FORMER English Premier League (EPL) player Lawrie Dudfield hopes to see junior soccer players and coaches from Dubbo have the opportunity to visit England and learn from the best to help the sport grow in the area.
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Dudfield, who played for Leicester City and Hull City during a 14-year-professional career, was at Dubbo's Hans Claven Oval on Wednesday for the IQ Football Camp where junior soccer players were put through their pacers and learnt new skills from him and former Dubbo player Geoff Stanmore.
Dudfield believes meeting the players and coaches overseas and seeing the systems the soccer clubs have in place will greatly benefit soccer enthusiasts in Dubbo.
"That will probably be the first thing we look to do," he said.
"I'm not saying we are the best, but it is our national sport and we are obsessed so I think it would be a great opportunity for the players and coaches to come for a visit and upskill.
"It won't just be elite sessions either, we'll want to work with kids that have some issues and engage with them."
Despite the easy option being to head to a major city such as Sydney or Melbourne, Dudfield took the road less travelled and came to Dubbo as he knew it would greatly benefit the game.
"Places like Dubbo sometimes get forgotten about and the kids out here don't always have the chance like the kids in Sydney," he said.
"It's good to get out to the grassroots level and its also good for me to see as much as I can during the three weeks I'm in Australia."
During his career, Dudfield played 68 games in the EPL and around 350 games in total for Leicester City and Hull City clubs, coming up against Australian soccer royalty in Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Mark Schwarzer.
"They were all very talented players," he said.
"I thought Harry Kewell would have gone on to really become one of the greats but he still had a fantastic career.
"I never got the chance to play against Tim Cahill but he is another that has had an awesome career."
Day two of the soccer camp with Lawrie Dudfield will be held today also at Hans Claven Oval between 9am and 12pm for $35 for two or more players.