Barry founded Travel and Play in 1987 and grew the company into one of the most respected, family-owned and operated sports and culture travel companies in the USA. With decades of tour planning experience, and an NCAA Division I background in soccer, Barry has forged partnerships and created contacts in many countries, which allows him to create the exceptional international tour opportunities that we offer today.

Barry prides himself on providing personal service and custom-built itineraries that set Travel and Play apart from the run-of-the-mill soccer vacation tours.

Ian has extensive experience in organizing international youth sport tours. As the State Director of Coaching of the Iowa Soccer Association for more than 20 years, Ian has traveled extensively with state and regional Olympic Development Program teams and arranged tours on four continents and in more than 20 countries. Ian’s extensive coaching experience, qualifications and experience with teams traveling internationally enables him to assist and identify the best possible match-up games and playing opportunities for your team.

Sven Erick has organized international soccer tours to Scandinavia for more than 30 years. Sven coordinates Travel and Play tours in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Northern Germany. His soccer contacts in Scandinavia are unrivaled, which allows him to easily find comparable competition and create unique experiences for your team. Sven is very proud of his Danish heritage and the fact that Denmark is consistently ranked as the “happiest country” in the world.

Nick coordinates itineraries, travel rosters, flight schedules and does everything possible to make sure each of our tours runs smoothly.

Nick also works as a guide on many of our trips mainly to Iceland, Scandinavia and the UK

Maddy works primarily with tour sales to soccer clubs and associations in the Mountain West Region, creating tailor made itineraries for each group. She is based in Colorado.

Maddy also has extensive experience in guiding tours in the UK and Scandinavia and is very active in creating new cultural tours for Travel and Play.

Bernd Matthes is based in Muenster, Germany. He coordinates Travel and Play soccer tours to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands and Northern Italy. Bernd is a qualified teacher, speaks seven languages and played professional soccer in Germany. He prides himself in knowing the cultural significance and history of every country, city and town he visits.