ISL and USYF (United States Youth Futsal – a US Soccer member) have been collaborating for the past 3 years in developing and growing futsal in the US and teamed up at the end of last month for USYF´s international experience in Madrid, Spain.
Over the years, ISL has participated in USYF events (bringing 40 teams to the USYF National in Kansas), has run USYF national and state ID’s in multiple cities/states, and has managed the USYF international experience in Barcelona.
Spearheaded by Futsal legend Keith Tozer under the guidance and expertise of ISL, players, their coaches and some family members traveled to Madrid to train, compete against the top Futsal Academies in the region and tour the beautiful Spanish capital. ISL staff was ever-present and on hand to support USYF and its players. A special thank you is in order for Brian Catrine and Soorena Farboodmanesh, without both of you this wouldn’t have been possible.
Fifteen teams from different age groups enjoyed training on a near daily basis and friendly games were organized for them to showcase their skills and elevate their game by competing against the very best Spain’s capital has to offer whilst representing USYF, the United States and ISL.
Some of the highlights of the trip include the players watching Movistar Inter (Spanish First Division champions in 2019-20) first team training and taking a tour of the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, home of Atletico de Madrid, Spanish La Liga Champions in 2021.
Players also were lucky enough to tour downtown Madrid’s Retiro Park, take a tour of Madrid´s historic district and enjoy Madrid´s premier theme park, Parque Warner.
Kaylen and Kylie (two of USYF´s rising stars) commented respectively: “I thought it was really good because we learnt a lot of new things and I loved playing against teams in Madrid,” Kylie added, “I think it was awesome, it was really fun to play against the Spanish teams.”
Stay Tuned for more events coming up! @islagency
