Mighty Oaks

It’s been great to see Alan Zborowski not only in the team the last four games, but thriving. He was excellent on Friday - marking Maleace Asamoah out of the game and growing in confidence as the night went on, including some really fancy footwork to break us out of trouble at the edge of the box late in the match - and terrific again in Dalymount Park today.

Alan is now the first player from the 2018 summer camp at the RSC to have graduated into the first team as a regular starter. I see current academy players Shayne McDonald and Ryan Butler on my list from it too, as well as Adam Queally, who would’ve been the first to make their senior debut.

 

Alan Zborowski after the draw with Bohemians (Ken Sutton)

There were over a hundred kids participating in that camp in the scorching weather of late July that year. The RSC was the only place in Waterford to still have some green grass left with everywhere else dried out. There was an incredible buzz that summer with the Blues on the march towards a top-four finish, the glamour surrounding the players and with big wins against the top clubs week after week at the RSC - Rovers, Cork, Dundalk, Bohs, Pat’s, Derry all beaten.

The kids at the camp were really inspired by seeing the first team stars training next to them on the back pitches and looking out at the stadium where they wanted to play when they’d grow up. When first team training finished each day, the players would mingle with the summer camp kids for a while, kicking balls around, chatting, signing autographs and posing for a million selfies. Then they were trained by up-and-coming lads from the academy - many of whom went on to play for the first team.

 

Bastien Hery teaching tricks at the summer camp in 2018

I know I kept saying (to anyone who’d listen) that if we got a couple of future first teamers out of these 6-13 year olds plus a lot of diehard fans for generations (we have), that it’d have been a big success. Alan was one of those local kids being inspired by Bastien, Stanley, Fletch and the rest and wanting to grow up to play for the Blues at the RSC. Now, he’s doing that and he’s been fantastic. “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”