FC Bascome held their own at the USL Pathway Spring Classic, which concluded in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday.

Competing in the under-14 Premier A Division with a team mostly comprised of 12-year-old players, the local academy finished second in their group with one win, a draw and a loss from their three group matches at the Tournament Sportsplex in Tampa Bay.

Andrew Bascome, the organisation’s cofounder, president and head coach, has hailed the efforts of his players who acquitted themselves admirably on and off the pitch.

“I’m very pleased with the effort from the team. Their behaviour on and off the field is exemplary and they all applied themselves, fought hard and played for the team,” Bascome told The Royal Gazette.

“US football is becoming a force to reckon with so for our group of primarily 12-year- olds to walk away with these results, they should be very proud of themselves.

FC Bascome got their campaign off to a flyer with a convincing 3-1 win over Little Rock Rangers in their opening group match but had their hopes of reaching the final suffer a setback after losing 1-0 against Chattanooga Red Wolfs in their next outing.

This left them needing to beat Sueno FC in their final group match but the teams battled to a 1-1 stalemate with the result securing group honours for their opponents.

“Of course there are things that we can improve and we will,” Bascome said. That is one of the reasons why we come here; to compete, learn, build relationships and then go home and adjust and improve the programme so we can close the gap.

“For us, the coaches, players and organisers, this is a process. Just like we ask the players to accept the incremental approach to development, we as an organisation apply the same philosophy. The future looks very bright for these players and for our coaches.

“This tournament is a joy to attend for all of us. To see 125 youth teams compete over four days on 16 pitches in true spirit of the game, is such an inspiration and makes us all want to come back for more.”

FC Bascome were represented by only one team at this year’s tournament due to conflicting school commitments.

“Unfortunately we had to hold back our under-16 and under-20 teams this year as the tournament had moved from end of March to April, creating a conflict with the GCSE exam preparations,” Bascome explained. “As you know, education and academic pursuit takes precedent over the players development on the pitch.”