On Sunday, Ian arrived home safely from his soccer tour of Germany & The Netherlands. We are so glad to have him home! Surprisingly, he even received a big welcome home hug from his little brother. Trust me, this is a big deal for teenage brothers. Anyway, I'll attempt to update a little here, but maybe I can turn the blog over to Ian for a few days so that he can chronicle his trip....?
Setting foot on foreign soil - '94 Boys ODP
and then, jet lag set in..... 
mmm...bratwurst.
Checking out the sights in Rudesheim.
A typical Rudesheim alley.
Ian's roommate, Jevon.
In Holland, with the '94 Girls, on a statue of Rembrandt.
The windmill from many of Rembrandt's paintings.
'94 Girls & Boys teams outside of the stadium and training grounds in Mönchengladbach.
The tunnel leading onto the field at Borussia Park, the home of Borussia Mönchengladbach. As his team walked out onto the pitch, this song played. Ian still gets goosebumps when he hears this. Mönchengladbach has a history with American players, including Kasey Keller and Michael Bradley (current star on the US Men's National Team). Ian told his guide to remember his name, as it is now his dream to play for M'gladbach.
The pitch at Borussia (Prussia) Park.
They are still kids after all....
Much like Frank Ruettiger in the movie RUDY, I needed to see Ian in uniform and playing in a game in order to believe that this trip was really about soccer. Especially after hearing Ian's stories - most of which had NOTHING to do with soccer. Here he is in attack against one of the top youth teams in all of Germany: the Borussia Monchengladbach Academy. Many of these kids already have signed professional contracts! Final score: 4-1 M'gladbach. Ian said the game was much closer than the score indicated, and that he was proud of how well his team competed. Hopefully, I'll be able to persuade him to take over the blog for awhile so that he can regale you with all of his new stories!STAY TUNED...
