June 2, 1998

  MONMOUTH, IL — The Monmouth College Fighting Scot football program will once again go international as head coach Kelly Kane and 32 of his present football players depart for Barcelona, Spain on Wednesday, June 3 on a week-long trip. A year’s worth of planning and organization has gone into the trip and Kane hopes this year’s excursion will pay dividends for his young team.

"This is a great opportunity from a cultural standpoint and the trip will expose our kids to a different part of the world," said Kane, who has taken five such overseas trips in his 15 years at Monmouth. "The exchange between cultures is probably the most entertaining and interesting part of these trips. It also gives us a chance to exchange a bit of football knowledge as well."

The Fighting Scots will depart for Barcelona on Wednesday, June 3 and arrive in Spain the next day. Thursday and Friday are scheduled as sightseeing and practice days for the group, which will actually see competition on Saturday, June 6. Monmouth will play an exhibition game against the Granollers Fenix, a semi-pro team located on the outskirts of Barcelona.

On Sunday the group will watch an NFL Europe game between the England Monarchs and the Barcelona Dragons in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium and will get another opportunity to travel and see the local tourist sights on Monday and Tuesday prior to returning to the United States on Wednesday, June 10.

Kane has most recently taken a team into international action in the summer of 1994 when the Scots traveled to Paris, France. Monmouth has also traveled to and played summer exhibition games in Milan, Italy; London, England; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; and Dublin, Ireland.

The Fighting Scots will open their 1998 collegiate season on Saturday, September 5 with a non-conference game against Eureka College. Monmouth opens Midwest Conference play the following week against Lake Forest and will celebrate Homecoming on October 17th at home versus St. Norbert.