Three of Dubbo's best young footballers will head to the UK this month as part of a Western NSW Football tour of England.
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Macquarie United's Jesse Spang, the Dubbo Bulls' Thomas Busch and South Dubbo Wanderers' Aeddan Todhunter will be part of a squad that will include players from Bathurst and Orange and will participate in trial games and training sessions during the tour.
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Left Fielder Busch, who spent the last season for the Bulls in the mid-field, played alongside Todhunter and Spang as part of a Dubbo City Rangers under 17s squad and said the tour would be a 'good experience' for the Western young guns.
"We were invited to the England tour, it's definitely going to be a good experience for all of the lads," Busch said.
Spang, who formed a key part of Macquarie United's front-line in the most recent season, sees it as a chance to learn, welcoming what he expects to be a higher level of competition in one of the sport's heartlands.
"I think they'll be high intensity, first of all, that's how they play over there and it's what we'd expect," Spang said.
While the tour will feature a number of stops and several more relaxing diversions, the centre-piece of the trip will be a series of five friendlies played and a number of training sessions that will be conducted across England with members of the local training academies.
"I'm excited at seeing what it's like over there, get a glimpse of how much better they are and how they train and what we can do better, that will be good," Spang said.
"It should be a great opportunity for us, it will probably be the experience of a lifetime."
The three local athletes were invited after being invited to be part of Western NSW Football's Talent Support Program, part of a nationwide program aimed at providing player pathways for up and coming footballers.
The program provides extra training opportunities for promising players and also arranges for players to play in friendlies against the best talent from around the country.
"We've played a few representative competitions, performed well and that's where we've been noticed and why we were chosen, I think a few of the other boys we're going with were picked that way too," Spang said.
"It's always good to get picked, it's a good feeling to get that recognition."
The trio have been playing together for nearly a decade and are already familiar with a lot of the others they'll be spending the trip with, which Spang hopes will drive them to get the best out of the tour.
"These two blokes, I've played with since I've been about eight, so we all get along well, I know a few of the boys from Orange and Bathurst, so it should be a well cushioned team."
Along with the trial games and training sessions, the team will also get a chance to visit several historical stadiums and playing grounds when they visit Reading, West Ham and other locations.
They will attend a number of English Premier League and Championship matches during the tour.
The trip sets off for England next Friday, January 24 for two weeks.