Tournament Day 2- Trip Day 8

Costa Del Sol Tournament Day 2 - Trip Day 8

It's crazy looking back when you're in the middle of an occasion you've been waiting for for so long. At times, this trip was the "motivation" to work hard and power through tough times at home. 

Now, I'm 8 days in, with 14 days remaining - not even halfway yet! Crazy how much I've actually packed into these 8 days. Thousands of kilometres, 4 different languages, and all types of weather - but mostly beautiful and sunny. The beaches here in Malaga/Marbella/Estepona are simply amazing - and I've gotten a great tan in 8 days here so far. 

I've been blessed with many unique opportunities this trip. I mentioned the opportunity to pick up Mark Clattenburg (FIFA and Premier League referee, Olympic Gold Final 2012, and Europa League Final) from the airport - it was an honour to spend an hour with him and soak up as much information as possible. 

Today, I was given another awesome opportunity to work with top level referees. Peter Bednar - a Slovakian National List assistant referee who works in the Slovak Premier League - was my assistant for a game I was 4th official on this morning. The other assistant on that game was Adrian Holmes - a National List referee from England who works Premier League games regularly. Great sense of humour he has.... One of the younger referees asked him where he got his shirt with the Premier League badge stitched into it. Without blinking, he dead panned: "I collected 20 cereal box tops and sent them in with my address attached." Classic Englishman.  

For all my friends and family who don't know the significance of working with these specific referees - Adrian does games involving Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Everton. Mark Clattenburg is considered one of (if not the ) best and most respected referees in England and UEFA (Europe). 

I couldn't have dreamed of a greater opportunity - but it gets better. 

Tomorrow - I have been assigned to referee in the middle a match involving Sevilla CF U15's (Spanish La Liga top division pro academy) and a top level local Academy - CDAD Pablo Picasso. I hope it's a good match - I plan to do my part. 

That's not all. 

After that game - the tournament has assigned me to be on the line (Assistant referee) with Mark Clattenburg himself as my middle referee! Oh. My. Gosh. The game will be Valencia U15's vs. UD San Pedro - which is apparently the local side. What a match! 

Still in shock.  Can't believe it. #blessed

I can't wait for what tomorrow brings. At the very least, I'll get a picture to appease the requests of my main mentors back home, Rob Urquhart. He's quite the fan of Mark. 😉

Anyways - I have to get some sleep so I "don't suck" tomorrow. (Whatever you do Mike, don't suck). Thanks guys......

Mike 

Vacation Recap and Tournament Costa Del Sol Day 1

Well - I apologize in advance for letting this blog slip a bit - although I'm not sure if the target audience wants to hear about how I climbed the Rock of Gibraltar, or visited the dressing rooms at Barcelona's Camp Nou, or missed my train in Paris, or got stopped at the border in London because the guards thought my referee ball pump was a weapon.

I also probably shouldn't talk about how Brad and I were given the privilege of driving an hour into Malaga today to pick up one of the best referees in the world - Mark Clattenburg.

All of the above happened before my first game even kicked off today - Valencia U15's vs Skoppen IF U15 ( Valencia won 21-0 by the way, yes......... 21-0).

Brad and I enjoyed the last few days in Barca before making our way to Malaga via train. We were then given a free day yesterday - which allowed us to rent a car and drive to Gibraltar! Cross one off the bucket list - it was a clear enough day that we were able to see Morocco across the Strait! Wowza.

Due to a mixup at the tournament HQ - and due to the fact that Brad and I had rented a car, the torunament asked us if we could personally pick up one of the biggest Premier League and FIFA officials in the world - Mark Clattenburg from the Malaga Airport today. We were honoured - and it was a really great one hour spent one on one picking his brain and having him tell stories about his Champions League refereeing and life outside of it!

Down to business though. My first game was assigned at the Munoz Perez stadium - Valencia vs. Skoppen IF as mentioned above. I only called one foul (a penalty nonetheless) as Valencia literally decimated their opponents from top to bottom. Quite the eye opener - the difference between a professional La Liga academy and a non professional team was crazy. I had the privilege of working with an all-Italian crew today - in Italy they train referees to be either middle referees or Assistants right from the start - so my assistants today actually had quite little experience on the line. Different from Canada where we are trained to do both well throughout our development path. They also have distinct styles different from us in how they signal - an Italian flair if you will.

All in all a good start - no fights, no one dropped dead from the heat today ( it was 37C in the shade ).

Can't believe I've been over here 8 days already - 16 left! Wow.

Mike

5. More. Sleeps

Holy Moly!

5 more sleeps until I set off on the biggest journey of my life, to date!

It's been a whirlwind, full of ups and downs. Tons of planning, rescheduling, re-budgeting, revising, and just generally requiring a lot of patience!

I've learned a ton about myself in preparation for this trip.

For one, I can't pack 12 pairs of shorts and 15 T-shirts because airlines in Europe get super sticky about extra luggage.

Another thing. Who knew that exchanging money is and would be such a hassle? Fees here, exchange rates there, etc......Does my debit card work in Europe? Does my Visa card work? Will my new Visa card come in the mail in time? Phoning banks to let them know I will be spending my money in Europe. The list goes on! All I want is that I just want my money to be changed into a different kind of money, and for my money to be available to me!

Planning the trip has been a real blast though. My itinerary is wide open at the start, with the only "for sures" being flying into London Monday to Tuesday, overnighting there, then taking the train Wednesday from London to Barcelona.

From there, Thursday to Sunday the 21st, I will be in Barcelona in a Sant Jordi Hostel for 4 nights, until I meet up with my travelling partner/ referee compatriot Brad Tannahill, where we will be taking the high speed train to Malaga to meet up with the IberCup staff for the Costa Del Sol tournament.

Barcelona is wide open. I definitely plan to see the Nou Camp, but after that I have no idea what to do. I think my best bet is to make some friends with the hostel staff and ask them what's good around town.

I also hope I can conquer the jet lag pretty quick. Hence the overnight flight and the arrival 6 days before. I want to make sure I'm in tip-top shape for performing during my games at the tournament!


Well, I have to go keep packing and pre-shopping. Hopefully I will be able to write one more post before I head off on the trip.

A special thanks to my 3 gracious donors - Grandma, Tim Taylor, and Keith Coulson. They donated a generous amount of money to my trip, and without their extreme generosity I wouldn't have been able to go on this experience.


No foul red card.

Mike Stacey