We
breathe
soccer
breathe
soccer
With the goal of taking travel management to the next level, ISL launches Futbol First, a.k.a FF, a global travel management company specialized in organizing worldwide experiences for soccer players, clubs, colleges and schools all over the globe.
MISSION
We want to inspire the next generation! We provide international soccer experiences focused on cultural exchange, education and healthy habits. We exist with the sole purpose of turning dreams into real opportunities!
VISION
We want to make an impact! If a student, a young player or a soccer institution is looking to experience a cultural exchange overseas where soccer is involved, we want to be the first obvious choice.
Global Leader in Soccer Educational Experiences
For over ten years, FF has forged an indisputable relationship with the biggest names in the soccer world. You know, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, LaLiga, Manchester City, Sporting Lisbon, PSG, Chelsea, Uk Football Association, US Futsal Federation and many others.
With the help of this exclusive network, we offer a distinctive experience to more than 10,000 players throughout the world. We are proud to say that since 2013 we’ve helped thousands of people to discover new places and cultures while developing their soccer skills.
We are true believers of traveling as a tool to make us better and help us in our self-development journey. For us, sports and discovering new cultures is just the perfect match!
“I feel really positive about launching FF. This will allow us to reach more clubs, colleges and soccer organizations worldwide. We want to become global leaders in cultural experiences through soccer and we are confident that FF will help us to achieve our goals” -Achille Obougou, Futbol First Director.
(Picture team isl travels without old logo)
Sub. Picture: Travel, learn, grow and play.
With Futbol First everything is possible… There are no limits!
Immerse yourself in a life changing experience by traveling and playing soccer all at once.
Wanna be part of this amazing community? Check out our website www.futbolfirst.com and join us!
Follow us on social media to stay up to date about our happenings! (link instagram)
Known for their groundbreaking and iconic ways to interact with their audience, Pepsi’s virtual gaming platform known as “Zona Gamer” has just announced a collaboration with DJ Mariio, one of the world’s most influential Youtubers ~currently at 8M Followers~ and primarily known for his content focused on soccer and FIFA.
With over 2.7 million gamers in the world, the virtual gaming industry is an industry that continues to show unstoppable growth. Gamers alone make up about one third of the world’s population and have practically carved out a virtual world of their own through their tournaments, rankings, and heavy presence.
Pepsi’s Zona Gamer (Gamer Zone) brings together the best technology and offers players a virtual platform that enhances and sharpens their gaming skills for electronic tournaments accompanied by the occasional involvement of top influential streamers. Through this virtual platform, players also have access to exclusive Pepsi merch, such as limited-edition Pepsi cans inspired by the digital gaming culture.
In this upcoming Zona Gamer partnership, Pepsi will be joining the world of E-Sports tournament with their first Pepsi e-sport Soccer tournament. To join, players must visit mundopepsi.com and register to be a part of the Pepsi Zona Gamer soccer tournament. The lucky winners of the tournament will have the chance to travel to Spain, where they will meet the legendary and insanely talented gamer, DJ Mariio (@djmariio) and will be able to play the final at the Dux Gaming Club – one of the most competitive gaming teams in the world.
The partnership between Pepsi and DJ Mariio provides an exciting and adventurous opportunity for gamers and also paves the way for Pepsi’s involvement in the virtual and nonvirtual world of soccer. The partnership was made possible through the support of ISL agency, who provided Pepsi with a thorough investigation and strategic approach to the brand’s needs and partnership requirements. Together, ISL and Pepsi x DJ Mariio are providing gamers with a never-before-seen immersive experience combining everyone’s love for soccer and video games; the only question left to ask is if you’re ready to step onto the field.
Make sure to check back for updates as we continue to roll out more details around the upcoming tournament, and as always, may the best player win.
After a year of rigorous selection and scouting at the LaLiga Select Talent IDs and jetting off to Madrid with 118 talented young North American footballers to spend two weeks training in the Spanish capital in the second phase of the program, 3 players have been selected, and offered scholarships by LaLiga Select to continue their journey in Spain and spend two weeks training with LaLiga youth teams to further learn and grow into professional level players.
The players trained at the academies of three LaLiga Santander clubs: RC Celta, Deportivo Alavés and Levante UD. Here, the young soccer players lived the experience of being part of three of the best LaLiga academies, trained with their coaches, learned their methodologies, and experienced various activities and the culture of their host cities.
LaLiga Select, the first talent detection project launched by ISL and an international soccer organization in North America, landed in Spain in March to train 118 young players from the USA and Canada. The players were selected by LaLiga Grassroots scouts from a total of 12,000 participants across 14 events and tournaments across the US since January 2021.
“It is an honor to see LaLiga Select players train at clubs like Celta, Alavés and Levante. We knew it was a program with a lot of potential that was not only going to give opportunities to footballers, but also to LaLiga clubs that can now attract North American talent. We are sure that Jacobo, Abraham, and Everton will be an example for other athletes who dream of being able to play in Spain,” says Alex Isern, CEO & Co-Founder of ISL Agency.
Next month ISL and LaLiga Select will kick off it’s tour of the US in search of new talent at the upcoming Talent IDs and encourage young, passionate players to sign up as spots are limited.
FC Barcelona has announced that they will travel to the United States this summer for the club’s pre-season tour. The club has collaborated with the ISL agency to close its first two games against Inter Miami FC and New York Red Bull of MLS.
The matches will take place on July 19 at the DRV PNK Stadium in Miami and on July 30 at the Red Bull Arena in New York. FC Barcelona approaches positions with the executive roles of the MLS and ensures for the first time two meetings with two of the most influential clubs in the North American League.
“Working alongside the MLS and two of its most popular clubs in the league, Inter Miami and New York Red Bull, has been instructive in finalizing the summer tour of FCBarcelona in the US.” Said Marc Segarra, ISL Managing Partner
“This marks a significant milestone for international soccer and sets a precedent for future clubs looking to capitalize on the US soccer market’s opportunity successfully. “ Said Alex Isern, ISL CEO
FC Barcelona has not played against New York Red Bull since 2008 and it will be the first time in history that FC Barcelona faces Beckham’s Inter Miami. In both cases, it is expected that the stadiums will be filled with both the MLS club and the Catalan team’s fans, who will have the opportunity to see Xavi’s Barça play in Miami and New York.
Over a decade ago, two best friends from Barcelona who graduated from
Winthrop University with honors and an NCAA Big South Soccer
Conference championship on their shoulders had an idea to change the
soccer landscape in North America for good.
With the support of Andres Manzano and UE Cornella, the journey
began while still in college, when they organized their first-ever soccer
activity on American territory. Over 80 children from the Carolinas
attended the winter camp,—— where they were able to explore, live, and
experience soccer in the same way that Marc and Alex did as
youngsters in Spain.
The mission was clear. Build the most robust, professional, and trusted pipeline
between the European and the US soccer market so they could both benefit
from each other.
And the vision was simple, becoming a referent in the production, organization,
and mediation of world-class soccer events across the Atlantic.
As a kick-off of their partnership, ISL prepared its first-ever campus summer
route across the East Coast. Nashville, Louisville, Birmingham, Charlotte,
Raleigh, Greensboro, and Richmond.
At that time, it was a very (but significantly) small company; that’s why Marc and
Alex acted as Project Manager, Event planner, and chaperone. Marc’s mother
took care of each of those children as if they were her own, doing the breakfast
and laundry.
That first international experience in Barcelona was ISL at its core. Professional, caring and unique.
During the summer of 2015, ISL was allowed to operate and manage FCBarcelona’s
soccer camps and international experiences.
FC Barcelona gave five markets for ISL to fill up the camps and provide a lifetime soccer
experience to all its participants. Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Richmond, and
Raleigh were the first cities. The rest is history.
In the meantime, ISL was working with his first client outside FC Barcelona, Xavi
Hernandez, to help him develop a training tool to help thousands of players improve their passing and controlling skills.
Oscar Grau, who ended up being the General Director of Barça, attended the
presentation in person along with the Deputy Manager of the city of Charlotte, Ron
Kimble.
In the upcoming years, ISL will focus on growing FCBarcelona’s summer camps, the
international experiences, and the soccer academy business. In a short period, ISL
managed over 10,000 participants across all of their activities surpassing the $10
million income threshold for the first time in less than four years of operation.
ISL grew up, and with it, its team (divided between Spain and the United States)
decided to open its Headquarters in Miami, Florida, during the summer of 2019 and
open three new services; Exhibition Games, Sponsorship Brokerage, and Talent
Management.
Thanks to ISL’s adaptability, it closed several exhibition games and sponsorship deals, keeping ISL afloat.
In January 2021, LaLiga betted on his ideas and created LaLiga Select: A new project to discover talent in the United States.
You have surely heard of NFTs. Surely you have listened to that Messi, Luis Suarez, and Modric created their own NFTs and were bestsellers within hours. Well, they did it together with Ethernity. Did you know that too? Epic.
ISLs core values are intact and continue to carry on our business to new heights; Integrity, Passion, Versatility, Ambition, Teamwork, Perseverance, and Empathy.
Who would have told us when we started that we would be in such a privileged position doing something meaningful while working with the biggest in the sports industry?
It is still hard to believe, but we have no doubt what brought us to this point; Believe, Humility, Respect, Hard work, Resilience, and Unconditional love for what we do and who we do it for/with.
Always grateful. Always thriving. Always ready.
Witness greatness. Witness ISL.
Marc, Alex, Bobby and team ISL.
This time around, ISL has secured the participation of Texas-based San Antonio FC and the San Luis Potosí-based, Liga MX side Atlético de San Luis in a friendly match in the upcoming pre-season, an excellent opportunity to play some top-level soccer before the season kicks off.
SAFC is to play Atlético de San Luis at the Taxan side’s home – the Toyota Field – on June 14 at 8:00 p.m. CT.
This friendly will welcome San Antonio FC back home after three-straight road matches from May 28th to June 11th. Visiting side, San Luis, recently advanced to the Liga MX quarterfinals after a penalty shootout win over Monterrey.
“It’s an important preseason match to find our form before the start of the tournament. We are very excited to show ourselves before our fans in the U.S. and start building bonds with them.” Severiano García, VP of Atlético de San Luis
Stay tuned for more match announcements and news from our Tours and Friendlies Department!
@islagency
The 4-time MLS winner has trusted ISL to bring international teams to the X edition of the Capital Cup. The Agency has secured the participation of one of the most successful teams in Central America, Club Xelajú, from the Guatemala Liga Nacional. Club Deportivo Águila from El Salvador will complete the tournament daw.
The ISL Tours And Friendlies Department has been working with the 4x MLS Cup Champion DC United to organize the Capital Cup in Washington D.C.
“It has been a pleasure to work again with DC United in the organization of the CAPITAL CUP, achieving the objective of inviting Central American teams to the Tournament.” said ISL’s Tours & Friendliess Director Bruno Diaz.
“The Capital Cup continues to provide an excellent platform to deliver and showcase top-level soccer from around the globe here in the Nation’s Capital at Audi Field. We look forward to delivering yet another highly competitive tournament, as well as a vibrant and memorable experience for D.C. United fans and the larger soccer community located here in the DMV.” said Danita Johnson, D.C. United President of Business Operations.
The games will be this upcoming summer at the Audi Field in Washington, D.C. between June 1st and June 7th in Washington, D.C.
DC United and ISL have matched up to organize the Capital Cup.
Stay tuned for more matches and news of our Tours and Friendlies Department!
ISL and USYF (United States Youth Futsal – a US Soccer member) continue to strengthen their relationship to expand futsal in the United States with a series of events in Kansas City, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Charlotte during the summer.
It is the first time that USYF will do summer events in the United States, and the events will continue to grow each year to increase Futsal.
Players will have the exclusive opportunity to learn USYF´s unique style that makes it different from the rest of the futsal organizations in the world. They will learn what it is like to train in a professional environment for a whole week, whilst having fun and showcasing their skills.
USYF Coaches will be delivering the training sessions and teaching the techniques of the largest Futsal body across the United States. The training has been designed for players of all levels to improve the underlying techniques of futsal accurately, consistently and at game tempo.
Our events will take place on the following cities and dates:
Kansas City: June 27 – July 1
Milwaukee: July 11 – July 15
Indianapolis: July 18 – July 22
Charlotte: July 25 – July 29
We would like to thank our partners at USYF and give a special shout out to legend Keith Tozer for his ongoing support.
For more information, please visit https://www.usyouthfutsal.com/summercamp
Stay Tuned for more events coming up! @islagency
After a forced two year break due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, ISL resumes its events and sports travelling activities to the UK. We are extremely excited to return to the home of soccer!
“We can finally return to the UK since this program offers different activities and experiences to our programs in Spain. I am very satisfied with the team’s great work, since October we have had 6 events during the toughest moments of the pandemic and the peak of the Omicron variant. That is not easy at all and it is due to the great work of the Experiences team.” – says Achille Obougou, Director of Travel Management.
Players and their families will join Team ISL on its return to the British Isles for an unforgettable nine-day experience visiting London and Manchester.
The players will train at Manchester City’s facilities with Manchester City´s official coaches and compete in friendlies against other teams. They will also train at West Ham´s training grounds for a day.
Players and families will enjoy exclusive tours of the Etihad Stadium and Old Trafford in Manchester, as well as two Premier League games. They will be lucky enough to watch World Champions Chelsea take on Crystal Palace on Saturday and Manchester United battle Watford next weekend.
Outdoor and cultural activities are planned for players and families to explore these two soccer hungry cities. More exciting surprises await our guests and we can´t wait for you to arrive!
The ISL team has been working hard to offer better travel experiences, prioritizing the players’ and families’ safety at all times.
This season, ISL has 20 sport events lined up in 5 different locations.
Stay tuned for more information about our soccer experiences! @team_isl
2018 Ballon d’OR winner Luka Modric´s first NFT (non-fungible token) collection will be made available by Ethernity Chain, found exclusively on their platform.
After the successful launches of Messi´s record-breaking NFT collection in August (grossing $3.4 million dollars on the first day), followed up by the popular Luis Suárez NFT launch in October, ISL and Ethernity will turn the Real Madrid talisman into historic digital tokens.
The Croatian national team´s captain will be the next soccer star with an official and authenticated NFT collection. Details about the collection will be announced in due course.
ISL – Ethernity’s official and exclusive soccer partner – has brokered the deal between Ethernity Chain and Luka Modric, as was the case with Messi and Luis Suárez.
Ethernity’s previous NFT collections for Copa América, Luis Suárez and Messi reached an accumulated sales value of over $5 million dollars, positioning Ethernity and ISL as a leading reference of digital art in the soccer industry.
“We are excited to continue bringing the biggest soccer names in history to join the exclusive talent family of Ethernity. Modric is gold and represents a transgenerational legend whose legacy will remain forever after launching his first NFT collection on Ethernity,” – says Marc Segarra, ISL Managing Partner.
In the coming months ISL and Ethernity will proudly announce more NFT collections with top global soccer brands.
Stay tuned!
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