Wow, What a Weekend! Our First Tournament Adventure at IDA Easter Cup
My heart is still racing! We just got back from our very first tournament with The Magic 10 Academy kids at the IDA Easter Cup in Valencia, and I just had to share this experience with you all! Our 2014 boys finally got to test all those technical skills we’ve been drilling in a real competitive environment, and let me tell you – it was emotional, challenging, and absolutely worth every second.
We played against:
You should have seen Pau and Adrian between the posts, making saves that had parents from other teams asking where they train!
Unai,Aitor, Iker Perez, and Kristian Zinkevich organizing our defense despite facing some physically imposing attackers. Ruben and Alae battling for every ball in midfield like their lives depended on it.
Oscar and David bringing creativity to our play. Iker Casa linking everything together. And then watching Adria, Mateo, Diego, and Julio showing those beautiful technical touches we’ve been working on for months – even when the score wasn’t in our favor. I honestly got goosebumps several times!
Coach Raul Montoya was pacing that sideline like a proud papa bear, and I swear I saw tears in his eyes when Diego scored that beautiful goal against Surf Select with that technique we’d been drilling just last week.
I keep replaying certain moments in my head:
As I watched from the sideline with the other coaches, we kept nudging each other: “See that? That’s from the Tuesday session!” or “That move right there – we worked on that last month!”
“Nunca olvidaremos nuestra primera vez @idaeastercup 💪” – We’ll never forget our first time at this tournament. The kids keep saying this, and they’re so right.
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What we’re building here goes beyond results or even individual skills. It’s about creating players who understand the game differently, who have technical tools that open doors others can’t even see.
This tournament gave our boys so much: ✓ Real-world application of technical training ✓ New friendships with players from other teams ✓ Exposure to different playing styles ✓ Valuable feedback from experienced coaches ✓ The sheer joy of competing together
So what now? First, a little rest! But then we’re diving straight back into training with renewed purpose. The tournament highlighted specific areas where we can help each player grow their technical arsenal even further.
For any parents reading who might be wondering if The Magic 10 Academy could help your child – this tournament showed exactly what makes us different. We don’t replace what they’re getting at their clubs; we add the specialized technical elements that often get overlooked but make all the difference.
As I was loading the last of the gear into the van on Saturday night, watching the boys laughing together despite their tired legs, I couldn’t help thinking: This is just the beginning of something truly special.
Can’t wait to get back to work with these amazing kids! And massive thanks to @byzelig for capturing these memories we’ll treasure forever.
Talk soon, The Magic 10 Team