A crowd of 100 excited schoolchildren from Newtownabbey, near Belfast, were put through their paces by some of the best coaches in the football business yesterday afternoon.
The youngsters, aged from nine to 15, were drilled in all the finer points of the game by professional coaches from Liverpool Football Club.
However, the purpose of the exercise wasn't to discover tomorrow's stars. The cross-community coaching session at the Valley Leisure Centre was set up by community police officers, who hope that bringing children together from the town's sprawling housing estates might reduce anti-social behaviour and sectarianism.
Children from the Rathcoole, Longlands, Bawnmore, Monkstown, Ballyduff and Mossley areas joined in the high-octane event.
Acting PSNI superintendent John McCaughan said: "We hope this initiative will help improve relations and allow the young participants to build and develop sound friendships while training with some of the best professional coaches in the UK."
The emphasis was on breaking down barriers and encouraging youngsters from the two communities to work together in teams, rather than pulling apart.
It sounds like the triumph of hope over experience, but the children taking part in yesterday's event seemed to have no difficulty playing alongside one another. In fact, the sea of smiling faces was a community relations dream. Liverpool community coaching co-ordinator and club chaplain Bill Bygroves said: "We're here as part of our 'Truth 4 Youth' programme, which promotes fun and friendship through football. It's all about teamwork and integration."
Formed six years ago, the community coaching team is involved with schools and community projects on Merseyside, but also regularly holds soccer camps in Germany and Ireland.
The coaching team have chosen a series of sport-inflected, child-friendly mottoes to get their message across. These include "kick drugs into touch", "give bullying the boot" and "show racism the red card".
The Liverpool team are running a similar session in the Shankill area of Belfast today, where head coach Eddie Sullivan promises that youngsters will get the chance to take a look at the famous European Cup.
More than anything, the glamour of the Liverpool coaches made yesterday's event a success. Afterwards, the Community Coaching team was surrounded by crowds of eager children wanting autographs. Even PSNI Community Safety Inspector Steven Connolly got caught up in the excitement. He was mobbed by enthusiastic young footballers yelling, "Can I have your autograph too, Mr Peeler?"