Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got invited to play in a tournament in Spain after doing a camp with Futstars this past summer. Is anyone here familiar with this? The tournament is called Mundialito. Do they just ask anyone who has done any camps or training with them? I know this isn’t some path to being discovered, ha. Mostly wondering if it’s at all selective and what the level of play is like. Not totally opposed to the idea of using it as a spring break trip if it’s a cool opportunity.

100% a money grab but if you want to go to Spain and watch youth soccer, enjoy.

Teams played against age group academies Juventus, FC Porto, Sporting Portugal, America de Mexico among other top local Spanish teams. And yes, the actual academy teams, not the marketing gimmick where teams license their name stateside.

It was a great experience. Great vacation, beautiful weather and the kids had a blast. And yes, they still keep in touch via What’s App.

Is your child going to get recruited? No. But is it a great vacation in an amazing country playing very competitive football? Yes. Yes it is.

Memorable mostly good experience. Expensive.

We did it a few years ago. It was a great soccer trip. The hotel was decent and the food wasn't the best. But it was great soccer and something we will remember.

Anonymous wrote:My son got invited to play in a tournament in Spain after doing a camp with Futstars this past summer. Is anyone here familiar with this? The tournament is called Mundialito. Do they just ask anyone who has done any camps or training with them? I know this isn’t some path to being discovered, ha. Mostly wondering if it’s at all selective and what the level of play is like. Not totally opposed to the idea of using it as a spring break trip if it’s a cool opportunity.

100% a money grab but if you want to go to Spain and watch youth soccer, enjoy.

Sorry PP - they don’t accept everyone not anyone.

We did it last year and had a blast. They don’t accept anyone but playing time is definitely dependent on your skill level in the actual games. Our team had kids across the country and a few from Spain and got close. The team What’s App is still active and we have been looking for small tournaments to have our group get back together and go to. It was a mix of fun and hard work.

Also really cool to meet all the kids from the professional academies and there is history of really high quality players. For example, Vini Jr got the golden boot at the tournament when he was 12.

I think HP Elite is sending a team this year too.

It’s ok. Solid competition, but it’s not exclusive, and they don’t actually remember your kid, it’s just that your kid met the threshold. “Experience” trip for sure.

What I do know is there are a handful of families that use it as marketing for their kids.

“Winning numerous awards in Europe”
“Won X (unknown) tournament in Europe”
“Played for competitive team in Spain”

Etc.

Think of it like the All-American camps. Lots of bragging, but most of its value is just in the fun of it and maybe the shameless marketing that doesn’t fool anyone except the scrubs.

Soccer tourism, but that's ok as long as you go into it knowing that is what it is. They have brochures and "applications" up on their website

It's a high quality tournament and nicely run. Biggest issue is Spring break and whether your school spring break matches up with the week they will be away.

It's nicely organized. They only take higher level travel players.

My son got invited to play in a tournament in Spain after doing a camp with Futstars this past summer. Is anyone here familiar with this? The tournament is called Mundialito. Do they just ask anyone who has done any camps or training with them? I know this isn’t some path to being discovered, ha. Mostly wondering if it’s at all selective and what the level of play is like. Not totally opposed to the idea of using it as a spring break trip if it’s a cool opportunity.