Hello friends and family,
After last evening's experience, it is hard to believe that we are only half way through our Spanish journey. Many of the guys on this trip have never been to Spain and much less had the opportunity to watch a Champions League game at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. This goes without saying but this trip is a trip the every single one of us will remember for the rest of our lives. Much like Monday, today we were able to get out on the fields to train and compete. We first were able to go to train at Real Madrid’s first team and academy training facilities. Walking into the complex, we were amazed at the magnitude and shear quality of the fields and facilities. To be able to train somewhere like that was truly special. During the afternoon, many of the players went to visit Atletico Madrid’s stadium and store. While Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two most well known teams in Spain, teams such as Atletico have incredible facilities as well. During the evening, we played our second match of the trip against Getafe’s (a Division I professional team in Spain) youth team. While we ended with a loss at the end of out match, it was still incredible to be able to be able to play against such technical and aspiring professional players from Spain.
Today we were also able to celebrate the birthday of TJ Williams. TJ is the mentor and lifelong friend of Coach Allison. Coach Allison explained to me that he has always sought to emulate and reciprocate the coaching and life philosophies he has learned from TJ. Now because of this trip, we have all been able to enjoy who TJ is. Aside from these amazing opportunities that we have had in Spain, one of the things that I can already see we will take away from this trip is the close relationships we have established with each other and the alumni. I can’t wait for what tomorrow brings and I’ll see you then.