49ers Conclude Spring Season With International Trip To Spain
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BARCELONA, Spain - The Long Beach State women's soccer team concluded the 2015 spring season with a memorable 10-day international trip to Spain from Mar. 27 to Apr. 5, that included visits to Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid. The 49ers played two friendly matches while in Spain, one against RCD Espanyol in Barcelona and Valencia CF in Valencia.
Below, are stories and pictures from Spain as told from the LBSU women's soccer players.
DAY 1 & 2
By Mimi Rangel
Today is day one of nine. After taking a group picture and saying bye to our families, we were on our way to LAX to begin this Spring Break of ours we have all been anticipating. All bags packed, all passports in hand, and all smiles on our faces.
After a six-hour red-eye, we arrived to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of the delicious Philly Cheesesteaks and a bit of this country's oldest history, for a twelve-hour layover. After checking into a hotel to leave our belongings and change into warmer clothes, we were off to catch a subway to the heart of the city. Struggling to stay awake, we were quickly awoken by the beautiful 40-degree weather. We met with our tour guide Brian, grabbed a quick bite to eat for breakfast, and we were off on our tour. Trying to stay warm throughout it all, we saw many historic buildings such as the Independence Hall, the famous Liberty Bell, learned about the fight for our independence, and the original branches of government. After touring around, Brian took us to finally eat the famous Philly cheesesteak. Soon after, we headed back to the subway, said bye to Brian and headed back to the airport.
The nerves were kicking as we grabbed our bags from the hotel because that only meant one thing: it was getting closer to arriving to our final destination. Delusion was starting to set into some players, as many were tired and running on a lack of sleep. Settled on the plane, smiles bigger than ever, it was now time to head to Barcelona, Spain.
DAY 3
By Ashton McKeown
The first day of Spain was incredibly exciting, yet unbelievably tiring. After spending the whole first day and night traveling, we finally arrived in Barcelona Sunday morning, and as much as we would have loved to take a nice long nap after over 24 hours of traveling, our coaches had us stay awake to help us adjust to the time difference. Therefore we were incredibly tired the first day there.
Once we got to Barcelona, the drive to the hotel was so beautiful! We drove through the city and were amazed by all the amazing architecture and art. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we headed to FC Barcelona training grounds, "La Massia" to watch the FCB youth team play, and to watch the women's Barcelona team play. It was cool because we got to see how all ages and all teams were taught to play the same style of soccer (team-oriented, playing out of the back, circulating the ball, playing patient).
When finished watching the games and seeing the facilities, we took the tour bus to "Las Ramblas", the downtown area of Barcelona where there are a lot of booths and artists and stores. We got to explore and enjoy the beautiful city and shop and walk around for a few hours of free time. One of the best moments I had was walking around through the alleyways, and seeingthree little kids playing with a soccer ball just for fun, trying to kick the ball through any strangers' legs that walked by. Seeing the pure joy the kids had just from playing with a soccer ball was amazing. I had to jump in and play with them, I played keep away against them and we were sharing so much laughter regardless of the language barrier. It was so awesome. Once we were done at Las Ramblas, we went back to the hotel for a few minutes to change, then went to go watch the men's Barcelona "B" team play in the mini stadium. The atmosphere was so awesome! All the fans knew every chant, all the player's names, and they had so much energy and emotion the entire time! Even though we were insanely tired, the energy was contagious and we were very happy to be there and watch great soccer. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and we headed back to the hotel for pizza and some much needed sleep. Over all, the first day in Barcelona was an amazing experience and it was a great start to the rest of the trip.
DAY 4
By Mimi Rangel
It's the fourth day of our tripand second dayin lovely Barcelona. Today was an exciting day, for most of us. We were going to visit the FC Barcelona Stadium known as Camp Nou! We woke up for breakfast at 9 a.m. and it was delicious! They served all these different types of sandwich bread, all sorts of pastry bread, eggs, different types of ham sliced up, different types of cheese sliced up, juices, yogurt, cereal and many more! After breakfast we gathered our belongings for the day, met in the lobby, and left the hotel at 10 a.m.
The excitement was filling the bus when the stadium was in sight. Pulling into the parking lot made many stand from their seats to get a better view. Once we parked, we rushed out of the bus and hurriedly walked to the entrance of the stadium. Pictures of Messi and some other teammates were on the outskirts of the stadium where some teammates and I were taking pictures. Juan went to retrieve our tour tickets and that's when things became real. As you first enter through the museum entrance, there was a Gerald Pique statue off to the side. As we went up the escalator, the first spot we were lead to was the history behind FC Barcelona and how the beautiful club began. There were tables filled with history, walls filled with history, retired and old game gear that included jerseys, shorts, socks, cleats, shin guards and other items, the trophies and medals that were won, and player recognition that included some film highlights. This room was very unique for the fact that it was filled with all the history of the club and more.
After that we were lead to the most breathtaking part of the whole tour: the field. This was so breathtaking and just an unbelievable sight to us all. To actually be in the stands of the infamous stadium home to where many consider the best team of all was unreal. We spent a great amount of time here taking pictures individually, in groups, and lastly as a team. It took awhile to let everything set into reality that we were experiencing this view. After walking away we continued through the tour where we saw more of the stadium and some being the media room, training room and some video rooms. We then were able to see the field at floor level and this was a surreal feeling. We walked through the tunnels where many world-class players have walked through. At the end of the tunnel was the entrance to the field. The field was the most beautiful thing of it all. The vibes, the chills, the smell all was treasured. We then again took more pictures and took the time to let everything sink in before we had to part ways from the beautiful scenery. Saying goodbye and taking our last glance, we rushed to the next best part of the stadium; the official FC Barcelona Nike store.
This store was three stories high and so overwhelming in the beginning. There was gear everywhere. The top level contained women's clothing, cleats for all ages. The middle level was the men's section and the bottom floor was the kids' section along with FC Barcelona accessories such as postcards, mugs, scarves, beanies key chains, posters and many other things. This store and tour was an unbelievable experience and something we will all cherish. After shopping, we walked back in front of the outskirts of the stadium to take one last team picture and returned to the bus to leave to Las Ramblas to have lunch and start our next tour.
Once we arrived to Las Ramblas, we were able to venture off for an hour to shop and eat until we had to come back to meet again. When we met up again we were introduced to our tour guide Anthony. Our tour began on the nus where we toured around the city to learn about some of the history, view the architecture of the buildings, and even got the chance to overlook the city at a spot located at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, MNAC for short. This view was breathtaking. We were able to see most of the city. We also were able to see the ocean and city on another spot down the road from the MNAC. We came back to Las Ramblas and finished our tour their walking around and learning about some of the history, looking at some buildings and even came across a church known as the Barcelona Cathedral. After the tour, we said bye to Anthony, got on the bus and left for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, exhausted from the eventful day and were ready to sleep. Today was such a wonderful and eventful day to all of us. It was filled with memories we all cherish and hold close to our hearts!
DAY 5
By Val Margerum
This was probably my favorite day on the trip. We started it off by taking the bus up a winding mountain road to our practice field, where you could see all of downtown Barcelona and the ocean. We managed to refocus ourselves on the soccer though and ended up having a great training session, leaving us all looking forward to our game against Espanyol FC the next day.
After training, it was back to the hotel to change and then head to lunch in the city. After eating and of course ordering gelato, we stumbled upon a bunch of middle-school kids who were playing a pick-up game of street soccer in a makeshift dirt arena. At first we just watched them kicking around the sizethree ball and trying to score between two backpacks, all of them yelling and laughing and having a great time. It looked so fun we asked if we could play -- them versus us. They seemed a bit skeptical at first, but then we were playing and megging them and when we scored, everyone went nuts!! It was our goalkeeper Cynthia who scored the first international goal of the trip and we celebrated like crazy! Even all the kids who weren't playing were cheering. It was a surreal experience -- even those of us just from watching from the sidelines had the chills. So we played for a few more minutes, everyone having a blast, and got a picture with all the kids at the end of it all. I didn't think it could get any better than that.
By then it was mid-afternoon, and we continued sight-seeing at the incredible cathedral known as Sagrada Familia -- which began construction in 1883 under the architect Gaudí and still isn't completed (projected completion date - 2026). As a student of art & architecture, I was geeking out, but just about everyone felt at a loss of words while looking up at this awe-inspiring building. I mean the amount of detail & planning that went into this project is incredible -- literally every inch has something interesting on it. Now normally, the line to get into Sagrada is out the door and down the block, but we lucked out and were able to get tickets inside within twenty minutes of being there! We all walked inside and immediately were at a loss for words -- the size and beauty of the stain-glass-lit interior is literally breath taking. Being inside of Sagrada was a really humbling and overwhelming experience. We all walked through it gazing around in wonderment, and were slow to leave. So that was our third day in Barcelona! A day of unforgettable experiences and memories to cherish forever!
DAY 6
By Melanie Fox
Wednesday was our sixth day in Barcelona.We had our second training session that day, and our first game! We ate the fabulous breakfast at 8 a.m. then we went out to the training facility. We finished up practicing our offensive drill, and then did some sets. Our offensive drill improved and sets went smoothly, so we were feeling really good about our first game. Once practice was over we drove back to our hotel.
We all got some down time to rest, so we all went to our rooms and took a nap. After the downtime we went out to eat to an Italian restaurant in a shopping center in Barcelona. Our pregame meal consisted of pasta marinara and it was delicious. Then we headed back to the hotel for another hour of downtime before heading over to the game field.
The first team we played was Espanyol. We arrived at the game field around 6:30 p.m. and started our locker room talk. Mauricio explained to us that we should expect the unexpected, because this game would be different than any game we have played in America. Then we started our warm up. We were all pumped up and ready to start playing. Some of the Spanish speakers on our team noticed that the opposing team was making fun of our "short-shorts." They were not used to seeing women roll up their shorts, because they all wore their shorts to their knees. We laughed it off, and in a way it made me want to win the game even more. The referees called for captains and I ran over eager to meet the other captain from Espanyol
Before we knew it the whistle blew. We started out very strong, and our touches were killing the other team. We could tell that they were getting tired chasing the ball. Two goals were scored, one by Mimi Rangel and another by Ashley Gonzalez. Those goals reflected our hard work and consistency. It was 2-0 at halftime. We knew that they would come out stronger second half, because this was their home field. Once the second half started their intensity picked up a lot. I think they finally realized that we were a solid team, and that it was not going to be an easy fight. We moved the ball up into their half and Mimi Rangel made a killer shot to put us ahead by three. Then they had some chances at our goal from fouls near the box, but we survived the free kicks with no goals against. We were still building out of the back despite the pressure, and that transformed into Vania Robles scoring the well-deserved fourth goal.
The game ended with a score of 4-0, and we all shook hands and took a picture together. It was nice to see that we could all come together for the picture despite the language barrier, and intense game we had just played. We were all happy with how we played, and I was really proud of our maturity on the field. Then we headed back to the hotel for some sandwiches and papas fritas. It was a great night of fútbol and such an amazing experience. Having the opportunity to play against a team from Barcelona was unforgettable.
DAY 7
By Hannah Sanders
We woke up and went downstairs to another amazing breakfast at our hotel in Barcelona. I personally loved the eggs and croissants. They were so good! After finishing breakfast everyone finished getting their bags all packed up and we all met in the lobby. Our bus met us shortly after ready for the bus ride to Valencia.
The ride there wasn't too bad considering I slept through almost the whole thing. The ride from Barcelona to Valencia was aboutfour hours long. When we arrived in Valencia we checked into our hotel right away. We had about an hour of free time to either walk around outside or rest in the hotel. After that we met downstairs where the hotel provided lunch for all of us. Many of the girls weren't fond of the spaghetti (including me) because it had pieces of tuna in it. If you aren't a seafood person, then many of the dishes in Spain won't appeal to you! Luckily they had more than the spaghetti for us to fill up on.
After lunch we all got in the bus and drove to the Valencia CF stadium where we were able to tour it. We were able to learn more about their history, their current team, and see their stadium. Another amazing field! Following our tour we were given some free time for shopping before dinner. For dinner we went to a restaurant on the beach (they had a nice selection of seafood on the menu as always). Many of the girls decided to have seafood paella, which was one of the more popular dishes. After a nice meal we returned to the hotel to pack again and get ready for the bus ride back to Barcelona in the morning!
DAY 8
By Marie MacKenzie
Today, we woke up and had most amazing hotel breakfast. I don't normally like to eat a lot before games, but some of this food was too hard to pass up. After breakfast I went up to my hotel room to get a quick little nap in before we had to leave to the field. Our game was in the morning so I didn't really have that much time to rest before.
We got on our bus and then once we got to the field they assigned us to a locker room. Their locker room was right next to ours, their music was so loud and you could just feel their energy through the walls (which was a little intimidating). Our energy before the game did not even come close to matching theirs, everyone did their own individual pregame rituals and we were all really quiet and relaxed for the most part. When Mauricio walked in I was expecting his normal pregame pep talk, but it was a little different this time, it got more emotional. He told us that all of us were going to speak before the game, so we began to take turns explaining what we learned on the trip, and what we were thankful for. This moment connected us, we had a different kind of focus and I felt the energy pick up.
Afterwards we ran outside the locker room because we didn't have much time to warm up, and before we knew it, it was game time. We played so beautifully, the game was so much fun to me (of course it's fun when you're winning) but I feel like we were all on the same page and reading eachother's minds. Valencia was a good team, we just outplayed them and finished our chances. We played so well that at one point during the game I looked over at the person next to me and said, "WE ARE GOOD". Only because everyone was thinking it, I just HAD to say it.
After our victory we headed back to the hotel to have lunch and then we got to tour the Valencia CF men's stadium. It was really awesome to see because the day before that we had the opportunity to meet some of the beautiful Valencia FC futballers, and we were actually able to take pictures with them.
When we were done touring the stadium we had some free time, were able to shop and enjoy the beautiful architecture that Valencia had to offer. Shopping was fun, but our legs were exhausted from the game earlier so it was really nice to sit down and eat my chicken paella at a restaurant on the beach. Our last full day in Valencia was definitely one for the books.
DAY 9
By Celeste Dominguez
Prepared to explore one last city Val, Mimi Akaogi, Ashley, and I (along with Coach Mauricio, his daughter Madi, and our Sports Information DirectorCameron Fujimoto) woke up before sunrise to take a day long trip to Spain's capital, Madrid. This last minute change of plans was organized by Mauricio to tour Santiago Bernabeu, home of Real Madrid CF before our return home the following day.
Meantime, the rest of the team were taking the day to travel back to Barcelona from Valencia on bus, making any last minute souvenir buys in Las Ramblas. Before 8 a.m., my group headed west and headed towards Madrid on a bullet train-reaching velocities of up to 250 kph (150 mph)! The comfortable train traveled through country landscapes surrounded by vast greenery, rolling hills, and shallow lakes. Once we arrived we needed to take the two quick city metro rides to arrive directly across the street from the stadium
As we set our eyes upon it we could hear angels singing sweet harmonies welcoming us to the sacred ground (blog subject to bias). We saw hundreds of people already waiting in line to tour the stadium, so we decided to become official members of the club for a quicker entrance and get a lucrative gift bag, which included a scarf, poster, autographed pictures, and a magazine subscription. After countless security checks and five flights of stairs we finally made it inside! Getting an aerial view of the stadium took all of our cold breaths away, as it was completely majestic. We passed through endless trophy cases dating from the early 1900's and innovative videos of historic moments of the club while listening to songs and chants that are heard during home games. The tour included a look into the club's locker room, media room, and sat on the team's bench at field level. We ended the tour with a quick stop to the three-story team store and picking up Madi's confiscated FC Barcelona ball.
One last picture in front of the stadium, and then we sprinted, yes sprinted, through the gates of the metro station as we tried to make the bullet train to Barcelona. Through sweat, hundreds of stairs, and ticket purchase issues we failed to make it onboard. With our new Spanish attitudes, we remained patient and took the time to relax and take a bite before the next available train. An hour and a half later, we embarked on another breathtaking ride, as some took this time to take needed naps while others (Val and Mimi) sketched beautiful pieces of art. Three hours later we made it to Barcelona and after our two "self-guided" metro rides we arrived in the middle of Las Ramblas to meet up with the rest of the team. Excitedly, we shared stories of our day and rode the bus together to our last team dinner-buffet style.
Taking our last bites of Spanish cuisine we shared moments, laughter, and cheers. The night ended with a surprise visit to the water show. The massive fountain, rhythmically orchestrated to the sound of music, pumping water to various sizes and symmetry, changing to different, vibrant colors, creating a mesmerizing show. With the Catalan Museum and pillars behind the show, there could not have been a better finale to our trip. It was a spring break that all of us can say hold some of the best memories of our life.
DAY 10
By Paige Conway
Alarm clock set up for 7:30 a.m. We met downstairs for our last meal together in Barcelona. Everyone was smiling and I could hear conversations of the girls reminiscing already about all the experiences we have made together in this magical country. Laughter aroused around the room, but it also came with a bittersweet feeling that this was our last day in Spain. Everyone was pretty worn out and still adjusting to the time-change. Of course we were extremely tired, but the memories we made ... the whole team would agree that the long hours were definitely worth it.
Walking up to the bus for the last time. We sat down to await the sound of our tour guide Juan to say "hello girls". We all crack a huge smile on our face. Juan made our trip unforgettable and unstoppable laughter every second. Quick drive to the airport, we arrived with all our new touristy souvenirs from the FC Barcelona store and around the city. Some girls were definitely close to the maximum 50 lbs. limit toward their suitcase. Overall, this trip was a culture shock and such a humbling experience we were all so grateful to be apart of. We head back to the states with excitement that we don't have to pay for water anymore!!!
