So today we played in the finals and played Finland. The girls played a magnificient game and we were extremely proud. However, Finland won and we lost. Kaitlyn Ruplin scored an amazing header goal! Then we were off to the closing ceremonies. Coach Fran gave an uplifting speech on the bus about how proud he was of the girls and that they should hold up their heads. The teams we played during this tournament were elite and premier and semi-professional teams. The girls learned a great deal about soccer and are smarter players to have been playing games of this caliber. At the closing ceremonies we received a trophy as you can see from the photo. Nothing but smiles!!

Here are the key players in getting us to realize the dream of playing futbol in Italy. Their original dream helped in getting us here and kept us in the right direction. Patti arranged the details of travel and dealt with all of our personalities and our expectations. She was intstrumental in dealing with the tour company, booking excursions, and also collecting money! We appreciate all of her hard work and patience. Sherree and Vicki were always there to guide the girls on the field and also off. It was amazing that they were able to deal with all of the personalities. 13 seventeen year old girls can be trying. Grazie Mille!!!! Coach Fran was supportive on the field teaching them the game of futbol and more importantly the game of life and how parallel they are. He believed that we could obtain our dream of coming to Italy and he was proud of the girls' efforts. Without them there would have been no Italy and no VOLANTE! It is a long way from Boyle Road for sure!

Here is the fan club waiting for the afternoon game to take place. Of course we just finished eating gelato and cappucino. It became a habit quite quickly.......gelato and cappucino. The weather was spectacular as you can tell. Sunny and warm everyday, with a slight breeze. Nothing like sitting around a small table chatting about the day. We don't want it to end!

White Water Rafting

Friday we decided that we would get up late, hang around, and then go white water rafting. When we got up after breakfast, some went to town to do some shopping and have lunch. Then we boarded a bus and went white water rafting. We were told that it was going to be easy and not too fast. When we approached the site, we needed to get on our life jackets and wet suit jackets. That should have been an indication of how cold the water would be.......it wasn't......and we didn't get it until we actually dipped in a toe! Then we went back on the bus and they took us to the river. There we needed to add a helmet! At that point, some of us wished that we decided to go into town and sit and drink a cappucino with the locals! But we couldn't turn back as we had already paid and were outfitted with the correct equipment. Some smart people decided to go to the town and not go rafting.
We had to push the raft into the river and didn't have a choice but to jump in. BOY WAS IT COLD! After two seconds we had no feeling in our legs or feet. No wonder the guides had on full wet suits. The water proved to be calm with a few small bumps. It was beautiful just floating down the river and taking in the scenery. We don't want to mention any names, but someone from one boat stole a person from the other boat or should we say kidnapped her! You guys know who you are:) It was two hours of shear fun and beauty.

This is the scene that we passed on our way up to our restaurant La Lanterna in Chiesa in Valmalenco. You can Google this hotel and see what it is like. This is a photo of Lake Como......Bella!

Wednesday we had a late game so we decided to go up in a gondola to the top of the mountain. Looking at the cables that were to take us to the top, some of us were unsure if we wanted to actually go, but we did! It was worth the trip as you can see from this photo. The views from the trip up were breathtaking. We were 6,000 feet above sea level when all was said and done. Then we hiked down to a majestic lake and spent some time just hanging out. Some learned how to skip rocks from Coach Fran. Others walked all around the lake. The first picture was well worth the walk downhill and back uphill. We definitely lost some calories on this hike, which the moms were happy about.

Here we are at our second game today. But first we played a premier Italian team. This team has three girls who play on the National Team under 18 team. We lost to them, but you would have been amazed that we held them to only a few goals and really made them work hard. We challenged them and everyone came off the field feeling great for what they had accomplished as a team. They really dug deep to play with heart. Then the picture of this game during the afternoon was another story. We played this Germany team and WON! 3-2. Sarah Jansen scoered two goals with Andie Spano getting a header for our third goal. We were ecastic in the stands. The parents were yelling and screaming. Again, there were some tears from some parents.....:) The girls adjusted to the level of play in this tournament and again dug deep. We were so proud of them, they were proud of themselves and we awarded them with some gelato! WOW what a day!!!

This was our first game against another American team from New York and the surrounding area. Although we did lose, it was a tough game. We found out afterwards that this team was handpicked by the coach from many teams. So we felt that we did well for who we were playing. It took us a little while to adjust to this level of play and kind of play, we did! you would have been proud of us. Just take a look at the picture on the right at the mountains in the background. Breathtaking! We took some moments to take it all in and remember where we were and what was surrounding us. Just to be in Italy playing soccer in the landscape all around us made all the fundraising and planning so worth it.

Opening Ceremonies

Here are the opening ceremonies! It took place in the center of the town of Valtellina, literally! There were so many people there from the teams and also from the town. The picture on the right are the local military band. They opened up the parade by playing music and starting the parade into the town square. At the end point, there was a stage set up with an MC and a DJ. Dancing and loud music, fun competition between the coaches and teams were conducted. Some of the fun competition was how many times kids can head the ball with another partner from another country, who can dance the best between countries. It was the most exciting experience we have had yet, truly moving. Some moms were crying but we won't name who they were!

Stadium in Milan

Here the girls are standing in front of the San Siro stadium. The two best teams in the world play there. Fran wanted to at least see the stadium with the girls. We weren't allowed to get inside but just being there was meaningful. From there we were off to register for the tournament.

Ciao from Squadra Volante! Here we are between games and after lunch!

Where we are now

Click the Mappa button to see where we are now. Look for Chiesa in Valmalenco under hybrid map

Here is the team on our walk back to the bus in Sienna. We have to thank the weather gods for giving us perfect weather while we have been here.

OH AND THEY MADE US WEAR THESE COVER UPS TO HIDE OUR SHOULDERS IN THE CHURCH'S - Well it was the cheapest things we bout on our trip, not sure if they were fashionable.

Here are some of waiting in line to get into the beautiful Duomo in Sienna. Luckily the line was fairly short

This is the Sienna Duomo. Entirely made of green and white marble.

Sienna was a very nice city to walk around in. Lot's of shops and Gelateria's (Ice Cream shops) Unfortunately we can't bring any home for you to try!

A view from one of our hotel windows. It's hard to see but there is snow on one of the mountains!

Well we arrived at our fantastic hotel in the mountains after a long beautiful trip along Lake Como and the mounatins. After checking in for the tournamnet we made our way up a treacherous road (OK it seemed like that) through the mountains. We tried to enjoy the view as we were screaming.... This is a great little hotel with friendly people and more good food. The only thing misisng is an elevator, so you can imagine what check in was like up 4 flights.

Here we are at our first game but it is just a friendly game with the locals. This was to get our feet wet and get used to altitude. Although the girls did not speak the same language in soccer (futbol) it is all the same on the field. They met during practice and quickly made friends. The parents in the stands said Buona Serra and did a lot of smiling....that was all we could do....The girls got out their jitter by keeping the score at 0-0!!! WOW!!! did they look impressive on the field. They played an amazing game with everyone cheering them on from the stands. Impressive by the coach's standards and the locals! There will be more to come from this game. Tomorrow we are off the Siena..no games scheduled. Ciao!

Here we are in Firenza getting ready for our tour. The woman in orange is our tour guide, Silvia. We spent the entire day in Firenza..walking, eating, exploring, and shopping again. Never a dull moment. We had gelato and spent some money. The weather has been beautiful and not too hot at all. A lot to see and not enough time for sure. For those of you who haven't been here you should plan a trip for the future.

Here are some of the girls on the team listening to the tour guide. Quite intently I might add! Where the rest of the team is..is anybody's guess. You can tell that the tower does lean...look in the background:)

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Well here is part of the team! The rest of the team were off and siteseeing...! or shopping. We all met up at the this front part of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We took a tour and bonded as a team in another country. Some were quite tired from their long day of traveling while some of us were well rested and quite chipper! From there we went back to the Hotel Giglio and checked in. Dinner was fabulous with pasta and chicken. No ordering off a menu...you got what you get and nobody was upset. Everyone was hungry and tired anyway.

Getting ready

Yesterday we had our last practice before we leave.  We are all so excited that it is actually here already!  I know that I speak for the parents that we are all proud to be able to watch our daughters play in this magnificent tournament.  On this site, will be pictures of where we go and of our games.  Please check back daily to see what is going on!