Portugal 2021 Blog #3 – Final Few Days in Europe
Thursday – After a four days in Spain, our group headed North to Lisbon, Portugal in the morning. We did a guided city tour exploring the amazing history of the country dating back thousands of years.
Friday – We visited more of Lisbon and the surrounding areas today. We saw the Pena Palance, Moors Castle, and Sintra. We walked quite a few stairs to prepare for the weekend of games!
Saturday and Sunday – Our six teams competed in the Lisboa Lacrosse Cup and Portugal Basketball Festival. It was a busy two days with lots of games. Our teams combined to go 11-18, highlighted by our Women’s Lacrosse team winning Gold. Most importantly, we made new friends and shared our love of sport with our international competitors.
Monday and Tuesday – After a long 9 days, it’s time to return to the USA. Half the group flies home Monday, the other half enjoys a free day in Portugal before a Tuesday morning flight. What a trip is was! Especially during Covid – pulling off this trip and making it a success for all will make this tour one of the most memorable tours we’ve ever had.
Portugal 2021 Blog #2 – Game Results
We did way more than compete in Portugal and Spain. Check out BLOG 1 and BLOG 3 for info on the rest of the fun we had on the trip. This post is all about the competition! Congrats to our six teams and coaches, they represented the USA very well! Our teams combined to go 11-18 on the tour, highlighted by our Women’s Lacrosse team taking home the Gold! See all the teams results below and check out SaWUSA’s ALL-TIME RESULTS since we started touring in 2015.
Portugal 2021 Results
Women’s Lacrosse
- Won 11-0 vs Victorious Secret (Belgium)
- Won 9-4 vs Lisboa Gladiators (Portugal)
- Won 6-5 vs Amiche D’Italia (Italy)
- Won 9-8 vs Madrid Lacrosse (Spain)
Men’s Lacrosse
- Won 11-1 vs Portugal National Team
- Won 6-5 vs Madrid Lacrosse (Spain)
- Won 2-1 vs Madrid Lacrosse (Spain)
- Lost 10-5 vs Italian National Team
Men’s Basketball U17
- Won 64-39 vs Imortal (Portugal)
- Lost 57-46 vs MVP Academy (Portugal)
- Lost 68-64 vs SL Benfica (Portugal)
- Won 66-55 vs Sporting CP (Portugal)
- Won 53-52 vs SL Benfica (Portugal)
- Lost 65-53 vs MVP Academy (Portugal)
Women’s Basketball
- Lost 56-36 vs Imortal (Portugal)
- Lost 66-35 vs SL Benfica (Portugal)
- Lost 43-20 vs Quinta Lombos (Portugal)
- Lost 52-41 vs MVP Academy (Portugal)
- Lost 74-27 vs Quinta Lombos (Portugal)
Men’s Basketball U19 Stars
- Lost 78-55 vs CDH (Spain)
- Lost 63-49 vs Sporting CP (Portugal)
- Lost 75-43 vs Alges (Portugal)
- Lost 57-48 vs MVP Academy (Portugal)
- Lost 90-47 vs CA Queluz (Portugal)
Men’s Basketball U19 Stripes
- Lost 98-85 vs CDH (Spain)
- Lost 53-46 vs SL Benfica (Portugal)
- Won 68-44 vs UD Vilafranquense (Portugal)
- Lost 60-54 vs CA Queluz (Portugal)
- Lost 65-49 vs MVP Academy (Portugal)
Sunday – 108 SaWUSA athletes, parents, and staff departed the USA on Sunday night, from Newark, NJ and New York, NY one two different flights en route to Lisbon, Portugal. One group connected through Amsterdam, the other through Munich. The overnight flights were long and the connections short and hectic with Covid protocols.
Monday – Thankfully, all 108 landed in Lisbon – and then hopped on a SaWUSA bus for a 4 hour drive to our first hotel in the South of Spain, the Islantilla Beach Golf Resort. It’s a beautiful property right on the Atlantic Ocean. The group had dinner and got some much needed rest.
Tuesday – After beach workouts, the group headed to Seville, Spain. Seville is a very historic town and they took part in a guided city tour learning about the history and culture of Spain. In the evening the lacrosse teams practiced and the basketball teams took part in friendly matched versus Spanish and Portuguese teams.
Wednesday – The groups headed to Sanlucar de Guadiana, for a unique Zip-Line experience crossing over the Guadiana River from Spain to Portugal. The zip line is almost a half of a mile and you travel up to 50 MHP. A night the group had a little free time, and then a roundtable discussion with coaches about college athletics and college life.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Spain and head to Portugal for the 2nd half of the tour. Stay tuned for more updates.
Zipline from Portugal to Spain!