DANDY Town’s Under-17 football team just returned from Baltimore, Maryland this week after reaching the final in their section of the Baltimore College Showcase at Mount St. Mary’s University.Head coach Scott Morton said: “It went very well. We made it to the finals of the Under 17 age bracket. We played four games but it was two games per day.”

And playing two games a day was one thing Bermuda’s players were not used to.

But it was obvious that the Bermuda players were impressive. Over 85 college coaches were on hand to watch the College Showcase.

Morton said: “Under NCAA rules the coaches were not allowed to contact us directly while we were at the tournament but when I got back to Bermuda this week a couple of universities had already been in contact.”

And now hopefully some of Dandy Town’s players may be offered college soccer scholarships — providing their grades hold up.

Morton said of the tournament: “Fitness really came into it. That was definitely the determining factor for my boys. They are not used to playing two matches in a day.

“During the first day the games were a bit more spread out — the first match was at 8:00 in the morning and the second game was 4:00 in the afternoon.”

In the first match SAC United Premier from Maryland defeated the Bermudians 2-1 while Dandy Town came up with a very convincing 5-1 victory in the afternoon game against Loudous Soccer Crew from Virginia.

Morton said: “The games on the second day were much closer together with the first game starting at 9:30 in the morning and the second game starting at 12:30 in the afternoon so we only had a small break in between.”

In the morning’s semi-final Bermuda defeated Braddock Road Condors from Virginia 3-1 but they lost the afternoon’s final 3-0 to Pennsylvania’s PA Classic Premier.

Morton said: “The thing that stood out for our players was just how physical those teams were. I basically informed them about that from the beginning of the season. All my preparation this season was for this tournament. The players were shocked by how physical (the US players) were and also how fit those other boys were — how they can just run up and down all day.”

But Morton said: “The boys felt confident that their technique and their insight into the game and also their skill level and wanting to play a more complete game was better.”

Morton, who used to coach the senior players at North Village and Dandy Town, has embarked on a mission with the younger players which he described as being “holistic”.

While coaching the game itself remains high on his list of objectives, Morton knows that will only go so far in these young players’ lives.

He has seen good players fall by the wayside for many years — players who think that it is just their football skills which will see them through life.

Morton knows different.

When the team was in Baltimore he had the coach of St. Mary’s give the players a feel for what college life was like.

“The coach of the college where the tournament was held gave the boys a tour of the school and classrooms and also conducted a Q & A session where the boys could ask about college life.”

In order to play for Morton the players train three times a week but there is also three 90-minute tutorial sessions at Berkeley and CedarBridge.

“In order to train they must go to those sessions. It is mandatory,” said Morton.

He also requires the players to perform community service and mentor young kids through the YouthNet programme.

Social skills come into it as well. “We will take them out to dinner and show them how to behave and conduct themselves properly,” said Morton.

“This is something I thought on my own specifically for the under 18 group. I try to challenge them and you need someone with a strong personality to do that. I regard myself as a person with a strong personality.”

Morton said that it is important to have something structured for teens. “The less time they have to occupy the negative things it is important have positive options available to them,” he said.