Scarborough teenager Luca Stuttard called up to play for British Virgin Islands in CONCACAF Under-17s qualifiers in Costa Rica
Scarborough teenager Luca Stuttard has earned the once in a lifetime chance to play international football for the British Virgin Islands in CONCACAF Under-17 Qualifiers in Costa Rica from tomorrow.
Sixteen-year-old Luca and four other Under-17s from were all put forward by Scarborough Football Scholarship (SFS) Director Steve Brennan after he was asked for recommendations for youngsters who could make the cut for the British Virgin Islands, with any player with a full British passport qualifying for representing the islands on the international scene.
Brennan said: “This will be an excellent experience for Luca, who I have trained since he was eight years old playing with Scarborough.
"Hopefully this can open the door for other players from the Scholarship to follow the same route as I am creating very good links overseas, so it’s an honour the country has approached me."
The other four players put forward were Riley Cooper and Aidan Brennan, also from Scarborough, Alex Huntsman, from Malton and goalkeeper Dom Zubrickas, who is from the scholarship’s Bridlington programme.
There will be four group games, the competition being played in a tournament-type format across several countries, such as Mexico, USA, Honduras, Canada and Bermuda.
There are eight groups in total, the British Virgin Islands kicking off their campaign against Sint Maarten on Friday, followed by Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday, Costa Rica on Tuesday and finally Guyana on Sunday February 16.
The British Virgin Islands’ group is based in Costa Rica at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto with a capacity of 18,895, starting from Friday February 7.
Brennan added: “All four players made it as far as the 28-player stage and although only Luca made it to the final squad of 21 it shows that the other three lads were also of a very high calibre as well.
"Four of the players who have been selected by the county this season so they represent the area and North Yorkshire Schools and it gives these boys, and more to follow, an opportunity to showcase what they can do, which is rare across the East Coast, let alone internationally."