Austins Trip Report

Thanksgiving Tournament – Orlando, FL

The Thanksgiving tournament with Region IV in Orlando was a super trip. We got to leave from Sacramento, instead of having to leave from a bay area airport, which was nice. The hotel was good and the food was always good. We played the three other regions, which were all good teams, but we were better. We won the first game 3-0 against a good team, vs. Region 3. I played well and almost scored but my shot hit the post. The second game was our toughest against the Region I and was a hard fought battle. We did win 1-0 as we scored in the last 20 seconds, but should have scored on many other opportunities. I played this game too but didn’t score. The last game was our best game vs. Region II. I scored within ten minutes of going in and also was pulled down in the box for a PK. It was my best game up until I got hurt on my ankle on a hard tackle from behind. We won 2-1 and sealed the top spot in the tournament. We also got to go to Disneyworld and spent our last day at MGM. For winning the tournament, we travel to Barcelona, Spain at the end of the month and get to play FC Barcelona youth team.
 
Playing for Region IV has been an awesome experience because of the great coaching from Paul Holocher (Head Coach at Cal Poly) and Josh Kalkstein, who is our Region Head coach and a great coach. I also have the chance to play with and against some of the best players in our country, including several National team players (which is my goal). I also have the opportunity to play in front of our National team coaches, top college scouts, and in Spain, FC Barcelona coaches and scouts.

B92 Tournament – Barcelona, Spain

After 12 hours of flying, we finally got to Barcelona. Before even going to the hotel we took a bus tour of Barcelona where we went to the top of a hill, saw where Español play, and saw the huge city of Barcelona. After the tour, we went to the Nou Camp to see Barca beat Levante 5 or 6 to 1. It was amazing: the stadium was bigger than any other I’ve seen and Barca was great. Also, everyone smokes. After the game, we went to the hotel and slept. It was really hard to get very much sleep though since it was time to wake up back in the states.

Our first real day there we held practice at a local turf field. After, we went back to the hotel and slept. At night, we would chill or play pool or ping-pong. The hotel was really nice because we could see the Mediterranean Sea from our rooms. The next day was pretty much the same as the first with practice and so on. The third day we played our first game against Damm, who was said to be the first place team in the league which included the best teams in Catalonia (including FC Barcelona). I started this game and played the whole game and had a goal and another shot which the keeper barely saved but my teammate was there for the rebound in. Other than that, they beat us 4-2 but the game was way closer than the score showed. Unfortunately, Jimmy Calinan, a Cal North player, broke his leg in this game. Anyways, Damm would kill any youth team in the states by many goals and would compete very well with our national team. However, I do think that if our team knew each other better than for the combined 10 days in 2007 we might be able to beat them. After, we went to the hotel and awaited our game against the FC Barcelona youth team the next day. I didn’t play except for the last 15-20 minutes against them because we had 6 forwards (playing a 4-3-3) so the other right wing played most of this game (he sat the first game) but got tired so I went in. The score was 2-1 them but possession was probably 80-20 and they were amazing, especially in the second half when they put in 4 or 5 kids that will definitely be in La Liga or the EPL in a few years. Other than that, they kept the ball well and hardly ever had a bad touch. It was easily the best team I’ve ever played against and would probably beat many D1 college teams despite their size.

The facility we played in was massive. It was pretty much a massive living quarters for the reserves and youth with 10-15 turf and grass fields. It was amazing. My dad told me that the budget for each youth team was over 1 million dollars. After that amazing experience, we went back to the hotel for some rest. The next day we rested, had practice, and went to Girona which was an old beautiful city with a massive cathedral.

The next day, we played the youth team of the club Cornella. I played the whole game and played pretty well. This game we lost 2-1 and I had an assist to a kid named Andrew from CAS. I had another opportunity but the keeper made a great save. They were another solid team who had just sold a kid to Arsenal the week before we played them. After our game it was amazing because over a hundred 4-7 year olds stormed the field and were already doing pro-like warm-ups. They were already at a skill level that probably 10-11 year olds have here. It was a site to see. After that we went back to the hotel and played some ping-pong and chilled. The next day we had our last game (which I didn’t play at all) against the Region III 93s from America because the Spanish team called and said they couldn’t come. One of their players had just had a motorcycle crash and was in critical condition. We beat Region III 93s 2 or 3-1
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The next day was a blast and we toured the main tourist spot in Barcelona. It was great! They had countless soccer shops and street sideshows. One was dressed as Ronaldinho and he juggled and did tricks on a box (he was great) and people would tip him. Las Ramblas was cool and had a huge cathedral. It was great to see such old architecture and so many amazing things. We left the next day at 3:00 in the morning so most of us stayed up all night and played ping-pong and pool and chilled. The flight back wasn’t as long (it seemed) but supposedly it was an hour longer. By the way, there and back we flew to Paris first which was cool. The French are interesting people. Anyways, it was a great trip. I learned there’s a huge difference between American soccer and European soccer. They understand the game better and move off the ball better and have much better touches (especially under pressure). This can probably be attributed to the fact that they learn the game at such a young age so all that stuff is engrained in them by the time they’re my age.

-Austin Bravo

Placer United U16