Mike Spinner’s 2025 Travel Blog

What an exciting couple of days here at the United World Games! This being my second time on this tour, I kind of knew what to expect coming in, but to be honest, there was a lot about this experience that made our 2025 version of the UWG tour even better.

Vienna alone was worth a second trip here, but the sport side of the tour was where things seemed to evolve differently this time. First, I cannot begin to tell you how gratifying it was to not only finally get to see our basketball teams compete today, but also be a part of two medal-clinching performances. Our U19 team captured the bronze medal, while our U16 team won gold. For me personally, it was my first time being on-hand for a gold medal for any SAWUSA sport, and it was awesome!

As I was present for two medal ceremonies, one of the things that occurred to me more so than any tour I’ve been a part of, was that the medal ceremony kind of marked the beginning of the end of this tour, and really the end of a fun and gratifying chapter of my life and career. My primary role at SAWUSA is to liaise with our families. That means conducting 100% of the interviews with our families, and answering emails and calls throughout the year. It’s kind of like building a team for more than 50 weeks, and all of the sudden, the season comes to an end. Between the first contact with a family, and the end of a tour, for many families, there is a lot of communication. And yes, many of our families become friends.

And, just like that, the tour ends. Do the friendships end as well? Of course not. I still maintain friendships from my first tour two years ago. I certainly hope to keep in touch with me new friends from this tour. But, in just a couple of days, some really amazing people, who I have spent a lot of time with since we met at Dulles Airport, will go back to their daily lives, and they won’t be nearly as much of a part of mine anymore. It’s actually sad. I am going to miss my fellow travelers from this tour.

So, being a part of the medal ceremonies today made me think to myself that I am witnessing in real-time one of the greatest memories of these kids’ lives, and in a matter of hours, I won’t be with them anymore. It is a bittersweet part of the job.

At the same time, two medal ceremonies in one day … such a fun part of this job!

Another fun part of the job? Individual achievement. I don’t know in the history of SAWUSA there has been an example of individual triumph than what hockey goalie Dallas Rado accomplished at the United World Games this year. Yesterday, our U16 Ice Hockey team was eliminated from the competition, and Dallas went to a local pizza place, thinking that he had finished playing hockey here in Austria. As I walked around the arena, waiting for our U14 team to play, I was approached by the coach from a Slovakian team, begging me for a goalie. Their goalie was injured, the team was about to play a Quarterfinal game, and they needed a goalie in short order. It took a little bit of convincing, but Dallas agreed to play … and he crushed it!

Three wins (over two days) and probably 100 saves later, Dallas led the Slovaks to the U16 gold medal, marking the first time in SAWUSA history that one of our hockey players came home with a medal. Dallas is just an amazing kid. One of my favorite athletes I have met during my four tours. He’s a tremendous hockey goalie, and honestly, I am not sure I can think of a better example of why we do what we do at SAWUSA than what Dallas accomplished over the last two days. Dallas had a chance to see the world, play international ice hockey, engage in cultural exchange in the biggest way possible, and came home with a gold medal. I only hope that Dallas heads home and realizes how special this was. I hope many years down the road, he shares his story about what he did for the Slovakian team, and thinks of it as one of the most fond memories of his life. For me, I am not sure I can think of a better highlight from any of my tours to this point, and I have had too many highlights to count on these tours.

So, Dallas Rado, kudos, my friend. I am very proud of you!

Dallas also proved that ice hockey is very much alive at SAWUSA, and the potential is there to make this something big. As I noted earlier, our teams were not as competitive as we had hoped, mainly because the competition here was absolutely tremendous. Our inaugural hockey tour proved to be an eye opening experience. But, watching Dallas achieve such success with, and against, some of the best competition in Europe at his age group proved that we have the right formula to attract the kinds of hockey players that will make our teams successful. We just need to grow our numbers a bit … and we will. I am really excited to continue to build SAWUSA Ice Hockey, and with Alex Chis-Luca and Dark Magic Hockey as our partner, I think – and hope – that big things are coming!

Tonight is our last night in Klagenfurt as the tour concludes tomorrow when we travel to Munich, where we will visit the Dachau Concentration Camp, and hopefully have some time in the city. I hope to pay another visit to the United World Games soon. I love it here. This is an amazing tour, and I have met some incredible people, from both SAWUSA, and from all around the world. I’m sure 2026 will send me someplace else to a different tour, but I am already looking forward to my next journey to Austria!

I am going to be very honest … today was not as easy of a day as I had hoped it would be. As we entered the first day of competition at United World Games, I woke up optimistic this morning, excited for our basketball teams, who both looked very impressive during their scrimmages and practices, and downright giddy for our first-ever ice hockey teams. As Tim will probably display for all to see, I decked out in my SAWUSA finest for the day, and felt great heading out to the rink … which just so happens to be situated in one of the most beautiful places in all of Austria.

Things got off to a great start. In fact, my own son scored the first goal in SAWUSA Ice Hockey history! But, from there, I have to be honest, today was a challenge. We learned a lesson. In fact, we learned several. The biggest lesson we learned: Ice Hockey at the United World Games is no joke. Our U14 team did some great things during an early loss to a team from Austria, and then, a powerhouse French team pretty much dismantled us.

Our U16 battled a team from Switzerland, losing by a goal in the final minute. An hour later, they lined up against the Dutch National U16 team. And, it wasn’t close. These are hockey players who will likely compete in the Olympics one day. And they looked the part.

Our ice hockey group is amazing. Fantastic kids and families. Incredible enthusiasm. Very hard working. Just a joy to be around. Our coaches: World class. But, we just weren’t nearly as good today against our competition for three out of four games. It was difficult, of course. I’m a father first. I wanted my son to come here, and score a million goals, and win a gold medal, and stand on top of the hockey world for one moment of his life.

I’m not going to hide the fact that it was a tough day on the ice. Nor will I sugar coat it. I hope ice hockey has a long and successful future at SAWUSA. Not only because my son plays. But, because it’s an international sport, providing our travelers with opportunities to see the world and compete. But, to be successful means that we do have to do ice hockey better. And we will.

But, at the same time … in the big picture, I refuse to call today a failure, and if tomorrow yields similar results, I won’t call it a failure, either. And that’s where the other part of our day came in.

Tonight was the annual Opening Ceremony at United World Games, and for some reason, I loved it more this time around than I did two years ago. I cannot tell you why. We got to the stadium early for dinner, and had a chance to absorb the atmosphere before being ushered to a staging area for the 8,000+ athletes to march in behind their own flag. While I had done this before, the vibe tonight was just different than it was two years ago. It was better. The enthusiasm was through the roof. The American delegation (SAWUSA athletes and other programs as well), was so into it that they literally had to be ushered off of the field by security after loitering way too long. It was awesome! Smiles from everybody. Loud cheers from the crowd. A moment where all of our kids felt like they were on top of the world.

And that, my friends, is what SAWUSA is all about. We’ve been to some amazing places in the world since this tour began. We’ve gone up against incredible international competition. We’ve tried new foods, and seen sites we’ve never seen before. We’ve made friends that hopefully will be friends for a long time to come.  Every hockey player is better at this sport today than they were one week ago.

Yes, we lost pretty big for three out of four games. And, yes, I wish we could have been more competitive. But, at the end of the day, I honestly think anybody who is going to judge the success of a tour by the scoreboard is out of their mind. Even the kids. What our hockey players are doing is so much bigger and better than the results of the games. They are engaging in life changing experiences. They are seeing their favorite sport at the highest level. And, despite the lop-sided scores, there has been some good hockey on our end. And, I say it again, we have GREAT families on this tour.

So, forgive me, but I cannot help but cling to the bigger picture here. What will I remember about today? My son represented his country in an outstanding international ice hockey competition, and scored the first goal in the history of our program. And then, he marched in a parade of nations at a huge international youth sports event, literally carrying an American flag as he entered the stadium. He said it himself, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.” At no point during the march, did he say a word about the scores.

I call that a successful travel experience with SAWUSA. And, as always, I am honored to be a part of it.

Tomorrow is a massive day as our basketball teams both look to secure places in Sunday’s championship games. For hockey, it’s an opportunity to score some wins at this fiercely competitive event. And, tomorrow night, we party (more on that tomorrow).

No matter what, it’s going to be a great day.