FR
EN
15 mai 2016
Message from Lee Jamison, Scout7 Managing Director
There can be no doubt that given the history of Toulon and the quality of football year in, year out, this can be considered the best independent international youth tournament in the world by some margin.
What makes the event extra special is that it continues to be family-run and incorporates dozens of local volunteers, who all work together to create a unique environment which ensures everyone who attends is given a warm and friendly welcome.
This is the ninth successive year that Scout7 has been officially involved at Toulon and in that time, we have been very lucky to see some great stories develop on the pitch. Two
personal stand-outs for me were the performance of Morocco last year, who sent a squad made-up entirely of domestic players and reached the final, and the performance of
Mexico in 2012, who after winning the Toulon title went on to win the gold medal at the London Olympic Games.
Before defending their Olympic title in Rio later on this year, Mexico have chosen to return to Toulon and use the tournament as a key part of their preparations, so it will be interesting to see how their experience in France this year helps them with their bid to win back-to-back Olympic titles.
As well as managing all the scouting accreditation and on-site support this year, we are also very pleased to be nominating the winner of the Scout7 John Haynes Trophy at the end of the tournament, which is awarded to the tournament’s breakthrough player.
Many of the award’s recipients have gone on to have great achievements in the game since it was first awarded in 2008 and in this programme you will find an interview with last year’s winner, England’s Duncan Watmore, who has experienced a breakthrough season in the Premier League with Sunderland this year.
Finally, I couldn’t finish this column without referencing our much missed colleague and friend Maurice Revello, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Maurice was the person who had the initial vision for this festival of football and without him, we would not have enjoyed over 40 years of elite international sport in Toulon.
I hope that this 2016 edition will turn out to be a fitting tribute to him, with many international stars of the future competing against each other and expressing their individual skills on the pitch, whilst at the same time respecting Toulon’s long-standing spirit of fair play.
Good luck to all the teams and players involved!
Lee Jamison
Scout7 Managing Director
