Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Under-19s will set off to their training camp in Holland in the run up to the start of the 2013/14 season

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shachar”s preparations for the new season are in full swing and the team have already played a number of pre-season friendlies here in Israel before heading out for their training camp in Holland. Last night, head coach Ziv Arie’s charges played the Under-19s of Hapoel Rishon Lezion, beating them 4-2 coutesy of individual goals by forwards Dor Jan and Suheil Armelli and a brace by midfielder Maxim Grechkin. In their previous pre-season friendly, "Shachar" beat Hapoel Beer Sheva at the Kiryat Shalom training ground 2-0 with goals by Suheil Armelli and fellow striker Jonathan Cohen, who last season scored 47 league goals between them while playing for Maccabi’s Under-17s.

Tomorrow (Thursday), the Under-19s' preparations for the new season will gain momentum as the team embark upon an 8-day training camp in the Dutch town of Heemskerk, 20 kilometres north of Amsterdam. The highlight of this training camp will be their participation in the Broersen International Youth Selection Tournament of Under-19 teams from eight different European countries. The teams have been divided into two groups, with Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shachar” playing PAOK Thessaloniki and two teams from Holland, ADO Den Haag and the local amateur side A.D.O.'20. The second group will consist of the Under-19s of English side Bolton, Slovakian side FK Senica, Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and Danish side Odense. The tournament will take place over two days, with games of 50 minutes each and the teams finishing first and second in each group advancing to the semi-finals.

Toward the end of the training camp, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shachar” will play another friendly against the Under-19s from the Dutch side Excelsior from Rotterdam.  They will then return to Israel and continue to prepare for the opening of the Youth Premier League season on September 7th starting with a home game against HaPoel Ra’anana.

Click here to see Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"'s full season 2013/14 fixture schedule.