Born in the USA! – A blog from Luke Chadwick

Well maybe not quite but I did spend some time out in the states a couple of weeks ago! The reason for this is my youngest son Liam has just moved there to begin a soccer scholarship at the University of Wisconsin, I know, exciting right! So just two weeks after he flew the nest my wife and I hopped on a plane to make sure he’s settled in okay and check out the city of Madison where the University is located. And it was absolutely brilliant!

The size and scale of the University was amazing and seeing the facilities really did blow my mind. The American Football Stadium that sits in the middle of the city holds nearly 70,000 people and is sold out for nearly every fixture! What an experience for these young athletes playing in front of so many passionate fans. The city is full of shops selling merchandise of all the different sports teams but without doubt and not surprisingly American Football is the most popular!

I’ve always loved going Stateside and always found the people so friendly and welcoming. Before this trip the only places I’ve ever visited have been the usual tourist spots like Florida, New York, and Las Vegas, as well as a pre-season tour with Manchester United many years ago taking in the sights and stadiums of Chicago and Philadelphia. We actually flew into Chicago for this trip before jumping in an Uber for a close to two hour drive to Madison, I wasn’t really sure what to expect after the journey, mainly just taking in fields and lots of them!

On arrival we were straight down to the soccer stadium for a friendly fixture. The stadium doubles up as the track stadium meaning the stands are set a little further back but still a great place to play football or soccer I should probably say. The game was entertaining if not spectacular. What was very noticeable was it was very different to the Academy games I have got used to watching my son play in back home. The pace of the game was much quicker, the athleticism of the players was also very impressive and although technically probably lacking a little in the main it made for a good watch, with a couple of very good players on view.

But more importantly than any of that the best thing about the trip was seeing our little boy! The two weeks he’d been gone had felt much longer and felt so strange not having him in the house as we have done for the past 18 years! I had no idea how it would feel when one of our kids left home and never really thought about it, and when it happened it was a really emotional time and although incredibly proud, quite sad to see how quickly they grow up. But to see him settled in so well was really reassuring and most definitely took away that worry you inevitably feel when someone you love so much moves to the other side of the world.

But what an incredible opportunity to make new friends, study at a world class university, and play the game you love everyday! I’m not jealous, honest!