MISSISSAUGA — The North Mississauga Panthers' under-17 boys' soccer team will be exposed to the highest level of competition in their age group in two weeks when they compete in the Haarlem Cup, an international tournament in The Netherlands.

The Panthers will play against teams from Germany, Denmark, the United States and The Netherlands from April 18-21.

"It's a chance for them to see soccer in a different culture," said Panthers coach Tom Quashie.

"It's to help them get experience heading into college or university and also give them more exposure to professional opportunities, with the chance to be invited to training camps."

The team will depart from Canada on Saturday. Before heading to Amsterdam, they'll spend a few days in England, where they'll play a pair of matches against Reading Academy.

A unique element of the Haarlem Cup is that the games will be very close together. Each team will play three games per day with each one 50 minutes apart.

Quashie puts his team through an extensive schedule in order to prepare for situations like that.

"That's why we're training in England first," Quashie said. "Each week, we have three practices and a game to keep the fitness level up. The boys train on their own, too, and a lot of them play in (high school) as well to stay active."

Saturday (April 5), the Panthers travelled to the University of Guelph to face the school's men's soccer team before returning to Mississauga for a Hershey Indoor Soccer League game against Oakville.

The second game was scheduled to take place half an hour after the team arrived back from Guelph.