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The Bring It "Select Tour '97" was an idea generated while I was playing in a less than desirable situation in Belgium. I needed to find a new team for the following season, and I had plenty of other players looking for the same thing. Rather than try to find teams to fly us all over Europe for tryouts, I decided to put together a team of hopefuls and travel around in search of jobs ourselves. After a few months of planning, 10 of us piled into a van and drove through Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy and Holland, playing 13 matches in 16 days. 5 of those players received offers for the following season, and many other players, although not able to join us, were also placed through contacts made on the tour.
The amount of inquiries from teams and players was staggering. We finally found a formula for placing people where both the player and team knew what they were getting into before a contract was signed. The overall cost, both time and money, is lower for everyone with no hidden surprises for either party.
With this in mind, and plenty of help from our sponsors, the "USA Summer Tour '97" set off from Holland with 10 new players. We substituted Germany for Italy and played 15 matches in 19 days. Every player on the tour ended up with a contract and an additional 20 players were placed using information gathered on the tour!
It was on the Summer Tour that we gained one of our current greatest assets. European super coach Pierre Mathieu joined the team during our first match against Vrevok in Holland and showed not only plenty of interest in helping our American players find jobs, but also a knack for coaching them to their highest level. This is not easy when the "team" has such limited experience playing together. One of the greatest moments was beating the German powerhouse club of Moers in their own gym with coach Mathieu at the helm. We look forward to his participation and golden touch in all future Bring It Promotions tours and tournaments.
In order to make the tour concept viable, each player pays his own airfare to Europe and then pays what basically amounts to his or her portion of ground transportation, lodging, and meals. Players should also have pocket money for snacks, sightseeing adventures, and other incidental costs, with the approximate tour cost usually set at $1600/person with discounts often available for current client or returning tour-goers.
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