WASHINGTON- DC Soccer Club players and coaches are set to travel to Italy, including Milan, Florence, and Rome, for a culturally immersive soccer training experience. Girls players in the U13, U14, and U16 age groups are attending the trip. The players are accompanied by DC Soccer Club Travel Coaches Nick Papadis and Michelle Rodriguez-Smith. Papadis currently serves as the Director of Tournaments and Events for the club and coaches the club’s Girls' U13 and U14 Red Metros. Rodriguez-Smith coaches Girls U13 and U14 Blue Metros as well as serves as the Age Group Director. 

The players and coaches will have the opportunity to train and see some of Italy’s most impressive sights. The players will be training and our coaches will have the opportunity to attend a professional coaching clinic at Stadio Bozzi. The girls will have the opportunity to play friendlies against Italian teams. Those teams include; ASD Vigor Calcio Femminile, Pro Sesto, and Roma Calcio Femminile. The group will also be participating in a walking tour of Milan, a stadium tour of the famous San Siro, a Florence city tour, a tour of the Italian Soccer Museum, a guided tour of Rome (to include the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and Coloseum and Roman Forum), a trip to Vatican City, a tour of St. Peter's Basilica, and they will watch an AS Roma vs. FC Salzburg match.                                         

Papdis said, “Italy has some of soccer’s biggest venues and teams. It’ll be an amazing experience for our players to see and encounter European soccer culture”

Rodriguez- Smith said, “Being a part of this cultural event is an honor. I am looking forward to our athletes competing against Italian teams and learning about the fascinating histories of Milan, Florence, and Rome.”