PIFA Champions Tour to Manchester sprung a memorable surprise for the young campers when they were visited by England & Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney.
The camps are organised by Premier India Football Academy (PIFA) since 2003 and is their 29th European camp. The camp is open to boys and girls 10-19 years of age.
The camp included training everyday by Gary Judge from Coaching Connexions, tours to Old Trafford Stadium and Anfield Stadium, watch an EPL match and play a match against a local side.
However, at this camp, the children were also treated to training at four English Premier League club academies - Manchester United FC Academy at Broughton coaching by Shane – (U12 & Skills Specialist), Manchester City FC Academy at Platt Lane coaching by Collin Reade, Liverpool FC Academy at Kirby coaching by Ollie Morgan (Head of Sports Science, Stephen Torpey (9-11 yrs), Gary Lewis (12-14 yrs) and West Bromwich FC Academy at Halfords by David Lawrence (Ladies 1st team).
The campers played a 5 a side match against local club Nethertons FC, they won 21-11.
The participants had to undergo a skill test on the last day, the winner was Ritwik Dutta with 510 points just beating Rama Varma by 10 points. The best camper was Arjun Nair, he got a Liverpool captains armband and jersey signed by Steven Gerrard.
The highlight of the campers was meeting Wayne Rooney, who took time off from his busy schedule to spend an hour with the kids.
