'95 Boys: (Day 10) Monday, April 5

Today my roommate and I had to wake up around 7:30 am so we cold go to breakfast at 8:00 am. After breakfast, we went to our rooms for about 40 minutes before we had to leave at 9:10 am for our game. It had rained yesterday, but I didn't think the field would be as bad as it was.

We arrived at the field and noticed that it was all mud from goal line to goal line and touch line to touch line. Despite the conditions we were pumped and ready to play thanks to the help of Coach Craig's amazing pre-game speech. Part of his speech was to have us close our eyes and picture GREATNESS and everything we wanted to do for the game we were about to play.

The game was 0-0 first half and about halfway in the the second half, Travis flicked a ball from the right side of the box to the middle where Dan was to finish it. The game ended 1-0, US! We had beaten another team on their home field once again.

Later in the afternoon, we watched the championship game where Empoli FC took on Atalanta. It was a tight game throughout the entire match. They went into double overtime where Empoli scored the game winning goal. It was really exciting to watch two teams my age battle out in the championship match of an international tournament.

For dinner we enjoyed pizza and ice cream at a local restaurant. It was delicious! When we got back to the hotel we enjoyed some laughs with the team that occurred during the trip and then headed up to our rooms to pack...where I am right now, finishing packing and writing this entry.

This trip was such an amazing experience and will surely be missed. Thank you Coach Barker, Coach Craig, Jordan, Jen and Paul for making this trip absolutely amazing!

P.S. We went undefeated in Italy, 6-0-2!

- Bay Kurtz '95

'95 Boys: (Day 9) Sunday, April 4

Easter Sunday...but this was not your typical Easter Sunday. I woke up in Italy on Easter, amazing right? Well this trip has been amazing. The competition, the atmosphere, the people, everything! The food might have been different and maybe not so good at times, but this trip has made me aware of how different parts of the world can be and how people who play the same sport as you may have different strategies, ideas and still compete with you!

We started Sunday morning with a victory over our opponent (Azzanese), but it was not enough to get through the next round...that's just the game of soccer. We then played in the afternoon against the Swedish team and tied. This shows that no matter where the teams come from, you have to take them seriously and with respect. Italy is amazing!

- Eduardo Gamboa '95

'95 Boys: (Day 8) Saturday, April 3

Yesterday, we started our tournament and played Belluno, an Italian team. We were scared at first, but slowly got back into it with goals by Bay, Travis and Ali. We won that game 4-0. Kyle and I kept a shutout.

Later on, we played JEF United, a team from Japan and started the game very weak. We couldn't connect our passes, but we kept it 0-0 at half. In the second half we started playing better, but they got a breakaway and Matt just about took a kids leg off in the box and they scored on a PK. A minute later they scored again.

That seemed to get us fired up and we were able to come back and got two PK's well finished by Travis and Chang. We finished the game 2-2. The rest of the day was boring besides Coach Barker and Jen being nice getting us ice cream!

- Pedro Diaz '95


During my trip to Italy, I had my birthday. It wasn't one of the best, but I will always remember it. It was a lot different not celebrating it with my family and friends, but I got to do what I like most with pretty cool teammates.

- Darby Cronin '95

'95 Boys: (Day 7) Friday, April 2

At breakfast everyone had mixed emotions: happy, nervous, excited and worried we were going to step onto the field and play one of the best pro teams from Sweden. As the bus drove up to the complex, many of us tapped our shin guards, tied our boots and focused hard on their own responsibilities that they would execute during game time. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, playing in Italy against a pro Swedish club at a professional complex.

As we got to the locker room, the excitement hit many of us. We were ready to play. Tweet...the whistle blew and the game began. Wall pass, short-short long, from Ali to Dan, the ball finally landed at Eduardo's foot, who put it in the back of the net. As the first half came to a close, we were up by one, 1-0.

During the second half, we had most of the possession. In one of the possessions, Bay nut megged the Swedish left back and whipped in a cross which found it's way to Travis, who headed in another goal, 2-0 Region II. Teet, the final whistle blew. We had just beaten a Swedish pro team!

- Louis Bennett '95


Today, after we finished our game against the Swedish team, it was time to pack up once again and move to our third and final hotel of the trip. As we loaded up the bus and started to pull away from what felt like our home for so many days, the team and I were still energetic about our (2-0) win today. For the next three hours, we spent our time sleeping, playing ipods, watching movies and/or just messing with each other on the bus.

When we pulled into our new hotel, we quickly put our belongings in our rooms and headed out to the tournament ceremony. When we arrived to the plaza, there as at least 40 teams standing around; consisting of teams from Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. We also saw the teams were were going to play tomorrow. After they called our team and we took our picture on stage, we started walking to dinner. We realized their was a volleyball tourney going on and we took a picture with the girls from America.

After dinner, we received shirts from the tournament and headed back to the hotel, which concluded our 7th day of our trip.

- Kyle Dal Santo '95

'95 Boys: (Day 6) Thursday, April 1

We woke up around 8 am and got dressed for training. Training was really wet, yet really fun. After that, we almost missed breakfast, but made it there just in time to stuff ourselves with amazing food. We had a lot of rest time, but most people on the team watched the Serie B team train. Later on we had a game against Montecchio. The field was SOAKED! Also, it was really cold. We fought and come through winning 5-2. Travis, Eduardo, Dan, Louis and I all had a goal in the win. Everyone played exceptionally well. After the game there was dinner. The rooms were checked at 10 pm and everyone, hopefully, had their lights out by 10:45 pm.

- Ali Jawad '95

Italy 2010

Our experience here so far has been very good.

Two Serie A games live, two Champions League games on TV and then one Europa League game.
Additionally trips to Milan and Venice.

....and finally 4 friendlies, two for each the 93s and 95s during which we have posted a 3-0-1 record.

Tournament play for both squads will be much more of a challenge and fatigue etc will be an ever present issue.

All said the relevance of both representative soccer and international travel is very high for these US Youth Soccer players.

The best, Coach Ian Barker.

'95 Boys: (Day 5) Wednesday, March 31

Today we woke up around 8:30 am to eat breakfast. Everyone was excited to go to Venice. After breakfast, we took an hour and a half bus ride. When we got there we took a boat to get to the main island. When we arrived we went to Saint Mark Square, the heart of Venice. We had a tour guide who showed us the largest church in Venice and one of the largest in Europe. She explained to us that the lion and the book is the symbol that represents richness in the city because the lion was made of pure gold. She also showed us the grand canal where you can get a gondola ride. After the tour guide was done, the team and coaches talked and then we were on our own to explore and shop the richness and beauty of VENICE.

- Michael Chang & Emilio Lopez '95

'95 Boys: (Day 4) Tuesday, March 30

Today we played our first match against AC Montichiari. It was a very good opening game for us. They were a skilled team, but nothing we couldn't handle. We won the match 1-0. I thought our opponent prepared us very well for what is ahead of us.

- Justin Pratt '95

'95 Boys: (Day 3) Monday, March 29

Earlier today we arrived at another hotel. It was huge and had tons of villas, a golf course and sports complex. We trained at a local facility. It was hard to breathe at the altitude. Then we visited downtown Milan. We as this massive cathedral. It was awesome. We saw how old and historic the city was. It was a great experience.

- Dan Lev '95

'95 Boys: (Day 2) Sunday, March 28

On Saturday both the '93 and '95 teams arrived to Italy awaiting the exciting activities assigned for us that day. After a long day of flying and being on a plane for 8 hours we were ready to see two games - Juventus vs Atlanta and AC Milan vs Lazio. After the bus ride from the airport to Milan we got to our rooms and went to a local restaurant for lunch. After lunch we drove to Torin for the Juventus game. A lot of us have not seen European games live so it was a great experience. We bought souvenirs and watched the game. After the game we quickly rushed back to Milan to see the Milan game. We have never seen anything like the Italian fans. They were so passionate about the game. It was a close game the whole game and the way the fans were, they made it crazy and fun. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but it was totally worth it.We went back to the local restaurant to eat again for dinner and smashed the pizza they served us. When we went back to our hotel we were all exhausted and passed out. We are all so thankful for this opportunity because we won't get many of these again.

- Brent Winkler '95

'95 Boys: (Day 1) Saturday, March 27

Beep!!! Beep!!! I hit the snooze button and went back to sleep, but then seconds later my eyes flashed open and I jumped out of bed, to into the shower and slipped on my Region II warm-up that I was itching to wear the whole week. I gather all of my stuff that was not already in my soon to be overweight suitcase and threw it in the back of the car. Finally, I was off to the airport not knowing what I was in for the rest of the day.

The Michigan boys arrived at the Detroit airport around 9:00 am and were off to Chicago. Because of the time difference, we then landed in Chicago at 11:00 am and waited four hours to board the plane to Frankfurt. The airport was huge so the four hours passed fast after eating a $16 full course meal.

After the entire Region II team met up at gate 16, it was time to board the plane. Everyone was excited, but I don't think any of us knew how long and how boring it would be until we landed in Germany. I think most of us tried to sleep, but were unsuccessful because sleeping at 2:00 in the afternoon is hard (but at the same time it was pitch black out).

We landed in Frankfurt, went through customs and walked a 1/2 mile to our next gate where we sat their staring into space waiting for our plane. As soon as I got on the plane, flight attendants said "good morning" and I was like "what"?!? I passed out on the plane as soon as I got to my seat and slept through the entire flight. I woke up when we got to Milan and asked the German sitting next to me if we had taken off yet. They just looked at me with a blank stare and said "huh"? At that moment, I thought to myself...this is just the start of it!

- Justin Cohen '95