As we were preparing to leave, I was able to get a picture of the last sunrise in Spain.
The last team picture.
The flight to Newark from Madrid was 8 hours. It seemed forever before we were even able to take off. I watched a couple of movies, ate some gross airplane food, and slept. Not much else to do.
Once we touched down in Newark, it was weird to read English again and not be surrounded by Spanish. We got a final pic with the Florida boys and of course Yvonn because he just loves being in pictures. Gianni felt the need to give me his pink neck pillow.
After getting our luggage and getting through customs, we had about an hour to get to our connecting flight to Chicago. It took forever to get through security again, and of course we had to take a tram to our terminal. Poor James got squashed in the tram. Once it took off, everyone's centripetal force was directed towards James, and I think Marshall tried to blame James for something, when he was the victim, ha ha. We ran to our gate, and I had the boys stall so I could hurry and use the restroom and change out of my fun polo and into some comfy clothes. There was no way I could hold it for two more hours and I will NOT use an airplane bathroom again. We made the flight and the boys from there on out really took care of me and my bags.
Once we landed in Chicago, food was a priority. We'd had nothing substantial to eat all day, and were craving some good American food. We searched for our best option, and decided on Chinese. It. was. delicious. We reminisced about the last two weeks, and re-told our funny stories. It felt good being a group of 5 again, instead of a group of 30.
We got to our gate, only to find out they moved our gate again back to where we came from. Not only did they move our gate, but our flight was delayed an hour due to lightning. Once we boarded, we found out that the plane we were supposed to fly in was actually still in Atlanta, and they had commandeered the plane we were in. I guess we were lucky it was only an hour. Brandon, Marshall, and Alex were out as soon as they sat down. I think James an I lasted until we took off.
Once we landed in Salt Lake, it was 11:30, which would be 7:30 Madrid time. That meant we had been traveling for 24 hours, plus an hour and a half car ride home. We barely managed to step off the plane. All of our legs didn't want to work. We made our way down to baggage claim, where all the parents were there holding up signs for their sons. It was touching, and I'll be honest... I was holding back tears, as it had hit me what we all had just accomplished, and that I was a big part of that. The boys hugged their parents, parents hugged me, and I was so thankful and glad I got each boy back safely.
I was a little sad to say goodbye to the boys and this experience. My head was reeling from the ride home and all day today on what I could say in my final Spain blog entry. There's so much that we experienced, but I think what hit home the most was one thing. When we coach, we educate the kids on the four pillars of soccer, which I believe are advanced to six in the "A" course. Those six are:
1- Technical - You've got to have a solid technical foundation to be successful, and in Anson Dorance's words, "You can never be technical enough."
2- Tactical - The decisions you make on the field.
3- Physical - You've got to be able to match body for body. The soft just don't survive.
4- Mental - You've got to be mentally fit as much as physically fit. As Yogi Berra would say... "Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
5- Fitness - Having the discipline to get your body in shape and prepared to play at your very best. This aspect is where most players fail because they are too afraid or too lazy to put in the work. This aspect is where players should THRIVE. How well your body is conditioned dictates not only how well you play, but how quickly you can think on the field.
6- Lifestyle - How you live is important. How you take care of your body from the inside out. Making sure you are properly rested for game days, making sure you get the proper nutrients for performance and recovery, being a student of the game. Soccer is very much part of the culture in Spain. Everywhere you turn, you see someone playing. Part of lifestyle is also how well you prepare.
Coach Neil added a 7th, which I agree with very much.
7- Heart - You've got to play with heart and develop a passion for the game.
The last two are the two that stuck out to me. My goal is to find a way for people in this valley to embrace soccer as part of their lifestyle. There's so much more to the game than the game itself. It's the discipline to train, to eat reasonably healthy, to develop team unity, to make sure you get adequate rest, to purely watch the sport. The list goes on. I want to develop a passion in my players that no matter what, they'll run themselves into the ground before they will ever surrender. To play their hearts out. I came across this video today, that pretty much sums it all up.
"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."
-Henry David Thoreau
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