A youth football academy director has hailed his players after they impressed at a major tournament in England last weekend.
Playing for the Future are based in Belfast and Lurgan and recently sent a total of 18 teams to compete at the Manchester Easter Cup.
The event featured clubs from the UK and Ireland, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and USA.
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Six of the Northern Ireland academy's teams won their age groups to bring some silverware back across the Irish Sea.
But Playing for the Future director Ryan Prentice says all of the travelling players deserve credit for their performances on and off the pitch.
He told Belfast Live: "People can judge success in different ways. Some people will gauge it on how many trophies won, and the six age groups who won thoroughly deserved it. A number of teams also reached their respective finals.
"But we got a sense of joy and achievement through the quality of football all the teams played against good opposition. They got a lot of glowing reports from their opponents which was pleasing.
"We work with the kids on a weekly basis and to receive that feedback makes it all worthwhile.
"And one of the big things we took from the trip was how well the kids bonded. They come from different parts of Belfast and Lurgan, and other areas.
"They bonded so well and they developed new friendships and relationships off the pitch. They looked after each other which was very rewarding."
The Manchester Easter Cup was played last weekend and featured age groups from Under 7 to U16.
The games were played at Platt Lane - which used to be Manchester City's old training round - and the Armitage Sports Centre which is connected with Manchester University.
"It is a big tournament featuring a lot of teams and it was a great experience for all the kids involved," Ryan added.
"Our oldest team was our 2007s, and our youngest was 2014s. We had multiple teams there from each age group.
"As a programme we have over 250 kids split across sites in Belfast and Lurgan. With it being the first trip since Covid, we opened it up to everyone and asked every kid if they wanted to go, instead of limiting it to a set number.
"I thought it was the right thing to do after the two years everyone has had, and we didn't want to turn down any kid.
"So we took on a huge challenge, and said if they wanted to go then we would accommodate them. So we ended up with a travelling party of kids, parents and coaches of about 220-230 people.
"It was logistically challenging but so worthwhile in the end. The kids had a great time and a great experience, and not just the teams that won their age groups.
Playing for the Future was initially set up as a cross-community sports programme in 2009 in Lurgan and Portadown.
The programme has grown over the years with the Lurgan academy launching in 2018 and Belfast following two years later.
"The academy programme has grown from those initial six-week community programmes that were established all those years ago," Ryan said.
"Through the work of everyone involved we have gradually grown our numbers to about 250 kids across the Lurgan and Belfast sites.
"We have a recruitment team that will go and watch games on a Saturday to identify kids for the academy. The recruitment team would have connections to local clubs.
"We always work with local clubs, because the last thing we want is to be in conflict with them, and if club fixtures clash with the academy then we always advise the players to go with their clubs.
"We are just looking to add to what the clubs do to help the players."
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