Day 11 - Milano

Today we meet up at 9am and took the metro over to San Siro Soccer Stadium, the home stadium to AC Milan and Inter Milan. We got a tour of the stadium, which included both locker rooms and the VIP area. I even got to sit in David Beckham’s locker room chair! After the tour we were able to walk around the museum there. It was really cool to see all the old artifacts, jerseys, pictures, and even trophies the teams have won. After the tour, the group broke up and went their separate ways. A few people went and saw the Duomo, some grabbed lunch, and some headed back to the hotel.

We all met up at 2pm in the lobby of the hotel to hear Tony and my presentation on the globalization of hockey. We also heard from guest Brad Doshan, the directing manager ofEuro Sport Tours and also U of M hockey alumni, who now lives and coaches in Italy. He gave us great insight to the world of European hockey, especially Switzerland and Italy along with giving us a detailed overview of Euro Sport Tours. Specifically he was able to answer many of the questions we had about the structure of hockey in Europe within the professional leagues as well as the youth development of Swiss and Italian hockey players. One of the things I thought was incredibly interesting was that the youth players in Switzerland receive professional coaching starting at a young age all the way up to their professional years if they are lucky enough to make it. Also, I was shocked to hear that youth hockey programs are sponsored and privately subsidized, therefore the parents have to pay only a small amount for great quality coaches compared to the U.S. where you can pay thousands of dollars for hockey and professional coaching.

Following the presentation, a few of us headed to Corso Buoenos Aires to do some shopping in the great fashion area of Milan. Tomorrow we are finally saying goodbye to the beautiful country of Italy and heading to Lausanne, Switzerland.

-Ali Carlston, Undergraduate Kinesiology Student