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training with, and competing against, other 12 and 13 year old players from Norway, Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. Once at the hotel, Will met, and had dinner with, Phil Brogan, Will’s age group trainer at the Residence Program, who gave him an idea of what to expect over the coming days. Phil also introduced Will to the Manchester United scouts and to his 2 Norwegian roommates.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was match day. The group of 20, plus some of the u13 youth professionals, were split into 2 teams. The training match consisted of 3 20 minute periods which allowed for plenty of input and direction by the academy trainers. “The level of play was very high.” Will recalls. “It was very fast and very physical. There was very little time on the ball. I played right midfield and left midfield. I played for 40 minutes. My team ended up winning 2 – 1, although the objective was for the coaches and scouts to watch the individual boys rather than to win the game. We were spared a second training session after lunch and went on the Old Trafford stadium tour instead. We saw the changing rooms, director’s boxes, press rooms, the trophy room and even a formal restaurant. Old Trafford is an amazing stadium - it seats 68,000 and they are expanding it to 72,000. The most impressive thing on the tour was the player’s dressing room, where each player has there own individual place with their name on it.”

THURSDAY

On Thursday morning training resumed which focused mainly on ball skills. After the session the players were given an amazing opportunity - to see United’s first team training session, which is usually closed to the public. “We saw Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Alan Smith, Park Ji-Sung, Christiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Michael Silvestre and Tim Howard”, Will said, “We missed some players like Wayne Rooney, Ruud Van Nistelroy and Gabriel Heinze, who were away on international duty. The speed of play and the first touch is what really stood out for me from watching these players train. Every touch takes them to where they want to go, every pass is crisp and hard, but the shots! The shots were amazing, powerful yet perfectly placed! Then the most surprising thing happened. Sir Alex Ferguson came over and spoke to us. He said, ‘To be a top professional player you have to learn. You can learn from these men, so watch their every move. In particular, watch their first touch. That is the key.’ After the training had finished the players walked past us and came to speak with us and sign autographs! I personally got to speak with Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, who are two of my favorite players.”

Before heading back to the hotel for the evening the trialists were given a tour of the first team’s facilities at Carrington which included the physio’s room, changing rooms, pool, weight room, press room, dining hall and even Alex Ferguson office. “We even went past the classroom facilities and saw Paul Scholes taking a class!” An unforgettable day at one of the worlds most famous clubs was over.

FRIDAY

With Friday being the last day of trials, a final match was played in front of the scouts and trainers of the academy. The match had the same 3 20-minute period format as Tuesday’s match with the exception of far less coaching by the trainers. The players were encouraged to do everything they could to make an impression on the scouts and coaches. “I got to play all 60 minutes, and enjoyed it a lot, although I was tired by the end. But now, our trip was over, and it was time to go home. I went back to the hotel where my Dad was waiting for me. We talked about the week for ages and there was one final treat waiting for me. My Dad had got tickets for the Manchester United game the next day. We spent one final night in the hotel and went to see Manchester United play Aston Villa at Old Trafford the next day. Manchester United won 1 – 0, on a Ruud Van Nistelroy goal. It was the perfect way to end an incredible week.”

TUESDAY

On Tuesday morning Will met the other players, totaling about 20, who would also be trialing that week. After a pre-training breakfast of fruit and cereal, the trialists were off to the Carrington Training Center, Manchester United’s recently completed multi-million dollar training facility. Some had trialed with Man U previously but for most, it was their first time as well.

The player were shown to their team room where each player found a pile of neatly folded training kit that included Manchester United jersey, shorts, socks, and pullover. Before heading out to the session the players were introduced to Mark Dempsey who is assistant academy director for the younger age groups, as well as, head trainer for the u13’s. During that first session the group was put through technical passing exercises and a 2v2v2 possession exercise. Following lunch in the dining area at Carrington the group did some light training as they would be playing for academy staff the next day.

After the second session the players changed out of there training kit so they could be washed for the next day. From there, the players boarded a mini-bus and taken to Old Trafford, the home the Mega-store. “More Manchester United merchandise than I have ever seen in one place before!” Back in the hotel Phil came by to see that thing were going ok for Will. The trialists went swimming, had dinner, and were in bed early in anticipation of the training matches the next day.

Will Packwood was considered to be one of the two best players in the u11/12 age group at this years program, not only by the trainers in his age group but by trainers in the older age group as well. Even Inter Milan academy trainer Stefano Bellinzaghi, who as training in the u13/14 group just next to the younger players, had positive things to say about Will.

Less than 3 weeks after the Residence Program ended, Will was in Manchester, England preparing to ‘trial’ at the worlds most followed sports team - Manchester United. Their youth academy is arguably one of the best in the world having developed some of the games best players such as David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and others.

MONDAY

On Monday night, the 16^th of August, Will met up with a United representative who took him to a hotel near the city center where he and the other players who would be on trial were staying. Over the next 5 days Will would be