The 2008 Springfield Sister Cities Soccer Exchange team was on tour in Tlaquepaque, Mexico between June 26 through July 2nd. This year’s tour included games against area teams from Tepatitlan, Zapotiltic, Club Atlas and a Tlaquepaque All-Star team which was the featured Sister Cities Cup match. Upon arrival into Tlaqueqpaque, the team was quickly shuttled to the game site which has been transformed into two sport-turf fields, just minutes from our host hotel. The facility also has a Olympic size outdoor swimming pool, five tennis courts and a velodrome ; all of which are under construction in preparation for the 2012 Pan-American games which will be hosted by Guadalajara.

Our first game was against Tepatitlan on Friday, June 27th. As we were told, the Tepatitlan community is the hot bed of youth player development in all of Mexico. It most certainly showed with the impressive size and equally expressive skill, speed and soccer creativity of the 14 and 15 year olds. The game was definitely and eye opening experience for most of our Ozark-area players, many with their first exposure to foreign players and a foreign style of play.

Our second match, on Saturday, June 28th, was the featured Sister Cities Cup match versus a youth All-Star team from Tlaquepaque. We knew it was going to be a challenging game when, during pre-game ceremonies the mayor of Tlaquepaque was to ceremoniously kick the game ball to our one of our goal keepers, Andrew Guilliams on a make shift goal of cones in front of the crowd of spectators and attending delegates from both Sister Cities Associations. The mayor, instead, with a three step drop, unleashed a pill of a shot to Guilliams’ lower right side taking out one of the cones and one of Tlaquepaque players. The game itself was a back and forth tug of war with all the drama and controversy of a top flight winner take all finale. In the end, Springfield fell short of maintaining ownership of the cup and was relieved of its possession, on the losing side of a 3-2 scoreline.

Our third game was against Zapotiltic on Sunday, June 29th, which is a community about three hours outside of Guadalajara. This game, much like the one against Tepatitlan was another exposure to the many differences in youth soccer between our two communities. After the first two matches, our boys’ were beginning to get up to speed and put up a fight worthy of recognition on tremendous effort on the field.

Club Atlas coaches from the team which had visited Springfield last year, were in attendance at these games and were wanting to schedule a fourth game with a Club Atlas youth team. The game was scheduled for Monday morning and much to the delight of the players and parents who traveled with us, earned our first road victory of the weekend. That game was won 3-2 by Springfield.

Tuesday morning, we were shuttled to Club Atlas’ training facility and community in the Guadalajara city limits. An impressive 600+ acre facility includes an upscale housing development, an 18-hole championship golf course, tennis training facility (where most of Guadalajara’s championship tennis players’ train), club house and of course, the soccer training fields. We were introduced to several of Club Atlas’ bosses including the first team coach, director of coaching and team operations directors. We watched a 2nd division scrimmage, (2 straight red cards in the waning minutes were issued) and then scrimmaged another Club Atlas youth team. The first half of our scrimmage was our team versus their team. The second half of the scrimmage, we shared players on both sides of the ball.

Later that afternoon, we were scheduled to also visit the Club Chivas training facility and work out with their players and coaches. Unfortunately, the dreaded rains which were falling between 3pm and 6pm decided to come early as a thunderstorm rolled through at 2pm in the afternoon, thus causing the cancellation of our Chivas trip.

Through the trip, we were able to visit the local square several times where food and other vendors of sorts sell their wares. The square featured plenty of music, fireworks and rides and games, much to the delight of our American visitors. The kids spent their money feverishly buying up replica team jerseys and other items at every opportunity. Our tour also included cultural trips to a few historical sites and the Guadalajara mall.

Our meals, which were arranged at our sponsor hotels or other restaurants, were absolutely outstanding. We were treated to lunch at the first Chinese restaurant ever to open in Tlaquepaque. The male owner is Mexican and his wife (of 15 years) is Chinese. Great food!

The Sister Cities Sport and Cultural Exchange is definitely a worthwhile endeavor and one that any child, if opportunity presents itself, should take advantage of. It was my first trip outside the U.S. and one that I look forward to in 2010 (world cup year) … There is so much more to share about this trip, but space limitations won’t permit.

The accompanying photo was shot on the field at Jalisco (Mexico) stadium where Club Atlas and Chivas play their professional league games. It was also one of the host stadiums where games for the 1971 and 1986 world cups were played, in addition to numerous matches between the U.S. and Mexico national teams over the years. Pictured in the photo (left to right) back row: Kelly Ross, Jan Stahle, Hunter Durham, Nic Bauer, Matt Treml, Tyler Hamilton, Reece Conner, Jackson Patillo, Travis Joy, Ricky Wallenburg, Bryan Murray and David Cheek. Front row: Andrew Guilliams, Gehrig Haberstock, Derek McDiarmid, Scott Sterling, Jesse Bihlmeyer, Josh Wegenka, Izzy Chappell, Gage Mossman and Andrew Treml (not pictured, Dr. Jim Cook, Cindy Jobe, Araceli Hanks)

Thanks to Kelly Ross for this report and photo.