LISC U14 Boys European Tour

We begin long, eventful journeys by looking back. In about a week, 40 or so moms, dads, and teenage soccer players will embark on a tour of Denmark, Scotland, and England, leaving their homes of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, sister towns that harbor one of the great public universities of the US, the University of Illinois. All of these boys began their soccer careers years ago, at the age of six, or seven, or eight. Some began with local recreational teams, Park District teams. Some soon began to play for competitive club teams. The only soccer club in town, The Little Illini Soccer Club, soon became a home to all of the boys. These first teams were "traveling" teams, meaning that the teams had to travel beyond Champaign and Urbana to find greater competition. In these early years, traveling meant 45 minutes by car to Decatur, Danville, or a bit further on to Peoria, or, at the very most, a couple of hours drive up to Chicago, not only one of our major cities, but a hotbed of club soccer and the headquarters for US Soccer, administrators of the nation's famous adult teams. Still very young in their careers, this U14 LISC boys team will be doing some real traveling, to Denmark, Scotland, and the northeastern coast of England. This blog will attempt to record something of their journey. Given the nature of teenage boys I had wanted to call this blog American Teen Werewolves in London, but that didn't fit since we are actually going to Newcastle. I hope you enjoy.

some notes about the blog:
Anyone can click on the "comment" link to contribute questions or observations or hellos to the boys.

We'll be posting images, a daily update, and comments from each of the boys.

wish you were here