Balloan star who won golden boot at international tournament on radar of Scottish Premiership club
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A YOUNG Inverness footballer who fell out of love with the game and almost quit has won a Golden Boot award at a top international youth tournament.
Culloden Academy pupil Samuel Adams (15) is now courting interest from a Scottish Premiership club outside the Highlands after helping Balloan FC dazzle in the Portuguese sunshine.
Scoring six times in five matches singled Sam out as top finisher in the under 17s section at last month’s FootMania international youth event in Portugal’s Caldas Da Rainha.
The Inverness Street League side were up against world class academies including Oriental Lisboa, the youth arm of Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon, and Corinthians of Brazil.
Sam’s scoring feat came despite Balloan being one of the youngest teams in the section and playing one fewer game than leading clubs.
“There were some big academies and, technically, the standard was exceptional,” the youngster said.
“As a team, we performed very well considering. I felt I did quite well and scoring a few in the first couple of games was a huge confidence boost. That helped me go on to score a few more.”
Sam had spells with both Caley Thistle and Ross County’s youth academies, but grew disillusioned after a lengthy spell of playing through pain and discomfort. It transpired that a hip flexor injury had been misdiagnosed.
ICT legend Grant Munro took him under his wing after he joined Balloan earlier this year, hitting 93 goals in 39 games. Exploits in Portugal have now alerted several unnamed Scottish clubs.
“Playing for Balloan has allowed me to enjoy my football again. Grant Munro has been a big part of that,” Sam said. “As soon as I came in, his message was ‘don’t worry if you have a bad game, the goals will come’.”
Dad Paul Adams is just happy to see Sam back enjoying the game.
“All of the Balloan lads did really well out there, battling against some pretty impressive teams that undoubtedly had quite a few stars of the future,” he said.
“Oriental Lisboa were just different class – a real eye-opener for the lads – with phenomenal technical ability. It was a great learning experience for Sam.
“He’s had some interest off the back of this, but he’s not 16 until October, so he can’t really go too far from home. Balloan have just been the right club, the right people, at the right time and they have brought the best out in him.”
