Thirty two Forres Area Soccer Sevens representatives to visit Forres' twin town of Vienenburg, Germany
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A LOCAL children’s football club has been granted £4000 towards a trip to Germany.
Sixteen young and 16 adult members of Forres Area Soccer Sevens (FASS) will represent Forres in its twin town of Vienenburg from July 4 to July 10.
FASS treasurer Tommy Smith confirmed Vienenburg football team JSG Harley visited Forres in 2015 and 2019, while Soccer Sevens have made only one trip before, in 2017.
He said: “We are grateful to Berry Burn Community Fund’s committee for selecting our application to help. The flights are costing £8500 – we’re going to fundraise the remainder.”
FASS are hosting a bingo night on Saturday, June 18 at Forres Town Hall. Players and parents are also carrying out their own fundraising events, including Josh Proctor and his mum Fiona who are cycling five miles a day between May 3 and June 3 – sponsor them at the club. FASS secretary and Senior Sevens coach Mike Judd is seeking sponsorship for covering the distance from Forres to Vienenburg - running, walking and cycling the distance of 1125 miles over a 50-day period (22.5 miles-a-day). He can be sponsored at https://gofund.me/0169c902
Once in Germany, six adults will stay in a Vienenburg youth hostel with the attending children. The rest of the grown-ups will stay with German hosts who are part of the twinning team.
“They’ve a busy week planned for us,” said Tommy. “We’ll be visiting sites in the Goslar area, Rammelsberg Mine, do a toboggan run in the mountains, have a pizza party and more.
“The children will also visit a primary school. It gets very hot but Vienenburg has an outdoor swimming pool so the kids can cool down!
“We’ll have training most nights in preparation for a football tournament on the Saturday night which will be followed by a barbecue.”
Tommy knows the visit will be an amazing experience and opportunity.
He said: “Since these exchanges started we’ve made lifelong friends and done things the children wouldn’t get the chance to otherwise. Five players that went in 2017 are still at Soccer Sevens in our new senior section. A few of them help out coaching in the Development 4s group. They have fond memories of the trip!”
He added: “Several kids going this time have been at Soccer Sevens since they were four years old and now have the opportunity to represent Forres on the international stage.”
FASS are looking for financial donations and prizes to be raffled for the trip. If you can help, email tommy@forres-soccer7s.co.uk
