2 August 2023

Friendship in football has continued at Nerang after this week’s return visit by the LS Soccer Academy squad from Taiwan. The team arrived on Monday for a one-week stay on the Gold Coast, and kicked off their football tour at Nerang on Tuesday with a full hit out against our own Nerang Soccer Allstars — a select team of U10 and a few U12 players from our own Eagles’ players. After several years hiatus due to Covid and travel restrictions, the visiting side from Taipei in Taiwan, returned to Nerang once again with a bright squad of talented and enthusiastic young boys. The game was a chance for some of our own Nerang players to experience some vastly different football styles and ability levels whilst sharing in the excitement of international football right here at our own club grounds. The teams were greeted by a stellar sunset afternoon at Nerang and played a full 2X 25-minute match, which ended with a 2 nil win to the visiting LS team despite some desperate defence from Nerang and some quality attack from the LS boys. After the game, a handful of the older LS Soccer players stayed on to do a full gameplay session with our U13 Div 1 team. The teams and coaches stayed on at the clubhouse for a typical Australian BBQ dinner, shared amongst the players and coaches. Following on from an exchange of gifts and commemorative items between the clubs and players, the Nerang players tried the famous Taiwanese pineapple shortbread cake desert for the first time, whilst it was lamington fingers for the visiting boys which went down a treat. The visit and exchange continues on from past trips and served to bolster the relationship between the two clubs, sharing not just in the football but the exchange of friendship and goodwill that comes with the game.