BIG PICTURE

This trip was great not just for the kids but for the parents as well, but to be honest, looking online at you tube clips and website descriptions didn’t really give me a good idea of what the trip was going to be like. I’m hoping this blog helps give families a better idea of what to expect and can hopefully pass along some of the lessons we’ve learned.

Our club had two teams that went to Gothia Cup, a U16 boys team and a U15 girls team. We coordinated through the same travel company and traveled together but we planned as individual teams so my thoughts are specific to our girls’ team.

This tournament is huge 1600 teams, 59 nations, and over 4100 matches played. But it is really difficult to answer the question of how will your team do competitively. The Swedish team our girls roomed with said that most teams in Sweden just sign up to participate because it’s fun. They said international teams come trying to win the whole thing. At the end of the day we didn’t win the whole thing, but we felt like we won because we had so much fun, the girls played a game they love, and all the extras of bonding and incredible memories were priceless.

PLANNING

Our first meeting was about a year out and the team unanimously voted to go but we needed to make deposits fairly quickly and that did create some stress for families. It’s a big trip, a big investment and hard to make decisions about a lot it. Keep in mind, every family did it a little differently, and I think it worked. We had a couple of girls who traveled alone, some came with one parent, others came with the immediate family members, and then my own family which was immediate, extended and totaled 12! Most families traveled there and back together but some went earlier and met in Gothenburg, others stayed after. It is not a one size fits all event.

SCHEDULE

Okay I’ll dive into the details in just a minute to give you a quick idea of what the schedule looked like when we got there. The Gothia Cup app will have the team info on it as the schedule gets published so make sure to download it. (I’ll put a list of recommended apps at the end of this blog)

Getting there!

Travel – We flew SFO to Munich (about 11 hours), and then Munich to Gothenburg (about two hours). We left Saturday night and arrived Sunday night. They put most of us in the same section of the plane and most everyone was seated with their families. This was a lot of fun for the kids, even though it was long. It was the introduction to traveling together, they wore matching gear, and it just had a great team vibe. I think for some of the families who left early to travel before the tournament, this is when their kids started feeling a little anxious because of all the posts that started popping up on social. One of the benefits of the tour group was a bus waiting for us when we finally got to Sweden.

Soccer schedule

Monday, Tuesday Wednesday – One soccer game each day. These were scheduled before we left so we knew when the games would be and could plan activities around those games. Monday night was opening ceremonies. I’ll write more on that later but you should go to this if you can. This was also a good time for parents and families to plan time to explore and go on excursions. For lots of families this was a big part of planning, making sure they got to see the girls play but also making sure we saw the country we flew so far to see.

Thursday: The knock out rounds start and so the schedules there are less predictable. If you win you could play a max of two games Thursday. On Friday, if the team continues to win there could be a max of three games. Saturday is the finals day and Sunday is the departure day. If you win that’s fantastic, but we made it to Friday morning and truthfully, while winning is the goal, the benefit is the girls could rest and see a little of the city before the trip ended.

FIELDS

The fields were all over the city which was actually pretty cool to see so many stadiums, but most of our games were at the fields nearest to where they players stayed and so it was fairly easy for them to get there and all games were about a 20-30-minute train ride from our hotel. The trains are so cool because there are teams packing all the trains. The Gothia Card covers the pass, but they never checked on the trains. Best tip is to download the app that tells you which trains you need.

– Vastrafik App –

Google Play – Västtrafik To Go – Apps on Google Play Apple – Västtrafik To Go on the App Store (apple.com)

ACCOMMODATIONS

There are options to room with the team or have them room with their families. We chose to have the girls all room together at the school. The boys team also chose to room at the school.

1. Hotel – We did not find out which hotel we were staying in, until much closer to the trip so it does make it a little more complicated to coordinate if you book on your own. The hotels get booked up very quickly so my sister who booked separately for her family couldn’t get a room at our hotel for the whole time we were there and had to adjust plans. For us the hotel was a good choice. It helped center the parents. We did not spend all our time together but it allowed for easy meet ups when we did have family events, and it allowed for more spontaneity. It was also helpful for parents who were traveling with just their child to be more connected since the players were staying together.

2. Classroom accommodations –

These are not fancy. When they say mats on the floor they aren’t kidding. It’s basically a classroom within a locker room style set up and they had two teams in that locker room with each team getting their own side and own rooms. But the girls did not seem to mind, it was like one very long sleepover and the bonding was priceless. I am so glad we chose this option for them. Just keep your expectations low for luxury lol. At the school the players got a lot of great interaction with other teams. Our boys team was down the hall. Our girls roomed with an older Swedish team and they were so nice. They stayed up chatting with them and even came to our final game wearing Magic Jerseys (it’s fun to bring a few to give in a case like this). The girls still interact on social media.

Some things that might help in packing.

Eye masks/ear plugs – they are right next to each other so if they are light sleepers they may have trouble and its daylight most of the day so we tried to keep it dark but it can be a challenge.

Sweden friendly outlet adapters (also look at voltage protectors) – This is important to find for those teens and their phones. And if your kids don’t bring one they will likely pile them onto the adapters that are there and that can cause problems because it will overload the outlets. That happened to our kids and we were fortunate to have a very observant chaperone catch it. Keep in mind there are also voltage adapters that are necessary if they bring things like curling irons, but our girls did not and my adapter was terrible so no recommendations there!

Dorm Food – they didn’t love it but it worked.

CHAPERONES

We had a rotation. One mom took each night and then parents rotated in for day shifts and that seemed to be a good system. In my mind 24 hours would have been exhausting but having a hand off at breakfast and dinner seemed to work well. We heard other teams from other clubs hired a couple of college kids to be week long chaperones so that’s an option but you’d have to work in that cost and that logistics to your plans. I did an overnight shift and while I wouldn’t have wanted to do more than one I actually enjoyed seeing the girls together.

Tips: Here’s some of the things we found we needed.

Chaperone What’s App- We did a separate one for chaperones which helped as we learned the best ways to navigate hand offs and responsibilities

Tape and garbage bags or tarps (for the windows) – As I’ve mentioned its daylight for most of the day. And there are also automatic lights that go on in the main areas anytime someone gets up to go the bathroom which with so many girls, that’s like all the time. When those fluorescent lights go on, it is bright so the windows aren’t big but covering them up was a game changer. Trying to find garbage bags and masking tape in a foreign country was maybe more of a headache then just packing a roll of bags and tape.

Laundry – The school offered laundry service (there was no laundry service in the hotels we stayed in). You can pay for laundry service which was worth it. It was hot and they needed to be cleaned but making sure the shorts and socks were labeled would have been helpful. The laundry is just given to the officials at the school by early in the evening and it was usually ready by the next morning. You do have to pay for that in swedish Krona so plan for that in advance.

SHOWERING

Keep in mind you’ll want to bring swimsuits and towels. They girls have to walk to the showers which are a couple of buildings away so they will need flip flops and towels to get there. Keep in mind this is co-ed building so that walk is through public areas. The showers are locker room style as well but have individual curtains and a large indoor area.

GAME TIPS

Buckets and sponges -It was hot and it was tough to keep the girls cool. We watched the other teams from Sweden use a very simple method of a bucket of water and a big rectangular sponge. The girls on those teams were able to dip the sponge and squeeze it over their heads. It was pretty brilliant and the fields all had places to fill the buckets. We adopted that same method and it worked great. The bucket was not hard to find to buy there. The right sponges (without scouring pads) were a little harder so I would bring one if you can.

Gatorade – we had an industrious set of parents searching for Gatorade around the fields and there weren’t a lot of options. But there are more 7-11 stores in the urban parts of Gothenburg than any place I have ever seen in, so I would just maybe assign someone to bring Gatorade to the fields for the kids

Ice Packs – There is no ice in Sweden. It sounds like an overstatement but ice was legitimately very hard to find. And with that many games we had a lot of sore muscles and kids looking for ice. The First Aid tents only had ice spray which did not impress any of the kids. The merchandise store at a main field (that we did not play on) did sell those ice packs that you have to shake to activate. I would suggest parents packing a few because we needed more than we had and it makes more sense for kids to bring them and buy extras only if necessary.

TEAM ACTIVITIES AND DINNERS

Opening Ceremonies – This happened on night one. It’s 50 thousand people which is basically all the teams and their families with representatives on the field. But it is a full show, with songs, entertainment a parade of teams and even a fireworks show. It was culturally a first look at Sweden and its hospitality. It was fun for the kids and a great way to help start the week. Tickets for this are included in your Gothia package with the tour group.

Tip: Everyone was hungry after the opening ceremonies but we didn’t have anything planned and that it made it a little complicated. I would suggest a reservation at a pizza place or at least a pre-order to take some of that confusion out. The restaurants close at 10 p.m. during the week and there was not a lot of time to search before getting the kids back to the school which was a couple of train rides away.

Team Dinner – We had one team dinner at the hotel where the parents stayed. Ours was booked at the restaurant hotel. That was very convenient with such a large group and also convenient because we were able to go there right after the game, let the girls shower in the hotel rooms which was a luxury and then we all headed downstairs for dinner.

Team activities – As I mentioned the first three days of the tournament were good for sightseeing because the days were more predictable. We did a boat tour and a day of shopping because there is lots of shopping. I think we were trying to get the girls out but honestly they were having a great time together so I wouldn’t stress about it too much. Chaperones were in charge of the whole team for each event but families could join in if they wanted so it was pretty flexible. Our chaperones handled cost for individual events and then we venom-ed. When our soccer journey ended on the Friday morning after 6 hard fought games, the girls took a much needed nap and then headed to the amusement park. They had a blast and were able to conquer it in just a few hours.

Family time – We established that kids could be checked out from the group with the assigned chaperones but I’m not sure if anyone did that because the kids were super happy together.

Parent activities – I think that it was just as fun for the parents to hang out as the kids. That can be as simple as meeting for happy hour in the bar, or a night out dancing. I think giving people the flexibility to join or not join is great. I think the most inclusive method was to just put any group plans on a what’s app group chat. We all laughed a lot and had some really great quality time as parents since our kids were covered. Five stars on that.

Thoughts on Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden so whatever you needed was there. It felt incredibly safe and was very easy to get around on the trains. The bicycle lanes are taken seriously so be careful you don’t get run over by a bike. You can see plenty in the week you are there, there are boat trips and museums and shopping areas, and big cinnamon rolls. I felt like there was plenty of time there to see what you wanted to see. Some cities are a train ride that was a few hours away if you want to go there and as I mentioned several families went on trips afterwards. We went to Copenhagen which was a very easy 3-hour train ride from Gothenburg.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It was so much fun. Really epic is how we all described it. Soccer was fun, we played Sweden, France and Denmark, and at least a couple of those games will be talked about for years I think. But at the end of the day it wasn’t just about soccer. It was that and everything else. I brought 12 family members and everyone had so much fun. Universally the trip got rave reviews and I hope this becomes a long standing club tradition.

– Gothia Cup App – Gothia App – Gothia Cup

– Vastrafik App –

Google Play – Västtrafik To Go – Apps on Google Play Apple – Västtrafik To Go on the App Store (apple.com)

– Google Translator

– What’s App