By Livia Goree
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March 23, 2026
An Eight-Day Soccer Experience Colorado United Soccer partners with Akinji Inc., who prominently partners with the Real Madrid Foundation , to run elite youth soccer clinics and camps in the USA. Since 2023, they have also facilitated international soccer development experiences and training with more than 700 players. This past November, during Thanksgiving week, four players from our Copa Program — Dom Giardina, Trayse Newton, Sawyer Ysusi, and Tess Murphy — traveled to Madrid, Spain to participate in the Real Madrid Training Experience. This trip was the first as part of our new international travel program and partnership for the Copa Program, which we launched in September 2025. The players took part in an eight-day soccer experience, which included training sessions at Real Madrid’s training complex (Valdebebas) and playing friendly matches against local Madrid teams. In addition to the soccer activities, the group had the opportunity to explore the city, tour the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, attend a professional match, and experience Spanish culture and cuisine. The trip concluded with a fun day at the Warner Bros. Theme Park, as well as a friendly players vs. coaches match, where parents also joined in the fun. Our Copa Director, Felipe, traveled with the group and was able to coach and lead several training sessions and games during the trip. Hear From Participating Families "I wanted to share how thankful we are for the opportunity Dom had at the Real Madrid experience with Akinji. Overall, it was a fantastic experience for Dom as a player and person. The independence the program offers the players, the great training through both Akinji and the Real Madrid coaches, and the chance to play against international competitors was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dom enjoyed every aspect of the program and commented several times that he did not want to leave! He enjoyed meeting new kids from across the country, the tours of the city, park, training grounds, and stadium, and of course the soccer experience. Akinji did a great job of organizing all of the activities for the kids and the communication with the parents throughout the program was great. I would highly recommend this program to other players! Thank you very much for providing this opportunity!" - AJ Giardina "We signed our nine year-old son, Trayse up for the Real Madrid experience in November, and brought our family along for the trip. He was joined by his teammate, Dom and his whole family as well. Sawyer and Tess from the 2016 girls team, along with Felipe, also attended." - Participating Family "The entire week was a tremendous immersion into Spanish culture for all of us. While our two families played tourists together and visited the surrounding cities and sights, the boys were full-on "football professionals." The Akinji philosophy really emphasizes treating the kids like professional footballers - they stay in their own rooms, get three meals each day, two daily trainings or a training and a match, and they mix a couple city tours in as well as a theme park trip at the end. They were placed on a team with mostly same birth-year kids from the US. They also got four sessions at the Real Madrid training facility with Real's youth coaches. We were able to attend two practices and all the matches (three), against local club teams. The Akinji coaches were very communicative, and quick to deal with issues, and all the parent questions. It's a big undertaking, and very hectic in the beginning especially. Our families really enjoyed the experience, and the boys didn't want to leave! They really enjoyed being treated like mature, adult footballers, and given that responsibility along with the independence that comes with it. It was also nice having Felipe to help look out for our boys and the girls. Not everything was perfect of course, as with any big trip out of the country, but we were pretty happy we did it! Trayse came back with an even bigger love of soccer than before. Overall, if you're open to letting your son or daughter be trusted, independent, and let them grow up and bit in another county, they will have a unique and memorable lifetime experience!" - Andy and Shari Newton Our Next Trip The "Northern England Soccer Experience" by Akinji Soccer is scheduled to take place from March 28th to April 5th, 2026. The program provides players with the opportunity to train with professional academy coaches and experience English football culture in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. If you are interested in participating in future international trips for the Copa Program, please contact Felipe for more information: felipe@coloradounitedsoccer.com
