Amazing day

So we started off the day on our way over to the Ciutat Esportiva where a majority of the Barca teams train. I begged the directors to see if the girls could go, but without any luck. They told us we might be able to catch 10 minutes or so of the first teams training since it was to be light since they won last night. Then the rest of our time was to be spent observing the Barca B team. Well ended up we were able to stay with the first teams training the entire time. Got to meet a lot of the first teams players , but my highlight was a picture with Pep Guardiola (Barca's coach). After that FCB announced a ceremony for us with some big whigs in the organization. It was very nice and they took pics with the girls and gave them some trinkets. Later today we headed to a cool facility, somewhat central in town. We showed up and we had locker rooms and they water the pitch before every match in Spain. They had music playing over the speakers and that pumped the girls up and they were ready to play. Tristen scored our first goal in Spain and it was a Golazo! She scored from outside the 18. The girls all freaked. They were really excited. These Barca girls had skills that I have never seen American girls with. Their skills and touch are comprable if not better the average Div 1 womens soccer player in America. They played the system with such precision and touch. We knew where they were going to play but still couldn't stop them. They are a pinnacle for us to strive for. In the locker room after the game, i told the girls I have NEVER been more proud of them. I will forever be etched in my brain what our girls did tonight.

Wednesday

Had a great breakfast as usual. From there we went and trained at the field in the shadow of Camp Nou til lunch time. We then went to Sagrada Familia and took the tour inside and rode the Metro both ways. Taylor was getting pick pocketed and slapped the lady's hand that was doing it. Pretty funny. Then went back up to the fields for our friendly and got stood up! Apparently Espanyol was afraid. We ended up playing our selves on the 7v7 pitch and the girls had an amazing work out. Jordi stayed with them and watched and spoke with them afterwards. The highlight of their night was definitely the Champions Leaue game. They were chanting, singing, cheering and doing the wave. The score was 5-1 Barca. The girls sat in the seats tile they kicked us out. Then ran down the ramps together singing "Cant del Barca". People were video taping them and taking their pictures. They were a sight. It was so awesome to watch the experience through their eyes. It was truly an amazing day, we could leave tomorrow and they would be totally happy. The great thing now is they get to play "FCBarcelona girls" tomorrow. They are pumped for that game. I'll let you know how it goes.

CIAO

Final blog of tuesday

We woke up and had breakfast and had an amazing training session. Jordi Vinyals (ex-barca player and coach ) ran the session along with Arnau, Javi and Miguel. Jordi spoke with the girls about the match and gave them some pointers and a ton of compliments. He said despite the result he was very impressed. From there we had lunch and went on the Camp Nou tour and Museum tour. We went after that to have Crepes at a place Reggae Max reommended. There were good. Couldn't help but repeating "crepe" lines from Ricky Bobby the whole time. We play Espanyol (1st place in 1st division) tomorrow after training, we will also hit the inside Sagrada Familia tour and finish with a Champions League game of Barca-vs-Shakhtar (Ukraine).

First post of tuesday

We just had breakfast and are heading to training now. After that we are going on the stadium and museum tour and then train again tonight. Pic will come soon.

First post for the trip

So we had a wicked long flight. The girls used half the memory sticks on their cameras just on the flight. We went straight to the training facilities and watched the Barca girls and boys play other local clubs. From there we went back and checked into the hotel. After that we went to a Futbol Sala (Futsal) game and people were falling asleep at the game. Barca won 4-2. This morning we had training for a few hours with our trainers. Then we went on a Barcelona city tour and saw Las Ramblas, MontJuic, Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. From there we drove back into the hills and played a friendly against Club Europa. Dang!!! those girls can pressure. We played the new changes the Barca trainers worked with us on and the girls did great. The team we played was made up of 94, 95 and 96 players. I have never seen girls in AZ, or in SoCal for that matter do some of the things these girls did with the ball. It was an experience. After the match the girls exchanged their pictures with the Club Europa girls and started awkwardly talking that turned into hugs and giggles. It was the coolest thing I have experienced. They started talking about facebook and everything. Tomorrow we train again in the morning and then a Camp Nou stadium and museum tour. I will post pictures soon. Savannah unfortunately lost our camera, so I will be stealing others photos as soon as possible.

Almost time to leave

On the heels of my U-14 girls winning the Presidents cup this past weekend, our girls have been preparing mentally and physically for the trip across the pond. We will be at the airport at 6:00 on saturday morning and arrive in Barcelona at 9:00 on Sunday morning. We will be swept away for a day at the ciutat esportiva and finish the first night taking in a Barca Futsal game.

Another Adventure

We are 23 days awat from our next excursion to Barcelona. All the details are finalized and we will be traveling with our '97 girls team. Stay tuned for the excitement.