By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on Twitter
Two and a half months after the high school regular season ended, Artesia High junior running back Travys Davis was still playing football, but with another team. Davis, who was recently selected to play for an USA National Football team, participated in the International Bowl in Dallas last month.
Davis was on one of 14 USA teams that played against other teams around the world in the ninth International Bowl.
“I can say it was honestly a good experience because the coaching and the variety of people from all over different states…everybody comes together as a solid brotherhood for only a week,” Davis said. “In only a week, you learn a lot about your teammates, the coaches, and it’s really good coaching as well.”
During the spring of his freshman year, Travys’ father, Tony, found a USA camp in San Juan Capistrano and wanted Travys to sign up for it. Since then, Travys would go to one camp after another. When he went to one of the camps, he found out it wasn’t just a regular camp. In his words, the camp was bigger than what it was. There, he learned there were two more camps; the first camp, which was for two days last spring, and a second camp, which was last June and lasted for a week, was held at University of California, Davis. There was a third camp, in which everyone plays together, but it was the second camp where you are really noticed and based on your performance, if all goes well, then you are invited to be a member of an USA National team.
Travys says the selection process for the International Bowl comes from the UC Davis camp and is based on your character, if you’re listening well and if you can handle yourself on your own because there are no parents at the camp. In September, Tony Davis received an email in but Travys, who didn’t realize about the email, found out he was selected in early December.
“It was great,” Travys recalled. “Me and my dad looked at each other and it was like, “we’re going to Dallas baby”. I gave him a high-five. And he’s a huge Dallas [Cowboys] fan, so he was happy that [the game was there].”
Travys was on the U17 Stripes team and was one of three Californians out of 49 on this team and one of four running backs from across the U.S. to be invited to play. The Davis’ left for Dallas the morning of Jan. 13 and the team had a scrimmage with a Japan National team on Jan. 15, then played Japan in a regular game on Jan. 17. Later that night, the Davis’ came back home. Other non-USA teams that participated in the International Bowl were from Canada, Mexico and the Nordic nations.
“It was football pretty much most of the time until the end of practices,” Travys said. “While you have down time, it was building your friendship [with your teammates], pretty much.”
The game was one of 12 that was played at AT&T Stadium. Travys, who was third for Artesia with 671 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns and second with 17 receptions for 242 yards last season, said he hopes to make it to the next International Bowl in two years so he can travel around and learn other cultures. He added that once you’re on a team, you’re a part of USA Football. The only thing that’s next is the waiting game until the next camp occurs.
“I think everybody should be able to do it,” Travys said. “I’m trying to bring my friends out; trying to include everybody into it so we can rise up together.”
