40 Killarney Celtic players are excited for their upcoming trip to Italy in what will be a cultural exchange and a chance to make new friendships.

Davide Mosca

The players, aged 12-14, will visit the Italian Alpine province of Aosta Valley from April 4 to 9.

Accompanied by coaches and volunteer chaperones, they will travel to the town of Verrés in Northern Italy for what is hoped to be the first running of a programme the organisers have called Calcio - Culture - Cairdeas which translates to Football, Culture, Friendship.

The programme, the brainchild of Killarney architect Davide Mosca who hails from the host town, features French classes each morning as the Aosta Valley is a bilingual region where Italian and French are spoken.

The club's U13 and U14 teams will train with their counterparts from local team PDHAE, before taking part in a tournament with the other clubs from the province which borders both France and Switzerland. 

The boys will visit one of the Aosta Valleys ski resorts and enjoy a final night celebration with medals, pizza and a DJ in the town's historical main square. The lads are especially looking forward to a trip to the city of Turin and in particular, the Serie A match between Torino and José Mourinho's AS Roma. The most important part of the trip is to create a cultural exchange with the Italian kids and make new friendships.

The organisers intend to reciprocate the visit of the kids from Verrés to Killarney next year and hopefully start a yearly trip experience for different age groups for boys and girls in the coming years, from Killarney's most progressive and inclusive club.

"We really hope that this will be more than just a tournament, but will be the opportunity for the lads to enjoy a unique experience and hopefully to come back to this area in the future and make enduring international friendships," Davide Mosca said.

Paul Sherry, club Vice Chair and Killarney Chambers activist paid tribute to local sponsors and fundraisers.

"We would like to thank all the people that helped us to organise this event which we believe will be a unique experience for the lads, especially all the sponsors, the club officers of Killarney Celtic, and all the parents that took part in fundraising activities since October."

Member of the organising committee and coach of the club's U14 teams, Brian Looney, paid a special thanks to the Mayor of Verres, Alessandro and all the host town officials and to Luca Laura e Pino from the Committee of the partner club PDHAE for the support and partnership in organising accommodation and activities.

"Through Davide's Italian connections a real relationship has been developing between Killarney and Aosta. Groups of Killarney locals have enjoyed Verres' historical Carnevale festival over the last few years and now the relationship is moving to the next generation of Kerry and Valdostana youth. It will be an amazing trip for our young players. While a number of individuals have worked to bring this together - Davide and Linda Mosca have put huge effort into organising the trip and fundraising activities, and Philip O'Callaghan has done massive logistics and travel organisation and their work is appreciated by all at the club."