The new under-9 players, who will join the Carlisle United academy for the 2019/20 season, took part in their first ever tournament on Saturday [8 June] over in Newcastle.
They were up against 12 teams from around the UK including Newcastle United, Sunderland AFC, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Wigan Athletic, Scotland Boys, Newcastle City and Motherwell.
The tournament started with a group stage and the boys managed to achieve two wins and two draws from their five games.
The most notable performance was an epic 3-2 win over Sunderland. Unfortunately the team just missed out on qualifying for the semi-finals, but proved exactly why they have been picked to join the academy with the appraoch they took, and a lot of promise was shown from within the group.
Foundation Phase Coach Robbie Edgar said: “This was the first time the boys had played together as a full squad, and also the first time they had played 7v7, so there were lots of challenges they had to overcome.
"By the end of the day all nerves had disappeared and were replaced by smiles and excitement for the season ahead. They will continue to train and play games for the next few weeks before having a short break ahead of starting back properly at the beginning of August.
"This has been a great first experience for the players against some top opposition. The group are full of talent and we are expecting good things from them when we start our academy fixtures."