I have played soccer almost all my life, and most of the time I played with SOCA, one of the local clubs here in Charlottesville. Every year, SOCA takes the boys and girls under-14 teams to play in a tournament in Europe. For several consecutive years, SOCA has participated in the tournament in San Sebastian, Spain, which is currently the second largest youth soccer tournament in the world. In 2018, I had the privilege of being on the U14 team and going to the tournament. Ever since I found out I had made the team the previous June, I was very excited for the trip that would take place almost a year later! When the time finally arrived I was ecstatic that it was actually happening.
After a long flight, we finally arrived at the Barcelona International Airport. We checked into our hotel, and rested up to make sure that we wouldn’t fall asleep during our practice. That afternoon we were coached by the starting striker of the FC Barcelona Women’s Team and the goalkeeper of the Irish Women’s National team. It was great to able to listen to someone else’s coaching style, and we ended up working on something we’d never done before. The next day, we got up early in the morning to play a friendly match against a local club. As soon as we walked in we knew it was going to be a very different experience than we’d ever been a part of before. It ended up being a great game, and it ended in a 2-2 tie. After the game, we rented bikes and rode around and saw the sights of the city. Along the way we saw many of the beautiful attractions such as the Olympic gardens, the Ramblas, and Sagrada Familia. The Ramblas is a popular street that has many markets, shops, and activities. Sagrada Familia is the main basilica, with gorgeous towers and stained glass. After the bike ride, everyone was pretty worn out, but my mom and I decided to stay in the old part of town for dinner. We found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served tapas, which are lots of small dishes. We got toast with fresh salsa, steak sandwiches, and homemade chips. After our dinner, we walked around the old town, and enjoyed the ambience of the quieter part of the city.
We were up early the next morning to make sure that we could arrive in San Sebastian on time to watch the Spanish National team play Russia in the World Cup. We arrived at the watch party just in time. The watch party was in a large, circular bull fighting arena, and had lots of large screens so that you could watch from any angle. The game was really close, but Russia ended up pulling ahead in penalties and won the game. It was very entertaining to watch because we were surrounded by soccer players from all over the world. Most of the teams watching with us were from Spain and everyone was very emotional the whole time. Over the next six days, we played teams from the U.S, all over Europe, Africa, and even Asia. We played many physical and athletic teams who had very different styles of play. We played four games, but unfortunately we only won one. When we weren’t playing soccer, we spent a lot of time at different beaches in France and some in San Sebastian. At the beach we always brought a soccer ball to juggle with or rondo. When it was time to leave, we all felt very sad because we loved San Sebastian, and the time spent playing soccer games, hanging out at beaches, and seeing the city sights.
On our way to Madrid, we stopped in Segovia to see the Roman Aqueduct, which was build over 2000 years ago with no mortar – and is still standing! Our last stop was Madrid, the capital of Spain. With only a few short days in Madrid, we squeezed in two art museums and a Flamenco performance. The Modern Art Museum and the Prado house some of the best collections of art in the world. Flamenco is a combination of dance, storytelling, and singing and it made for an interesting dinner show. We were only in Madrid two nights, but we all enjoyed it. On our last day, we were up and out very early to go home.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of traveling with my team and playing soccer in another country. I was able to experience and learn about the different cultures in Spain, and I was even able to practice conversing in Spanish. Over the span of our ten days, I’ll most remember our big win in a really close game; the amazing tapas, from wings to fried cheese to meatballs; sitting in a bull-fighting arena watching the Spanish team play in the World Cup, surrounded by Spanish footballers; and sunny days at the beaches with my teammates. I’d encourage all students in Charlottesville to take advantage of any travel programs offered through school or extracurricular organizations!
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Brady G. enjoys all aspects of soccer: coaching, playing, refereeing, and watching the premier league. He loves being outside and relishes the challenge and hard work of building trails. Brady values travel because the opportunity it provides to discover new places and learn about other cultures; by the time he graduates high school, he will have visited over 25 countries. Brady is a member of the class of ’22 at a local Charlottesville high school and he plans to attend college to double major in science and business.