Last week, our team returned from an eight-day preseason trip to Costa Rica. The trip provided our 26 student-athletes a once-in-a-lifetime cultural, soccer, and growth experience.
After a couple of years of planning, fundraising, and generous support of alumni, family, & friends, we had originally planned to travel in August of 2022. The pandemic made that impossible. The events of the last two years made the team that much more grateful for this opportunity.
We had cultural experiences in San Jose, La Fortuna, and Tamarindo, and played matches against Club Sport Herediano, Asociación Deportiva San Carlos, and Asociación Deportiva Municipal Liberia. In San Jose, we spent a morning with a second-grade class at Escuela Fina San Juan, a school in an under-priveleged neighborhood of San Jose. The children entertained the team with a traditional Costa Rican dance, and our team reciprocated with a soccer clinic. The children were so enthusiastic and appreciative of the time our team spent. Our team was equally affected.
A zip line experience in the rain forest of La Fortuna was a mid-trip highlight followed by our time on the Pacific Ocean beach in Tamarindo. The trip gave us a fantastic experience to build on through preseason and the rest of 2022.
Bill Garno – RIT Men’s Soccer
