Jeu Un et Deux: US Talence et FC Girondins de Bordeaux

This January part of our team had the opportunity to take the January interim experience course, Sport and Culture in France. Along with touring the cities and experiencing the French culture, we were able to do something that a lot of us have never done before, play soccer abroad. Our first game was an experience that we will never forget. 

Arriving at the field in Bordeaux, we were greeted by a mass of people who cheered and danced as we exited our bus. It felt to us, like the usual Gustie atmosphere with the only difference being that we didn’t know what they were yelling because it was all in French. It was so awesome to be greeted by such enthusiastic, gracious people who were excited to welcome us to their city.  

We were then set to play two 11v11 games against high competitors, US Talence, a DH league team in the French women’s professional soccer division and FC Girondins de Bordeaux, a League 1 professional team. Before the game, we actually had the mayor of the city do a ceremonial kickoff, how cool is that?! It seemed to be a huge event for their city and along with our fellow gusties, we had a massive crowd of people just there to watch our game. 

 We were nervous but psyched as the whistle signaled us to start the games against such good teams. They were both high intensity games where we were able to compete and even got a couple goals in the process. We ended our first two games with a win and a draw, an exciting start to our short careers abroad! 

Following the game, we were invited to stay and have dinner with the teams. We got to talk and get to know some of the players, sharing all of the differences between our experiences and lives in our countries. Although we had to talk through the people who spoke english, it was so cool to compare our soccer experiences. They were such gracious hosts and we could have not asked for anything better for our first game in France. (We also may or may not be celebrities in Bordeaux because we got to be in the newspaper following the game!)