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Former Ballinamallard and Milk Cup player and coach Graham Brown will be bringing a team over from New York, where he now resides, to compete in the Foyle Cup.
And by way of a warm up for the competition his side, Counties United, will play a friendly against the Fermanagh Milk Cup junior side at Ferney Park on Saturday July 21 at 4pm.
Graham is looking forward to the trip and in particular a return to Ferney Park, a place that holds many happy memories for him.
“For me personally this is the high point of the trip, as I have so many great memories and friends at Ferney. It will also be nice for our staff and players to meet up with a lot of the Fermanagh players who come over to train for me and who have coached most of these lads, the likes of Mattie Holden, Andy Parkinson, Shane McCabe and Rob McAuley. I am also looking forward to seeing Ken, Irene and Joanne Bownes. Gary and his family were a big part of my life and his visits to NY were very happy times,” he said.
Graham has been working hard to improve the set up at the club, basing the model around the one at Ballinamallard while his college side is also making great strides.
“Since our last visit we have changed our club to mirror Ballinamallard. We have set up a youth academy and now have more senior players qualified to coach. As well as this, my college team have now moved up the national rankings by some 40 places in just over three years,” he stated.
With the side therefore making good progress, Graham is hopeful that they can make an impact at the Foyle Cup, having had good success at tournaments in the US.
“I feel if we can settle quickly from the travel we will be strong and hard to beat. Teams will have to play at their full potential to get a win. We’re a very fit team with almost half our squad over six foot and the players have had very successful back to back seasons winning some major US tournaments along the way. However, the aim in bringing the players to the competition is to develop their vision of the game by seeing first hand how other big footballing countries play the game,” explained Graham.
Football, or soccer as it is known across the pond, is growing in popularity in the US and a certain David Beckham is about to bring further exposure to the game in the states when he joins LA Galaxy although Graham believes that the Beckham factor is not as great as it may seem.
“The game here is moving further and further up the sporting ladder, it’s now the most popular sport in the school playgrounds, which may seem uninteresting but in fact that is where sport is gauged. The Beckham thing is not as huge to be fair as most kids watch the premiership rather than la liga and he would not be as well known as those playing in the England. However people are curious to see why this guy is getting so much publicity and just how good he is,” he said.
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