The Gothia Cup | Sweden

Last week I started the journey abroad playing soccer talking about my time in England while I played for INTSOCUSA. If you missed that post, be sure to catch up on it for a bit more background on the trip itself. A few things I forgot to mention were some of my new favorites that came from the trip that really had nothing to do with soccer. As with being in Spain, we of course we allowed a bit of free time to do as we pleased which of course for us girls meant a trip to the mall and especially to H&M, which actually started in Sweden. At this point, we had heard of H&M through fashion and all the news surrounding the first store opening in the US (in New York of course) so we were excited to shop there in the country it began in! Also, our coach introduced us to some great British music, and I am still a big fan of Craig David because of Coach Chris! Another fun fact is one of the girls also on my team was a girl from club I had played with and went to a rival high school and was a dear friend. AND one of the guys we got to know playing for another team randomly popped up the next year at the camp I went to each summer (Ralph Lundy Soccer Academy) and we stayed friends visiting almost every year through college through soccer related activities. Small world 🙂 Anyhow, on to our time in Sweden and the rest of the journey with INTSOCUSA in the summer of 2000.

After the first week at Millfield, we traveled to Gothenburg, Sweden to take part in the Gothia Cup. Our living arrangements were slightly different there as we weren’t training, but rather partaking in matches every day. We were put up in a very nice hotel with countless other teams. It was such a difference to the dorm life and cafeteria we had just left. This hotel was luxurious and complete with a deluxe buffet and dining plans around the clock. Not to mention the tempurpedic mattress! During our stay we also ventured around town frequently stopping at Liesberg (an amusement park of sorts) and of course the Disco in the evenings. But naturally we spent the majority of our time on the fields or running around the hotel to stay “fit” for the tournament.

The Gothia Cup is a youth soccer tournament held annually in Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 19  With regards to the number of participants, it is the world’s largest football tournament. Each year a total of 35,200+ players from 1567+ teams and over 72 nations participate. The tournament spans one week in July each year, the event becomes the dominant event in Gothenburg, with roughly 4,320 games played on 91 fields, with 300,000 visitors attending.

Seeing as how I was there in 2000, I have a VHS of the ceremonies (I know, back to the VHS issue yet again haha) but here is a video of the 2012 ceremonies to give you an idea of what it looks like. Truly one of the most magical experiences I have had the opportunity to share in!