Global Soccer > Scandinavia Mania
Scandinavia Mania
2010 U15 Trip News
Once again this year, the Blackhawks U15s are traveling through Denmark and Sweden and enjoying a true global soccer experience at the Dana Cup and Gothia Cup.
Follow their adventures.
2009 U15/U16 Trip News
GOTHIA CUP OPENING CEREMONY
The Blackhawks received the honor this year of representing the United States in the Gothia Cup Opening Ceremonies. The U.S. joined England, Norway, and Sweden as the countries who had participated the longest in Gothia Cup (30+ years), and as a result, the kids were in the last group of teams to march in. Although the kids had to wait in the "holding area" for their chance to march into the stadium and so missed the show (which rivaled half time at the Super Bowl) a great scene in its own right unfolded among the kids backstage. It started with the Swiss and Venezuelan teams trying to out-sing each other with various national songs. Then the dancing began and some of the kids started dancing in a big circle with other players, and then all the kids started singing and dancing and waving flags. All this was going on as they were slowly moving toward the entrance to the ceremonies, and when they caught sight of the inside of the stadium, packed to the rafters with more than 50,000 spectators, the Olympic fever-like thrill notched up even higher. Al Organ proudly carried the American flag and all the kids waved and danced and shouted as they marched around the stadium. The Blackhawk players were then seated next to the team from Iraq (check out the web for stories on this team...not since 1980 has an Iraqi team been able to attend Gothia Cup). The cameras were clicking like crazy, covering the Iraqi and Blackhawk kids with arms around each other, waving flags and dancing -seeming to have the time of their lives. Opening night was incredible! Another highlight: Viktor Adamcsek was able to find the team from Hungary and had a joyous reunion with the coach who took him to Gothia Cup as a young Hungarian player some 15 or so years ago.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS
2008 U16 Experience
Each year since 1993, St. Paul Blackhawks teams have worked hard to raise money to travel to Scandanavia to play in some of the most prestigious youth soccer tournaments in the world. The preparation and fundraising begins more than a year in advance of the trip.
This year, the Boys U16 Premier and Girls U16 Premier teams traveled to Sweden to play in the Gothia Cup and to Denmark to play in the Denmark Soccer Festival. The Gothia Cup is the largest youth soccer tournament in the world and is considered the world youth cup. This year, there were nearly 1600 teams and 33,000 participants from dozens of countries. The Denmark Soccer Festival hosts 170 teams from as far as Brazil.
In the Gothia Cup, the Girls U16 team finished first in their group and advanced to the "Swede Sixteen" out of 116 teams in its bracket, eventually losing in a shootout to a team from Denmark. The girls were absolutely brilliant in the Denmark Soccer Festival, going undefeated and winning their age group against teams from Brazil, Denmark, Norway, UK, and Sweden.
The Blackhawks U16 Boys played 11 games against 8 different countries during their 12-day tour of Sweden and Denmark. Our boys were solidly competitive against teams from Brazil, England, Czech Republic, Hungary, and many more. In the Gothia Cup, the Boys U16 team finished third in its group and won its first playoff game against a Brazilian team in a shootout, only to lose its second playoff game in a shootout to another Brazilian team. In the Denmark Soccer Festival, the boys finished first in their group, but finished second in the semi-final group and did not advance further (but ended the tournament by avenging their Gothia Cup shootout loss to the team from Brazil from Sweden.)
Between the ample helpings of soccer there was plenty of time for the beach, the disco, an amazing match between Brøndby and Juventus, and just plain hanging out. Both teams had a fantastic soccer experience and an even better life experience. They made friends from around the world, navigated their way through Gothenberg and Copenhagen, and got a chance to seize the opportunity of a lifetime.
Special thanks to coaches John Sylvester and Keaton Peterson for their leadership, Shannon Norton for her care and keeping of our players for 2 weeks, and to Bo Conroy for planning the logistics of this unforgettable journey!
