2014 has been the year of foreign football travel for Ronan Kratt. The 11-year-old Ottawa South United Soccer Club player has toured England, been to Barcelona twice, and capped the year with a trip to Florida for the Disney Jr. Soccer Showcase.
“It’s been really awesome and exciting,” summarizes Kratt.
Thanks to a strong performance at a local summertime camp run by coaches from FC Barcelona’s academy, Kratt secured an opportunity to train at the famed Spanish club for a week in October.
In the shadow of Camp Nou, Kratt joined Barcelona’s academy groups for daily training and a weekend game. The dual-footed striker noticed the club placed a particular emphasis on drills to encourage possession, mirroring the style of play employed by the 12-time winners of UEFA competitions.
“I learned what the players in Spain are like and how the Barcelona coaches teach their kids how to play,” Kratt indicates. “I took that in and tried to bring it back home to play like that.”
The October visit was Kratt’s second to Barcelona in 2014, on the heels of a pre-season appearance at the club’s Escola Tournament around Easter. He’s now been invited back for another chance to play in the 2015 edition of the Escola event.
“I’ve been there enough times to feel comfortable, and next time I’ll be one of the older kids playing,” notes the 2003-born athlete who was paired with 2002-born counterparts last time.
Kratt’s October visit coincided with a pair of Barça home games in La Liga and Champions League against Eibar and Ajax.
“I saw Messi and Neymar and Zavi score,” recounts Kratt, who’d only previously seen the superstars on TV. “I really enjoyed that.”
That was the second set of big-league contests Kratt had witnessed this year. While in England with his fellow OSU teammates, they watched a Crystal Palace vs Southampton English Premier League match.
The pre-season trip also saw OSU train at Premiership clubs Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool and Man City, and play games against Everton, Fulham and Wrexham academy sides.
“Being in Europe with my team was really awesome,” Kratt underlines. “We’d never been on that big of a trip together.”
Dallas Texans affiliation opens door for Disney Showcase
During OSU’s trip to England, they were joined by a member of the Dallas Texans – OSU’s U.S.-based affiliate and the top-rated youth club south of the border. After OSU General Manager Jim Lianos and Texans Director of Coaching Hassan Naziri spoke several months later, Kratt wound up returning the favour, appearing as a guest player for the Texans at the Nov. 28-30 Disney Jr. Soccer Showcase tournament.
“The player who was with us in England introduced me to the team and they were all really nice, so it really only took a day to feel comfortable there,” details Kratt, who was impressed to play for the club that has developed U.S. national team players Clint Dempsey and Omar Gonzalez.
It didn’t take long for the Grade 6 St. Leonard Catholic School student to find his place with his new side, contributing to over half of the team’s goals, scoring three himself and assisting on six others in the Texans’ five games in the Disney U11 Boys’ Premier division.
Competing against some of the top MLS academy teams, Dallas opened their tournament with a loss, but came back with wins against clubs from Atlanta, Florida and Chicago before avenging their lone defeat with a victory over Tampa Bay in the championship game.
“We weren’t expecting to win it after we lost the first game,” Kratt signals. “We were all really excited. We all ran out on the field and just jumped on each other.”
OSU’s Jaeden Mercure appeared for another division-finalist Texans team, while the OSU 2002 boys’ and girls’ Force Black teams were also part of the highly-regarded invitation-only competition.
“It’s pretty cool that we’re one of the only ones representing Canada there,” highlights Kratt, who will return to the Disney Showcase event next November with his OSU side. “I’m sure our team will do really great when we go.”
Kratt continues to train four times per week indoors throughout the winter, including sessions at OSU’s Centre of Excellence under Club Head Coach Paul Harris, in anticipation of his next big opportunity.
“Ronan is a prime example for our players of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication,” Lianos says. “The club has worked hard to ensure these pathways are available to our players, and it’s great to see him take full advantage of these types of opportunities.”