It’s Thursday after noon, I am driving towards Ontario airport heading out to participate in the national soccer tournament with San Nicolás. Our team was preparing to fly out to Milwaukee ,Wisconsin to take on their home team Barvarian FC.

The flight experience was very strange. We flew to Phoenix and from Phoenix we were going to fly to Milwaukee, however due to sandstorms we were forced to land in Tucson. After being delayed at the airport for 5 hours we were at last able to find a flight, but not to Wisconsin. Our journey took a twist. Instead we found a flight to Las Vegas where we got a connecting flight to Midway airport in Chicago. We landed in Chicago around 2:30 pm. In Chicago we met up with the teams general manager (Daniel Collazo) and staff who were waiting for us with vans. Unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to fly into Milwaukee’s airport instead we boarded the vans and embarked on a 2 1/2 hour drive into Wisconsin. 

With 1hr and 30mins till kick off time we finally arrived to Wisconsin. From that point on it felt like a race against time. We had to eat rushed on the road and finally arrived at the hotel around 5:50pm. We dropped our belongings and rushed over to the pitch where kick off was scheduled at 7:30pm. After spending 24 hours traveling to the pitch I felt exhausted but ready to go all in. Luckily, the game before had gone into overtime. This provided us the opportunity to regroup mentally as individuals but more importantly as a team. Regardless of what we had just gone through, I knew it was time to take advantage of this opportunity. I felt I had made it this far and it was a moment to display my potential despite of how physically drained I was. It was game time.

[[watch the highlights from the game]]

Unfortunately, we came out a bit short. We lost in DOUBLE OVER-TIME. The final score ended at 2-1 with FC BAVARIAN winning, whom the next day went on to the final and accomplishing their 7th national cup. Although, our team was not victorious overall the experience was amazing. I didn’t take the opportunity to show my talent outside of California for granted. Being able to do what I love most in front of 800 beautiful fans was an experience of its own. After the match Wisconsin fans were complimenting my work on the pitch. These compliments made the stressful journey worth it. I had lots of fun doing what I love and I am sure it’s an experience my teammates and I will not forget.