We joined GYS Tours this past summer for the Donosti Cup tournament in San Sebastian, Spain. The tour was incredibly well organized, and Coach Daniel paid great attention to detail for everything we could possibly need. The trip was highly personalized to ensure that the players and the parents had a truly unique experience with the culture and the people of the area. Daniel has invested much time and effort in making local connections to provide the best recommendations, accommodations, an expert bus tour driver, and fantastic restaurant experiences throughout the region. Our only wish is to have more options to do it again every year. This was truly one of the best travel experiences we have had. We highly recommend GYS Tours! Thank you, Coach Daniel!  

Two Great Adventures with Global Youth Sports  

Our family has been fortunate to join two memorable trips with GYS and Coach Daniel dos Santos. We would go again tomorrow if we could. 

In short, these trips are fantastic. Daniel brings together a wonderful group of families with the common link of teenagers who love playing soccer. Daniel’s love for the trips, the adventures, the kids and their soccer experience are evident in everything he does. He truly creates wonderful memories for the whole family.

It’s a top-quality experience from start to finish. On our last trip to Spain, our son played in a large tournament that attracted 600 teams from all over the world. There were teams from South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the States. The tournament took place in the city of San Sebastian, a fantastic destination. The opening and closing ceremonies of this tournament, and the finals for each age group were played in the local La Liga stadium - with fireworks and music with an atmosphere which imitated the opening of an Olympics. 

One of the best things about the trip is the group. Over the course of the week, the team and families spend a lot of time together: on the bus, cheering on the team, eating, hanging around the hotel and seeing sights. Very quickly, everyone becomes friends with both the players and their families. 

In addition to soccer, Daniel schedules daily excursions of a wide variety. He feels it’s important for the kids to experience the culture. Sometimes this means a trip to a major sightseeing destination or a friendly game with a local soccer club. Other times, this means you find yourself watching (or playing in) an unplanned pickup game of soccer in the street with some local kids, while the sun sets at an outdoor restaurant in a beautiful place you won’t find in any guidebook.

Favorite memories from GYS trips include an expedition to go surfing in a charming French beach near the tournament; a side trip to the Basque countryside by Daniel’s old friend & bus driver, riding through the countryside while playing cards on the bus and a visit to a lovely old-fashioned Spanish amusement park with amazing views of San Sebastian’s beach.  We never would have found any of these places nor created such good memories on our own. 

Soccer is one of the few truly global games. The whole world plays. Everyone, everywhere. If you have a kid who loves to play, and the means to make the trip happen, GO. See how the rest of the world lives, eats, and plays the game. Have an adventure. You won’t regret it. If you can’t go, let us know, we will gladly take your spot. 
 

The summer soccer trip with GYS was a total success in every possible way- my son loved it and grew as a player- he also got to meet people from all over the place! My husband and I had a truly wonderful time, as this doubled as a vacation- we loved getting to know other parents and seeing new cities, not just from a tourist perspective but also from a local perspective with the help of in-town local soccer professionals! Coach Daniel did an amazing job when planning and was really an amazing and constructive coach, really helping the kids understand their strengths and how to make the best of those, both individually and as a team. 

Our family has experienced three amazing trips with Daniel. We traveled to Spain, Italy, and Denmark. Each travel experience was unique and provided a memorable experience for my daughter and our family. Each trip was organized and well planned to provide the best competitive soccer experience as well as curated activities to fully experience the countries we visited.  

Our family has traveled with GYS on 3 occasions Internationally. Every trip has been incredible, Daniel’s attention to detail and thoughtful planning makes for a great experience.   Soccer has given us a reason to travel to amazing destinations.  Our daughter who played in the tournaments talks about how much fun she had and how these are some of her most memorable soccer experiences.  She reminds us of all the time how touring on the team coach with her teammates was so fun!   Her younger sister enjoyed every minute.  All in all, a great family experience. 

I was very fortunate to meet a coach Daniel dos Santos many years ago. He had an incredible impact in the development of my daughter Candela as a person and as a soccer player. His knowledge of the sport, his ability to take the best out of each player, his commitment to the job, his organizational skills and his passion are incredible and rare assets. Daniel dos Santos is the brain, the heart and soul of GYS, a project created with the vision of unifying soccer with education and culture.  GYS embodies Daniel´s vision, and its goal is to provide kids with the opportunity to develop their abilities to the fullest in an educational and culturally rich environment. GYS allows kids to experience soccer as an international sport, learn through comradeship, hard work, and dedication by playing the beautiful game of soccer abroad. Daniel understands soccer as a door to discover one´s possibilities by engaging with top teams all over the world and learn about their different cultures. Before meeting him, soccer was that sport my kids played in the afternoon, maybe a door to a good university. Yet sometimes in life one can find that person that allows you to understand that those goals might be reached through means that grant a deeper meaning to what at first sight was just a sport. GYS teaches values through soccer and provides meaning to the experience of the sport in itself. Daniel teaches not only the importance of fairness, respect, and hard work but also the beauty of experiencing life through sport. I can only thank him for all these insights. My daughter is now a better player and a better person. GYS and soccer have opened doors for her that were unimaginable beforehand. He is not only the best coast that I have ever found but also an incredible human being.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to share our experiences with GYS Tours to international tournaments with Coach Daniel. In the summer of 2016, we traveled to compete in the Donasti Cup in Spain. Our daughter was on the U13 team, and the trip was amazing. The practices over the year prior to the trip were a cool way to engage with other players, to build team chemistry and to receive top-notch soccer training. Within only weeks of returning from Spain, we were busy planning to return to the same city and tournament the very next summer with our youngest daughter’s team and a boys’ team. In the summer of 2017, we returned as a family to San Sebastian to make more memories and engage more in the culture of the city and broader parts of Spain. On both trips to Spain, our teams were competitive, our travel time with the families was incredibly fun and our coaches and local tour guide made the trip just perfect. If those two trips weren’t enough, two years later in 2019, we returned to Europe but this time to Italy for both of our girls to compete in the San Marino Cup. Four teams joined in the experience in Italy, and this trip was quite possibly the best one yet. We spent time in Rome, Rimini, San Marino, Venice, and Lake Como. On all three trips, the quality memories that we made as a family and the bonds that we made with other families and the coaches are unmatched. I recommend the GYS Tours programs highly!!!