St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro recently enjoyed an eye-opening trip to the Netherlands, as the club trained with Feyenoord for nine days and played two games against academy teams.

Metro came away with draws in both games and an experience that will last a lifetime.

“The goal of the trip was to totally immerse the players in the Dutch soccer culture; training with the Academy staff of Feyenoord, playing against the professional youth Academies of Feyenoord and Ado Den Hag and attending professional matches,” St. Louis Scott Gallagher Director of Player Development Blake Decker told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “These are players who aspire to play at the highest level and this experience will have given them insight into what it really takes to make it at this level.”

Sevy Sucurovic, Feyenoord's Director of Business Affairs – USA, arranged the trip for the club, which included 31 boys aged 12 to 14 years old.  Feyenoord has been active in North America with various grassroots initiatives. Sucurovic said that ultimately the future goal is to establish partnerships, which will lead towards a satellite academy that resembles European youth economic model. 

This trip showcased the benefits of training in a new environment with the helpful instruction of some experienced coaches. 

“Our hope is that players came away with a better understanding of how to make it as a professional as well as a high level of motivation and inspiration to continue pursuing their dream,” Decker said.

The goals of the trip extended beyond the players. The coaches also soaked in as much as they could from the coaching staff at the Dutch club.

“The access that Feyenoord provided our players and our staff was tremendous,” Decker said. “When you have the chance to be around other top level coaches and watch them work, you can’t help but come away with new bits of information that will help to refine what you do as a coach.”

Personally, Decker highlighted his time spent with the youth directors at Feyenoord and Ado Den Hag for sharing some insight on club organization as well as other topics that will help him and his staff “refine the player development structure at St. Louis Scott Gallagher.”

Beyond attending Feyenoord-Ajax and PSV–FC Utrecht, St. Louis Scott Gallagher joined in the action on their own with games against Feyenoord and Den Hag. The U.S. club came away with a 1-1 draw and a scoreless result in the games.

The players from the U.S. used that opportunity to show what they were made of against Dutch competition. One of the players that stood out in the games was youngster Joseph Kinder, born in 2000, who was invited to train with Feyenoord’s U15 team for two days of the trip.

Wan Kuzain, a member of the U.S. U17 Men’s National Team pool, also impressed during his spell there and trained with Feyenoord’s U16 Academy for six days. Decker said the club invited Kuzain back for another trial this fall.

“In addition to Joseph (Kinder) and (Wan) Kuzain, several other players performed well during our stay and were identified as such,” Decker said. “We will continue to keep Feyenoord and their scouting network in the U.S. aware of these players as they progress.”

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