(S30) PT 1 - Going International

[Big_Papi]

This off-season, I had the opportunity to travel to a different country and work with some of the local children on some football fundamentals and training tips to help them become the best football players they can be! I had the privilege of going down to Mexico, which to my surprise had a HUGE fan base. I was greeting by thousands of adoring fans as I exited the truck, or camioneta in their language. I did not realize so many people so far away could be such big fans of our team an it was awesome meeting with many new people who were wearing my jersey. Seems I’m something of a celebrity down there, who would’ve thought. Anyways as I arrived at the training field where I was to meet the kids I was going to coach, I noticed something that was upsetting. The facilities they trained in and the equipment they were using were so old and dirty. That didn’t stop the kids though as I could see they were used to training in this environment. Though I put the children through the gauntlet, they all excelled at learning the techniques I was teaching them. They approached each new drill with great enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and perfect what I was teaching them. All in all it was a great and humbling experience and I can’t wait to visit back here again and see how much these kids have progressed. Hopefully next time i come, I have a huge contract that will allow me to make a nice donation to help improve the facilities and equipment to allow these children to continue pursing their passion in a safe manner.