Young Barbadian footballer, Thierry Gale, this week winged out the island on his way to take up an opportunity of a lifetime pursuing a permanent place as a player in the Hungarian professional league.
Following a short trial in August the 16-year-old national Under-17 and senior striker was selected by Budapest Honvéd FC to play in Hungary’s top football league on a three-year contract.
Gale’s coach, Renaldo ‘Pee Wee’ Gilkes, said that given the youngster’s talent the selection for a European team came as no surprise.
“I think it was only a matter of time before the opportunity came, and luckily for him, it came for him as a teenager,” Gilkes told the Barbados Nation newspaper.
“I had a hand in his development over the last couple of years. I am more excited for the fact Thierry would be opening doors for a lot of players around his age… We know how difficult it is to break into Europe, and we have a 16-year-old who is now the trendsetter, not just for youth football, but Barbados football in general.”
“I believe that Thierry will do well. He has matured a lot over the last year or so starting from the Under-15 CONCACAF Championship in Florida. He was one of the catalysts for the squad doing so well. As a footballer he is technically gifted,” the coach said.
Gale’s father, Dwayne Gale, a former senior Barbados player himself, said that efforts towards this big break began since Thierry was a toddler.
“All these are things I was planning for,” the senior Gale said to the newspaper. “It was a lot of hard work. I feel great about it. That was something I was working on from the time he was five years old and I am happy it has finally happened.”
The teenaged prodigy left Barbados Wednesday for his exciting assignment with the collective heart of the nation and hopes of his people that he will be a leader taking Barbados’ football to the next level.
