This was a momentous almost season-long undertaking for the three teams, their mentors and parents. Once it was agreed to travel to Breda, in Holland, during Easter 2005 for the annual Jeka tournament, no stone was left unturned and no effort spared in order to ensure that it would be a uniquely memorable trip for all concerned.
A hard-working parents' and mentors' committee quickly got into gear during the preceding September in order to raise the necessary funds. The committee set a target of raising €500 per member of the 70-strong travelling party - a total of €35,000. All players, parents, mentors and others were quickly roped in to embark on a programme of fundraising activities, including bag-packing, raffles, football marathon, hot dog sales and talks, culminating in the Grande Finale of the "Who wants to be a Thousandaire" evening in the local Killiney Castle hotel. One key aspect of the fund-raising is that all 46 travelling players played their full part in all events.
In any case, the group reached its target and set off on their continental adventure in the early morning of Thursday, March 24, with an objective of spending the day with Anderlecht in Brussels before travelling on to Bruges for the night. Charleroi airport saw us pick up our Hertz fleet of eight Opel mini-busses before travelling to Brussels. There we met our Anderlecht guide, Jean-Pierre, who gave us a tour of the stadium, hosted lunch and allowed us see a first team training session before travelling in convoy to the National Stadium (the rebuilt Heysel), where we took on three Anderlecht teams in friendlies on what was a very wet evening!
That evening saw us drive on to Bruges for the evening, where we were spread across a couple of intriguing hostels right in the old city centre. The following morning allowed some time for sightseeing before we had to depart for Breda, where a total of 46 teams from across Europe gathered for the tournament. Our accommodation was in an excellent holiday bungalow park a short trip from the Jeka tournament venue.
The tournament took place over the Saturday and Sunday and began with a colourful opening ceremony. Thererafter it was all action for the two days, with the highlights including midnight gear washing back in the bungalows! All three teams had great fun as they played their four or five group matches and relaxed during the evenings. Two of the teams progressed to penalty knock-outs, but we did bring home a group fourth place cup, a 'man of the tournament' and several 'man of the match' awards.
We took over a posh Chinese restaurant for the evening, leaving several thousand euro behind us as the lads ensured we got value for money in the excellent buffet. Monday saw us spend most of the day in the Efteling theme park near Breda, before we headed back to Charleroi for our late night flight home and bus back to Kilbogget.
Truly a great experience for all involved, from the first committee meeting right through to our visit review later in April.
Do try to spot some of the Cabinteely contingent in a number of the photos on the Jeka site: http://www.rkvvjeka.nl/index.php?item=8fotoboek&cat=15.
Other photos available on our 'thumbnails' page.