5 Rush Canada Academy Boys travelled to Europe with the Rush Select 2006 boys and played a series of games and took part in a prestigious tournament in Italy. The tournament hosted some of the top Serie A academies and offered our players a great opportunity to play against some of the best teams in Italy. Some of participating academies where: Juventus FC, Bologna FC, Empoli FC, Fiorentina AC, AS Livorno, and more.

Rush Select had twenty-seven 2006 players divided into two teams (a first team and a second team). We had 5 players who represented Rush Canada on the first Rush Select team and started the majority of the matches. Both of the Rush Select teams did very well throughout the tournament and friendly games. The first team won 2 games and tied two against Italian Academy teams and in the end, Bologna FC was crowned champion of the tournament.

Rush Canada Technical Director, Slobodan Pavlovic, attended the event and said: “The most exiting game was between the Rush Select first team and Juventus FC in which our boys outplayed the famous Italian academy. After creating many scoring opportunities and hitting the cross bar a couple of times, we conceded a last minute goal and lost the game 1-0. Juventus FC players and coaches have applauded to our boys after the game and congratulated them on the great performance.”

“After the tournament, we where advised that a couple Rush Select players where identified by the Juventus Academy scouts and may be invited to attend a camp in Italy this summer. One of the players is Rush Canada’s Patrick Aponowicz and another one is Blake Kelly from Rush Michigan who was awarded as the Most Valuable Goalkeeper of the tournament.” Slobodan added.

During their stay in Milan, the Select players toured the famous San Siro stadium and visited the AC Milan and Inter FC museums. Also, Davide Corti, one of the Rush directors of coaching (former Milan AC player) brought out his former teammate Massaro (AC Milan and Italian National Team Player) and introduced him to our boys. Massaro spoke to the boys, took some photos, shared some valuable advice, and answered many questions.

Congratulations to all the Rush Select players, and more specifically, our Rush Canada Soccer Academy players for their great performances throughout the event. They showed that we have the talent and ability to develop some of the top players in North America. We are sure that the boys learned a lot from this experience and that they are even more motivated to work hard and continue progressing forward.