Overpromised and Underdelivered
Communication, logistics, and supervision were all terrible. We were told there would be a zoom meeting about the trip 4-6 weeks before the camp. It didn't happen until less than 2 weeks before. And it left us scrambling to complete tasks. We found out some information as we were driving to the airport. And we found out more information once we got there, including that we were not allowed to attend sessions at the ACF training facilities - leaving us stuck at a suburban hotel with no alternate activities provided or suggested. We were told we'd get a trip to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but it wasn't on the schedule; someone asked about it toward the end of the trip at which point we were told there just wasn't time. The schedule also listed two 'touristic visit' excursions but only one happened, on the first day of the trip. And the kids were promised four training sessions at ACF but only three were provided. When we asked, we were told the schedule had changed since the kids had received a training session at the soccer museum. It was a good experience but we were only told about the schedule change after it happened. This was frustrating as we had purchased tickets to go do the dome climb at the Duomo only to find out the kids wouldn't be at the ACF training facilities and would be back at the hotel much earlier than the schedule indicated. We ended up having to ask another family to watch our kids until we got back. We were told the kids would get four match days against other youth teams. They got three, and the first and third match day games were against the same time in a town an hour outside Florence. The kids were provided with meals but not parents; the issue here became supervision as the kids would be taken to dinner after events but the parents would have to fan out across the area to find lunch. And then while waiting for our food, we'd get a message in the group chat that the kids were finished and had been released into the hotel - without supervision. One of the last nights of the trip, I had to leave my dinner in the hotel to go look for another kid because he hadn't gone to his room and the family had no idea where he was. The trip ended on a particularly bad note for us as we found out after the awards ceremony that our son had been bullied during the trip by another player. Both he and his sister had reported it to the coaches but apparently nothing was done about it. The next morning he refused to leave the room and missed saying goodbye to several players at the goodbye breakfast. In talking to some of the other parents, I found out their kids had also been harassed by the same player. Overall the kids are telling us they enjoyed their time in Italy but they were also oblivious to the communication and logistics issues that plagued this trip. We are doing a camp with Arsenal this week and they have sent out regular communications and given us way more information. Please take a look at how you communicate with participants and how you organize the trip and really spend some time improving the information that's provided, when it's provided, think about the experience of the parents (at least suggest some alternative activities for them, and try and get a hotel closer to the city center), don't promise something if you can't guarantee it, and please do a better job of supervising the kids. Many of us had anxiety looking for our kids after they were released into the hotel and we had no idea where they were.
By WILL C.