new Real Madrid kit and boots proudly marched out of the players’ tunnel and on to the pitch. A million photographs later and they started training and then played matches on the hallowed turf of the Bernabeu. After the matches finished it was more photographs before going back into the changing rooms to get back into their training gear.
During the latter part of the afternoon the boys did a stadium tour (an experience in itself when you see the trophies and memorabilia) and once again indulged in a roof-top dip back at the hotel. In the early evening it was back to the city centre for all the boys, coaches and parents for a meal in a Mexican restaurant whilst watching the World Cup match of Mexico v Germany. Mexico won 1-0 and the premises was quite literally bouncing.
The next morning it was time to go home and Alfie and Asa looked exceptionally tired. They had enjoyed an amazing weekend, trained in Madrid and played football in the Bernabeu….not many people can say they did that in their lifetime, but it was only made possible by their work ethic, attitude and dedication at the Real Madrid Football Clinic in Felixstowe. Thank you Seasiders.
Photo Gallery Here
Details of the Real Madrid Clinic coming back to Felixstowe is available here