Dads take to road for Spanish football trip

After a fantastic season for Bramley Sunnyside U9s, their parents decided to raise funds to take them to Spain and play in a tournament with some of the best Spanish teams.

The dads, of whom two are coaches, will ride 90 miles from Rotherham to Skegness tdday.

Gary Wilkinson (54), of Wickersley, said: “One of the guys who is doing the bike ride with us said his friend had lost his daughter to leukaemia and they had set up a fund for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, so we’re going to split the money 50-50.”

The ride from Rotherham to Skegness begins at 6am and Gary said the cycling dads hoped to get to the seaside by mid-afternoon.

“Two of the mums will drive our support van,” he added.

“They’ll also be filming the trip at certain checkpoints.

“We’ll come back the next day — we will have a curry and a few beers to celebrate.”

Gary said the young team had been together for some time and were all great friends.

He said: “They’ve all been together since five.

“We believe we teach them to play football in what we call the right way — to pass the ball, move, work as a team and not be greedy.”

Gary added: “The tournament in Barcelona would be a great opportunity for them.

“Everyone has heard of Barcelona and Lionel Messi, and the Camp Nou is one of the most famous stadiums in the world.

“The boys would be able to play some friendlies against Spanish teams and then would have the chance to go to the stadium and watch an actual Barcelona game, with 100,000 people.

“None of the children would have to contribute anything to the travel and every kid would get the opportunity to go, regardless of their backgrounds and income.”

Visit https://tinyurl.com/BramleySunnyside to chip in and help send the boys to Barcelona.