The trip begins! Tucson, AZ (June 22,23)

Hello and welcome to the blog for my European sports excursion with the University of Arizona Sports Management program. Before starting the trip, I got to spend an awesome week with my girlfriend, Alycia Boggs, in Tucson. It was great spending time with her before starting this six-week adventure in Europe.

Friday kicked off the start of the program with a group meeting at the Eller College of Management. We met for a couple of hours to go over protocol and logistics for the trip. We all filled out the necessary paper work and listened to guest speaker Lacey Nymeyer, a silver medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Arizona alum. After the meeting we loaded up the vans to head to the JW Marriott at Star Pass. I was one of the lucky ones to pack everyone’s bags into the vans. Brought me back to my days working valet at the Marriott on campus.

We arrived to the hotel around 5:00, and then headed to the Tucson Padres game at around 6:00. It was great going back to Kino Stadium to see many familiar faces that I had worked with the previous summer. I also got to race the mascot, Kino Bambino around the bases in the middle of the 5^th inning. This was fun because all last summer I did these races, only as Kino Bambino himself. After the game we headed back to the hotel. I called it an early night because of the early morning ahead on Saturday.

On Saturday morning we all met in the lobby at 7:00 am. We headed to a ropes course for team building activities. The ropes course was a really awesome experience, and was a great way to form some camaraderie with everyone from the group. As one of the 11 graduated seniors on the trip, I naturally took a leadership role with my group. It is nice having a greater sense of responsibility, and working to set a positive example for the rest of the students on the trip.

After the ropes course we all went to have lunch at No Anchovies Pizza on university. (I am going to miss watching the Broncos on Sundays there next season!) We then headed back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow is going to be an early morning, waking up at 4:00 am for a 6:15 flight to Dallas.