WITH Category One status signed and sealed for Norwich City’s Academy under the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) regulations, exciting opportunities are already coming the way of the Club’s youngsters.

A talented group of 12 and 13-year-old Academy youngsters been given the chance to fly out to Germany for a four-day trip and take part in the Euro Cup 2013 - an indoor tournament that will enable them to test themselves against players from teams such as Hamburg and MSV Duisburg.

The Heiden Tour for our youngsters runs from Thursday, January 3 until Monday, January 7, and is another step towards Norwich City’s goal of being at the forefront of youth development in this country.

On the subject of the trip, Academy Manager Ricky Martin told Canaries.co.uk: “As a Category One Academy this is the kind of environment we’ve got to send our players to so they have the experience of different cultures. 

“It’s an indoor tournament too which is a totally different game, it’s like when you see the indoor five-a-side tournaments on the television. It will be a different skill set for these players to learn and at the ages of 12 and 13 they should be able to adapt to them.

“It will be a great life experience for them and it’s an opportunity to test themselves against good players from their age group in Europe and not just in England. 

“They’ll experience being away from home too – the mums and dads won’t be there so they will be under the supervision of our staff and it will be a good opportunity for the staff to get to know their games in closer detail.”

Rot-Weiss Essen, MSV Duisburg, Hamburg, VFR Aalen, and V. V. Neptunia are all set to compete against the young Canaries in the tournament, which takes place in town of Heiden in Germany.

As the Academy continues to move forward and embrace the fundamental principles of the EPPP, Martin revealed there will be more opportunities like the Heiden Tour on the horizon for the young scholars.

He added: “I’m sure all the players will really benefit from this experience. We’re already looking ahead to May where we’ve got four or five trips pencilled in for end of season tournaments.

“This enables the players to finish the season off on a high by going on tour, and by playing in tournament and cup football. 

“This weekend will provide them a chance to play for points and to progress as far as they can in the tournament, that’s what we’ll be doing in May too, with tournaments from the under-21s downwards, which we’ll keep you all posted on.”