Select An Experienced, Reputable Sports Tour Operator
Once you have decided to take your soccer team on a trip abroad, select a tour operator who best meets your needs.
Settling on a reputable tour operation comes before actually deciding where you are going to go.
Do your homework. You aren’t looking for the local travel agency. You are looking for a company with experience, an excellent track record of organizing trips for soccer teams, and a tour group with a solid reputation for honesty and being able to deliver what is being promised.
That means you need to shop around and settle on several with whom you can begin discussions on what they offer and what you want on this trip.
The three companies that are advertising in our Travel Guide section below are all experienced, reputable sports tour companies, and worthy of your consideration.
And don’t forget to start the conversation early. The time frame for most soccer trips, whether they be for youth club, high school or college teams, often takes from 8-18 months.
That allows time for fundraising projects to pay the cost of the trip.
Cost can vary depending on when you want to go, where you want to go, and the length of the trip. Most select a 7-10 day time spans from departure to return.
The NCAA allows college teams to take trips outside the season every four years. Many college coaches take the trip to jump start preseason training.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
Others prefer taking the trip at the end of the spring academic semester.
The University of Alabama Birmingham has scheduled trips for its women’s team with Harvard Sports Management Group.
In recent years, the University oif Maryland, College of Charleston, and Old Dominion University are among the Division I men’s teams that have traveled.
A good rule of thumb for cost per player is $2,500-$3,000 for a spring break trip, and $3,000 to $3,500 for a summer trip.
Airfare can range from 35%-50% of the cost per person. Another variable is the exchange rate, dollars to Euros.
Most sports tour companies advertise relationships with some of the major professional soccer clubs in Europe. What they can deliver really depends on how good those relationships are.
All travel doesn’t go to Europe. If you are considering a Latin experience in a warm climate, Costa Rica has become a popular option, and Costa Rica Soccer has been in the tour business since 1995.
Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. In many cases, the cost of travel for 7-10 days in Costa Rica can be half the cost of a trip to Europe.
Keep in mind, the professional clubs in Europe are anxious to work with any number of tour groups from all over the world. It is part of their business model to have teams come to their grounds
Some will allow training on the club’s professional training grounds. Others have developed practice areas close by that are actually constructed to service visiting teams on tour. Of course, the clubs are compensated for the use of their facilities.
It is common for any tour to include training sessions, games against local teams, and sightseeing trips. When the professional leagues are in season, the travel schedule might include attending one or two top league games.
The tour operator should be able to arrange all of these basic features in the trip. For some who may have personal contacts with professional clubs where the trip will take place, the coach’s input can be accomodated.
Expect what you are paying for. If you expect that your team will be trained by a professional coach from that club, keep in mind that anyone who is being paid to run the session can be construded as being a professional.
If you are promised that the session will be directed by a national coach, ask a lot of questions and who that coach is and his/her qualifications.
If you are interested in taking your team to Europe to compete in one or more of the large summer tournments, an expeinced tour operator can make the arrangements for you with the tournament.
Most teams will raise money for the expense of taking the trip. Experienced tour operators can be very helpful in suggesting projects, especially those that have worked well with other groups they have had as clients.
Jim Risher, president of Eurotech International Tours, points out that while some coaches have a certain club in mind where they want to take their team to train, a better situation might be just down the road.
His company, which books teams from all over the U.S. and Canada, including groups from Hawaii, has a long track record of working with clubs in the English Premier League, and has built a level of trust with the clubs to give the players the experience that they expect.
“If a club doesn’t allow visiting teams to train on their primary training grounds, and want to schedule on a nearby practice area, there is probably another EPL team nearby that will allow the full use of facilities,” said Risher.
Coach Gail Osborne, is taking both the boys and girls teams at Pinewood Prep in South Carolina to England this spring. The trip is being arranged by Eurotech International Tours.
“I took my girls team in 2008 and it was a great experience,” she recalled. This year she is taking a group of 30 players, plus eight parents during spring break.
“The details are not 100% confirmed, but I think we are visiting Stoke, Manchester and London. They will benefit greatly. Personally, some have never been out of the country and got passports for the first time.
“They will train as a team and also play three matches. And sometimes a new voice (not me) coaching them will be good for them.
“I have a bunch of seniors on both teams and some remember me taking a group of kids in 2008, so they are just beyond excited about going.”
Settling on a reputable tour operation comes before actually deciding where you are going to go.
Do your homework. You aren’t looking for the local travel agency. You are looking for a company with experience, an excellent track record of organizing trips for soccer teams, and a tour group with a solid reputation for honesty and being able to deliver what is being promised.
That means you need to shop around and settle on several with whom you can begin discussions on what they offer and what you want on this trip.
The three companies that are advertising in our Travel Guide section below are all experienced, reputable sports tour companies, and worthy of your consideration.
And don’t forget to start the conversation early. The time frame for most soccer trips, whether they be for youth club, high school or college teams, often takes from 8-18 months.
That allows time for fundraising projects to pay the cost of the trip.
Cost can vary depending on when you want to go, where you want to go, and the length of the trip. Most select a 7-10 day time spans from departure to return.
The NCAA allows college teams to take trips outside the season every four years. Many college coaches take the trip to jump start preseason training.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
Others prefer taking the trip at the end of the spring academic semester.
The University of Alabama Birmingham has scheduled trips for its women’s team with Harvard Sports Management Group.
In recent years, the University oif Maryland, College of Charleston, and Old Dominion University are among the Division I men’s teams that have traveled.
A good rule of thumb for cost per player is $2,500-$3,000 for a spring break trip, and $3,000 to $3,500 for a summer trip.
Airfare can range from 35%-50% of the cost per person. Another variable is the exchange rate, dollars to Euros.
Most sports tour companies advertise relationships with some of the major professional soccer clubs in Europe. What they can deliver really depends on how good those relationships are.
All travel doesn’t go to Europe. If you are considering a Latin experience in a warm climate, Costa Rica has become a popular option, and Costa Rica Soccer has been in the tour business since 1995.
Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. In many cases, the cost of travel for 7-10 days in Costa Rica can be half the cost of a trip to Europe.
Keep in mind, the professional clubs in Europe are anxious to work with any number of tour groups from all over the world. It is part of their business model to have teams come to their grounds
Some will allow training on the club’s professional training grounds. Others have developed practice areas close by that are actually constructed to service visiting teams on tour. Of course, the clubs are compensated for the use of their facilities.
It is common for any tour to include training sessions, games against local teams, and sightseeing trips. When the professional leagues are in season, the travel schedule might include attending one or two top league games.
The tour operator should be able to arrange all of these basic features in the trip. For some who may have personal contacts with professional clubs where the trip will take place, the coach’s input can be accomodated.
Expect what you are paying for. If you expect that your team will be trained by a professional coach from that club, keep in mind that anyone who is being paid to run the session can be construded as being a professional.
If you are promised that the session will be directed by a national coach, ask a lot of questions and who that coach is and his/her qualifications.
If you are interested in taking your team to Europe to compete in one or more of the large summer tournments, an expeinced tour operator can make the arrangements for you with the tournament.
Most teams will raise money for the expense of taking the trip. Experienced tour operators can be very helpful in suggesting projects, especially those that have worked well with other groups they have had as clients.
Jim Risher, president of Eurotech International Tours, points out that while some coaches have a certain club in mind where they want to take their team to train, a better situation might be just down the road.
His company, which books teams from all over the U.S. and Canada, including groups from Hawaii, has a long track record of working with clubs in the English Premier League, and has built a level of trust with the clubs to give the players the experience that they expect.
“If a club doesn’t allow visiting teams to train on their primary training grounds, and want to schedule on a nearby practice area, there is probably another EPL team nearby that will allow the full use of facilities,” said Risher.
Coach Gail Osborne, is taking both the boys and girls teams at Pinewood Prep in South Carolina to England this spring. The trip is being arranged by Eurotech International Tours.
“I took my girls team in 2008 and it was a great experience,” she recalled. This year she is taking a group of 30 players, plus eight parents during spring break.
“The details are not 100% confirmed, but I think we are visiting Stoke, Manchester and London. They will benefit greatly. Personally, some have never been out of the country and got passports for the first time.
“They will train as a team and also play three matches. And sometimes a new voice (not me) coaching them will be good for them.
“I have a bunch of seniors on both teams and some remember me taking a group of kids in 2008, so they are just beyond excited about going.”
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