A young Linfield footballer has been impressing in Spain after spending the week with La Liga outfit Getafe.
Mark Norris plays for the Blues' Under 18 side and also attends The Football Management Company, an academy that runs in partnership with the NI Football League.
The 17-year-old has previously attended performance units at Kyoto Sanga and Manchester City, and spent a week at a Barcelona camp held in Japan.
Mark was on his travels again this week, after being invited to train with some of Getafe's youth players at the Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
"Several years ago Marky attended a Real Madrid summer camp in Japan and was selected with his brother to train and play at Real Madrid for a week," explained Mark's father, Keith.
"A lady called Nerea Alonso looked after them in Madrid. Nerea is now Director of Protocol at Getafe. She got sent Marky’s videos from his Linfield games and asked if he would like to trial at Getafe."
The young midfielder has impressed during his time at Getafe, scoring two goals in his first practice match and taking part in several "intense" training sessions.
Keith said: "The sessions are 2hrs 15 mins long . Each day different than the other. Friday's session was shorter, fun yet serious and intense.
"He scored two goals in the first practice match and the coaches said he did very well.
"Mark was given Wednesday off training to watch the Champions League clash between Atletico Madrid and Manchester United at Wanda Metropolitano stadium with his brothers and me.
"The hospitality has been absolutely brilliant and we can't thank everyone at Getafe enough."
Mark lives in Whitehead with his brothers, Alex and Kai, and sister Lisa who are also budding young footballers.
Alex (19) attends Larne FC's Academy, while Kai (13) plays for Whitehead Eagles and sister Lisa (11) is a promising young player with Larne U12s.
Mark started playing at Whitehead Eagles when he was five before moving to Greenisland FC the following year.
He joined Linfield in 2014 where he currently works under coaches including Michael Gault and Jamie Mulgrew.
"Marky is looking forward to getting back to Linfield where he loves playing," Keith said.
"He has another year to finish his education. This is the most important thing.
"He gets some brilliant training back home, both at the NIFL academy with Barry Johnston, and also the likes of Michael Gault, Chris Kingsberry Connor Pepper and Jamie Mulgrew at Linfield.
"So Marky can only improve.
"He wants to play for Linfield and has always said he wants to play football some day in Spain or Japan. What level is up to him.
"He has to want it from within. As with my other children I support wherever they play."
Reflecting on their week in Spain, Keith said: "This has been a tremendous experience for Mark and great to test himself at a high level.
"To be fair to him, he didn’t look out of place. Over the years he has had excellent coaching. One of Mark's old coaches, Gary Boyd, predicted Mark would be a late developer and when he eventually comes through, will be a very good player.
"Gary reminded me of that comment last week."
