Wisconsin Soccer Central

Each of the past three years, Andreas Davi has taken Under-13 boys teams from Bavarian SC on trips to his native Leverkusen, Germany.

Davi no longer is with the Milwaukee-area club, but he'd like to continue his annual tradition. He needs to find a team to take, though, and is open to taking a team from pretty much anywhere in the state.

The trip is built around Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, Davi's boyhood club. He has a good working relationship with the club – especially the youth coaching staff, several of whom have come to Milwaukee to work camps with him the past few years.

The spring-time trip would be either the week before or week after Easter, and likely would include at least five training sessions run by Bayer Leverkusen youth coaches Steve Long, Peter Quast and Marco Jung and perhaps headball coach Ingo Wollenberg.

The team also would play in an annual Leverkusen youth tournament that usually draws teams from notable European clubs, play two scrimmages against Bayer Leverkusen youth teams, watch a senior team training session and attend the April 25 Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.

Off the field, they would spend one day seeing the sites in Leverkusen and another day touring Cologne.

"This is soccer, but it's also a culture tour," said Davi, who recently opened his own fitness business in Glendale called German Fit.

The cost of the trip is $2,400 per person, which includes airfare, hotel rooms, all breakfasts, sightseeing, transportation, game tickets for the Bundesliga match and some lunches – "Almost everything," Davi said.

Last spring, he said the Bavarians team took 21 players on the trip and had 68 people in their travel party.

"This can be a family trip. I had this year four full families with four or five people," said Davi, who added that three players made the trip without family members in 2013. "It's a mix. It's not a problem either way."

Davi said he's looking for a team whose players are interested in learning from the Bayer Leverkusen coaches, and that there's not a certain level or league that the team needs to play at in order to be considered.

He's asking interested teams to have their coach, team manager or club coaching director to call him at 414-335-7126 to discuss the possibilities. Davi would like to select a team by November.

"I would come and see them, and I would like to have two or three meetings with the parents about it," he said of the process.

Players would need to make a $600 payment in December, with the balance due in March. The price includes Davi's airfare and hotel room, which is his only payment for the trip.