Ten thousand rounds of abs. Three miles at five o’clock in the morning. Game after game. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been that conditioned in my life,” junior Brianna Gibbs said. 

And she faced it all more than 5,000 miles from home.

Gibbs departed to Europe on July 7 this summer after receiving an invitation for a three-week-long soccer tour. She spent her first two weeks in Denmark training four times a day in preparation for the Denmark Cup.

“We won the B Finals Cup,” Gibbs said. “On my team, everyone was from America, except we had two girls that were from Sweden. In Denmark, we stayed with people from Norway, Russia, and Paris.”

After boarding in Denmark with athletes from all over the globe, Gibbs relocated to Sweden for a second tournament.

“Both tournaments were really fun,” Gibbs said. “The whole thing ended up being so challenging, but it was worth it to be invited. ”

Gibbs returned to the US on July 24. She said there was one memorable thing to take away from her experience, other than jet lag.

“In training and playing, we weren’t allowed to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Gibbs said. “They always said, ‘Don’t be sorry, be better.’”