The Bears are in Spain for their 2026 Flag Football Tour, marking the fourth consecutive year the club has held flag football clinics in Spain, and showcasing their commitment to growing the game globally ahead of the sport's debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Former Bears offensive lineman Roberto Garza, who accompanied the team on the four-city trip, checks in after spending the first week in Bilbao, Barcelona and Badalona.

What's up Bears fans,

This is my third trip to Spain with the Bears, and each time it gets more and more rewarding. We've been over here for about two weeks at this point, hosting flag football clinics for hundreds of kids across the country.

We started this trip off in Bilbao, which is a smaller city out in the mountains, a little slower-paced. Just a different vibe of a city, which was really cool to experience. We were fortunate enough to work with La Liga's Athletic Club for the first time and use their facilities as our home base for some clinics.

I thought that experience was one-of-a-kind for the kids because they're all obviously fans of the club. So not only were they able to be a part of a Chicago Bears camp, but they did it at their local professional team's facilities. I loved seeing that partnership happen because the kids get to experience something so cool.

The club then invited us out to one of their games before we left the city, which was an Incredible experience — a lot of energy, a lot of fun in the stadium. It was very different, though, compared to football games at home. Before each of the 45-minute halves start, they kind of kick everyone out of the hallways or the concourses and everybody sits in their seat for the full half. At home, everybody's up and moving, grabbing drinks or food, hanging out during the game. But it makes sense in soccer; there may only be one or two scores or big moments in the game, so everyone is locked in.

We sat in the President's box, which was such an honor, and just enjoyed the game. It was a really fun experience, and I'm so grateful for the club's hospitality throughout the entire time we were there.

After Bilbao, we came over to Barcelona and Badalona. We've had recurring clinics in those areas, specifically with the Barcelona Dragons, who play tackle football. But I know we have a flag football league here now that was started a few years ago. They were saying it's grown about four times the size from when we first launched it, so it was cool to see the growth, especially with the sport being added to the Olympics. It seems like the interest is on the rise, and there's even some boys and girls who are looking to come to the States and play in college. I love that we're helping open those opportunities for more kids to discover a passion and use it to experience new things.

This being my third year coming out here, it was cool to see some familiar kids in Barcelona and Badalona, some of whom have been to all three camps we've hosted here. You can tell the kids here have fallen in love with football, so being able to see the impact we've made here is special.

And obviously the best part of all the clinics is seeing how much the kids are enjoying what they're doing, whether it's catching the football, throwing the football, pulling flags or just running around with their friends. It's cool to see their eyes light up when they start to grasp the drills and really become confident in the skills they're learning.

It really takes me back to when I was a kid playing sports, learning football and just discovering how much fun it was and how much I loved it. Being a part of that journey for some of these kids is special.

One of the best additions to this trip was having members of the women's flag national team help coach the kids at all the clinics. I mean, how cool is that for them — getting to grow the sport in communities they were born and raised in with kids who are looking up to them now. I thought having them there was a big part of the success of these camps.

The main message we've all been sharing with the kids is that anything is possible. All the current or former athletes who are out here started at their age with a dream of wanting to play professionally one day. So it's about believing in yourself, having a dream and working to achieve it.

And that's the goal of all of this — inspiring the kids and showing them they can achieve whatever their dream may be.

Bear Down!

Roberto