I hear about lots of coaches going to Europe for a week or so during the summer. Sometimes they take a team with them to play.
Some questions:
Some questions:
- Are these usually just boondoggles? A guy gets to go home and see his family with the club paying for travel expenses.
- When they go to watch a team train (which is what they all say)- Do they arrange this is advance?
- Do they just call up Aston Villa and say "Hey, I'm a coach in the US, can I come and observe how you train kids?
- Do they have a buddy that is a coach at Leicester City or Tottenham that hooks them up with a stadium tour?
- How much do they really watch a team train? 1 practice for 1 age group probably doesn't teach you a whole lot about youth development for that club.
- When they do play against a team - Is it against their top teams or is it against whoever says "sure, we'll play the Americans."