“The win tipped the scales for us”

Elite Development Academy loved their experience at Gothia Cup Cancún and they’re already planning to enter more teams next year.

The American side won Gothia Cup Cancún 2023 and got to participate in the tournament in Sweden as a prize. Having experienced what the tournament is like, they’re looking forward to entering more teams to compete in Mexico.

Elite Development Academy's G16 team competed in the first edition of Gothia Cup Cancún 2023, which took place in Mexico. When asked about his favourite aspects of the tournament, coach Chris Hackett struggles to limit it down to just one thing.
– I think the camaraderie, the diversity that was there. The location was fun, everything about it - where the matches were held in the rainforest there. Then we also liked that the final was in the stadium, so they got to see both sides, says Chris.

After the team won the tournament in Cancún it was official that they had received a spot at Gothia Cup 2023. They decided to bring a G15 team over to Sweden to compete in the tournament.
– That’s a great incentive, it tipped the scale for us and convinced us. We had thought about coming to Gothia Cup last year and we didn’t do it because of the costs associated with that. We thought about this year, and then when we won Gothia Cup Cancún and we received that prize we went home and we decided let’s do it, says Chris.

Many of the girls on the team had not played in an international tournament before and it was a good chance for them to test themselves out against different teams. Now Chris is looking for other teams in the club to get to have that same experience.
– From our club this was the first team, so we tried that, we liked it and then we come here. Now we’re planning on sending some of the younger boys teams over to Cancún, we’ll probably send a team or two next year, then we will see how that goes, says Chris.

The word spreads fast and it is clear that the positive experience at the tournament has motivated other players and leaders to give it a chance.
– I think when everybody heard about our experience over there it motivated all the other teams to go as well, says Chris.