Copa America Centenario 2016
From April through May I worked with the digital group running the prestigious Copa America Centenario tournament's website and social media channels. It mostly involved writing articles on a number of the players who were to be playing, as well as translating copy for Spanish-language handles.
And then I hit the road as a Copa Media Officer, assigned to assist Uruguay's National Team to ensure they complied with the tournament's media guidelines. I met the team in Phoenix in early June ahead of the first game against Mexico at University of Phoenix Stadium. One of the first responsibilities was coordinating to get headshots of each player - none bigger than Luis Suarez, Barcelona and Europe's top goal-scorer during the 2015-2016 season.
One of the expected favorites, Uruguay did not have a good tournament, knocked out during group play after losing to Mexico in Phoenix and to Venezuela in Philadelphia before defeating Jamaica in San Fransisco.
I traveled with the team - on charter flights - from Arizona to Philly and then to San Jose. Suarez had injured himself while with Barcelona about a month earlier, and he never recovered enough to play in either of the first two games. He also stayed out of the spotlight, until he decided to host a press conference prior to the team's third game. I knew it would be big, but even I was surprised at the media turn out we had for the presser. Luis looked at ease, so I just kept passing the mic to reporters for 20-25 minutes.
Once Uruguay were eliminated, I was re-assigned to do the same role for Venezuela which had advanced out of the group. So I flew from San Fran to Boston to meet them ahead of their quarterfinal game against Lionel Messi and Argentina. It was a win win for me - either I continued on to the semi's, or I got to see Argentina win. The latter happened, and I saw Messi score to tie Argentina's record for most goals ever.
I then went back to Ohio and a week later drove out with my parents to New York to watch the final - Argentina vs. Chile., where for the second straight time, Chile defeated Argentina in the tournament final.
