The Football Otago Youth Development Trust (Foydat) sent a squad to the Villarreal Yellow Cup Easter tournament.
The under-16 players got a chance to play some elite Spanish youth opposition, saw the sights and soaked up the football history at some of the top stadiums in La Liga.
The trust usually sends a team to the Super Cup in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, but while plans had to change this year, the Spanish destination was not a bad consolation.
"It was a great experience," tour leader Matt Scoles said.
"We were at a high-class tournament co-ordinated and managed by one of Spain’s big clubs, with teams from all over the globe.
"The hotel we were in accommodated several teams from throughout the world and the boys were able to mix and mingle with them, which was an experience when dealing with different languages and cultures."
Scoles said the management team, including coaches Andy Duncan and Tim Horner, asked the young men to approach the tournament with professional standards.
That related to everything from their diet to what time they went to bed.
"That all added to the experience of being solely focused on the job at hand — learning and development that you’re just not likely to get in their current football experiences in New Zealand."
The tourists, including players from Otago, Southland and South Canterbury, faced an initial challenge when their journey to Spain was re-routed due to the Iran conflict.
It ended up taking them 52 hours to get from Dunedin to Madrid, via Auckland and Santiago, before a six-hour bus ride from Madrid to Benicassim, in southern Spain.
The group were based at the Villarreal Academy of Football and got an early opportunity to train with some of its coaches.
After sightseeing around Valencia, Castellon and the castle town of Peniscola, there were more training sessions and a tour of Villarreal’s famous — and very yellow — Estadio de la Ceramica home ground.
The Football Otago squad also started the Easter tournament — after an opening ceremony in front of 15,000 people — with a 0-0 stalemate against Mislata UF, a traditionally strong youth side from Valencia.
That was followed by one of the team’s best results in two decades as they thumped AE Santa Gertrudis, from Ibiza, 8-0.
Theo Johnston and Joaquim Bortolan both scored hat-tricks, the other goals coming from Hugh Dermody and Piers van Miltenberg.
Otago’s final pool game was against Mondragon CF, from the Basque region.
Mondragon scored after just 90 seconds and things got worse for Otago when Angus Sawyer was harshly shown a straight red card.
Johnston scored a wonderful equaliser with 15 minutes left, dispossessing a defender, charging forward 45m and driving his shot into the far corner of the goal.
That was followed by some cruel luck when the Basque side scored a winner with the final kick of the game.
It meant a place in the last 16 of the "silver" side of the tournament, and a 1-0 loss to CE Manresa following a controversial early goal.
The trip finished with seats at a sold-out La Liga game between Valencia and Celta Vigo at Estadio de Mestalla, and a tour of the Camp Nou, home of heavyweights Barcelona.
"That was an unbelievable experience for them," Scoles said.
Scoles said the development trust board would review the tour and consider options for the future.
There were clear positives about the Spanish experience, but there was also a lot of history attached to the Northern Ireland tournament, and logistical challenges for both.
