As the University of Wasington(m) men’s soccer program finishes its preseason, it wasn’t too long ago they were helping pro teams in Scotland with theirs.

At the end of June, the 2021 College Cup side hopped on a plane, flying to Scotland for just under two weeks of training, sightseeing and matches in the United Kingdom. The trip served multiple purposes for the program: a bit of 2022 season prep, augmenting the student-athlete experience and simply getting abroad and immersing in another culture.

“It was awesome,” UW Head Coach Jamie Clark told TopDrawerSoccer. “It truly could not have been better or gotten better.”

Given Clark’s ties and familiarity with the country – his father is legendary college coach Bobby, who coached at Dartmouth, Stanford and Notre Dame and played professional at Aberdeen – it’s not a surprise to see the Huskies head that way.

And from a competitive angle, it served up several games of varying levels. The Pac-12 program opened the trip against Ayr United in the Scottish Championship (Second Division). After that, they played Nairn County, from the Highland League, the Fifth Division. Sandwiched around two games against teams fielded by Scottish Premiership teams, Aberdeen and Dundee United, was a game versus Forfar Athletic in Scottish League Two (the Fourth Division).

The variation in level made the games of differing challenges for one of the best men’s soccer programs in the United States. They finished the trip unbeaten, winning five games and drawing the sixth. The first game against Ayr, a Second Division side, ended in a 1-1 draw, as the club rolled out its first team to face the Huskies.

It certainly seemed to catch some of the teams off guard.

“University sports are so uniquely American, and so no one is prepared or ready for you to be as good as you are,” Clark said.

While the challenges varied for the Huskies when it came to the results, in some ways that was secondary for his squad. The chance to experience the culture, both on and off the field, was a main driver of the trip.

Huskies leading 1-0 at the half after this goal by @Imanol38339776‼️#GoHuskies x #DawgsAbroad pic.twitter.com/ghISFON77G

— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) July 4, 2022

The team did take a tour of Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, home of Rangers FC (a scheduled tour of Celtic FC’s home Celtic Park was called off due to a travel snafu) but those facilities are similar to what his players have seen in bigger North American sports. In many ways, the smaller, community-supported clubs opened the eyes to his players. Those teams rolled out the red carpet for the Huskies, and a handful of the games featured a few thousand fans in the stands.

“They're used to [the bigger sport teams], but what they're not used to is every town having its own club,” Clark said. “And going into these clubs, and they're all, pre-TV or pre-cable TV, the only clubs that are really well supported. And obviously, now they've fallen on harder times, and everyone supports bigger clubs, but they all hold 1,500 to 5,000 fans, and they have cool, all-enclosed stadiums and they're small, and they're old, and it's just something that doesn't exist in America.”

Taking the international trip at the end of the school year, as opposed to spring break, was done intentionally. For Clark, it allows the team to train in the leadup to it. Washington took about three extra weeks of training together between the buildup and trip itself, Clark said. Along with that, the pro teams they visited are in the middle of preseason, offering a bit more of a competitive element, rather than being afterthoughts.

It gave a couple more days for sightseeing on either side as well. The trip was still hectic, generally following a schedule of a game every other day. Recovery days were usually sightseeing. That included a visit to Dunnottar Castle, Loch Ness, St. Andrews and Edinburgh Castle, as they bussed around the country.

🏰 Dunnottar Castle#GoHuskies x #DawgsAbroad pic.twitter.com/hUagpnLNFK

— Washington Men's Soccer (@UW_MSoccer) July 3, 2022

And while there were real, tangible elements to the trip in preparation for the 2022 season, for Clark, it’s more about ensuring his student-athletes get the one international trip allowed once every four years.

“We give our guys the best experience in college soccer,” he said. “And by that I mean, the foreign trip’s a big part of it, when you can get six extra games and experience the world. We will never be off cycle on that. These are the sorts of experiences that if the NCAA allows you to do it, we're going to push and do every single thing that allows us to do.”

From a tactical, personnel standpoint, the trip also allowed Clark to get a look at candidates to start at the back this fall. His entire back four from the 2021 squad – Ryan Sailor (Inter Miami), Kendall Burks (Chicago Fire II), Charlie Ostrem (Chicago Fire II) and Achille Robin (Tacoma Defiance) are all playing in MLS or MLS NEXT Pro. The goal scoring production of Dylan Teves needs to be replaced, after he signed a Homegrown deal with the Seattle Sounders.

Some of those final questions are going to be resolved in preseason and as the new college campaign starts this week. But the trip – even without exposing the back line options to high end offensive talent – served a valuable purpose in preparing the squad for the 2022 season.

“I don't think in Scotland we faced a lot of guys that were true top end one-v-one attacks guys,” Clark said. “We did face a lot of very good tactical fours, good movement in the box. We have some [defensive] options either side depending on how we want to play that I think can really handle and thrive in a college season now.”