Since our last update we have moved twice as we travelled to Frankfurt and Munich. Our time in Frankfurt was short but full of experiences. Tuesday was travelling to Germany. On Wednesday we began with class discussing emotional branding and how it relates to advertisements. As a part of emotional branding we shared stories of our personal connections or feelings about some brands, especially cleats. We talked about the growth of viewership of the English Premier League in the U. S. and how NBC is promoting the EPL through their commercials.

Class was followed by a visit to Main Tower, a skyscraper that has an observation deck on the top and a wonderful view of the entirety of Frankfurt. After we all had gained much more windblown hairstyles, we walked to Römer Square and explored nearby areas until later that afternoon. Following lunch we had the opportunity to visit the Deutsches Filmmuseum and learn about the evolution of film through many forms. We learned video editing and other interactive forms.

Thursday also began with class, as we focused on the German FA and their focus on youth development. Through readings and a documentary, it became evident to us how much time the German FA puts into providing coaches of every level with the best methods possible. From class we went to Commerzbank Arena, home of the club Eintracht Frankfurt, and received a tour of their facilites. We also were able to briefly see one of the players having an individual training session on one of the fields outside the stadium. The rest of the afternoon was then ours to do things such as eat gelato, find a love lock bridge, visit museums and explore Frankfurt some more.

Friday was another travel day taking us to Munich by train. Our focus for class this morning was the differences of each of the FA's we have visited and the strengths that each style of play possesses. We were asked to think about which of the associations we would coach for while considering the methods that we have learned about in the past few weeks. Class also discussed the definition of success in both a coaching sense and more personal ideas. Success can be measured in many ways.This was highlighted in this discussion through input from our classmates and leaders on future goals.

Today was also our last football match, as we attended the match between Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim which Bayern won 5-2. The match was incredible to watch as it was great football and our seats were in the front few rows! As Bayern is usually at the top of the Bundesliga (the top German league), it was interesting to see them be scored on twice in the first 15 minutes of the match and have to respond. The Bayern fans were constantly chanting and singing while waving a plethora of flags, never faltering even when Bayern was down by two goals. We think Sir Bobby Robson puts it best, as he once said, "their football was exceptionally good - and they played some good football."

Sadly, Munich is the last city of our trip. As we write this we have four days left of this European football adventure. We're looking forward to cherishing every moment of the days ahead and cannot wait to see what they will bring.

Cheers!

Meredith and Claire