(Story by: Zach Koenig)
Morris, MN—In a little over a month from now, when the thrill of finishing another academic semester is over and the drudgery of summer employment is firmly ensconced, a group of University of Minnesota-Morris soccer players will get to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
On August 5, 2008, a group will depart Minnesota for Brazil, land of a record five World Cup championship and undoubtedly the premiere soccer hotbed in the world.
The trip is a bona fide UMM study abroad opportunity, billed “Soccer: A Brazilian Experience”—in which four credits can be earned towards students’ academic totals.
Besides the thrill of playing soccer in such a prestigious environment, this study abroad opportunity will also contain a political and economic angle. In a country where children see soccer as perhaps their only opportunity to escape the harsh realities of poverty, soccer becomes much more than a simple game to Brazilian citizens and is transformed into a way of life.
Thus, the academic goal of the trip will explore this question: “Does soccer have a bigger influence on people’s lives than subjects related to politics or economics?” According to UMM men’s soccer team member Brendan Harper, coming off a very successful freshman season, “Soccer is a huge part of their [Brazil’s] culture and that will be something that we have never seen before here in the U.S., as soccer is kind of an afterthought here.”
A snippet from UMM’s official course description states that “This course is an opportunity for current or past soccer players, coaches, or fans to immerse themselves in learning about the world of Brazilian soccer and thus gaining a glimpse of Brazilian society.” Also, the academic portion of the trip includes “various readings about Brazil and soccer in Brazil, Blogging during the experience, conducting interviews with people of Brazil, and completing a final paper using the experience to answer the question posed above.”
In anticipation of the trip, Harper feels that “most of the team will be looking forward to having the opportunity to play soccer on foreign soil against professional youth teams…it’s the type of thing that most kids never get a chance to do.” Harper is also anticipating “being in a country where soccer and not football or basketball is the number one sport.”
The trip will be helmed by UMM faculty member and Men’s Soccer Coach, Christian DeVries, who currently teaches courses in Sports Management at UMM.. DeVries is quite qualified to lead such a group, having achieved a USSF “A” license, a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, and a Brazilian “C” license during his career.
Coach DeVries had these comments about the upcoming trip: “I am looking forward to taking the team to Brazil this summer, as we are going to get the opportunity to learn soccer from the best in the world. The playing experience the team will have will only be rivaled by their cultural experience of being in one of the top soccer nations in the world.” DeVries also hopes “that each player will return from Brazil with a great appreciation for the sport they love.”
As far as improving UMM’s soccer teams as a whole, Harper is excited to “be trained by professional coaches and put through the same drills as all the pro players in Brazil…not to mention playing the professional youth teams who will most likely be superior to us and force us to step up our game in order to compete with them.”
The trip also comes at a key time in UMM’s soccer development. Says Harper: “After coming off the best season in our program’s short history, every team in our conference will be after us, plus the fact that our pre-conference schedule will be much more difficult than previous seasons.” As a result, “the experience we will gain from training and playing against teams in Brazil could bring us a lot closer to reaching our #1 team goal: a trip to the NCAA tournament (which UMM soccer is now eligible for).”
Some highlights of the trip include:
• Training at the ABC Futebol Club
• Brazilian beach soccer
• Tour of Natal—the “Sun City of Brazil”
• Buggy Ride to Geipabu Dunes (largest sand dunes in Brazil)
• Exposure to nursing homes, orphanages, and inner-city life
• Private meetings with professional soccer coaches
• Attending practice sessions of professional teams
• Attending a professional soccer game.
The tour begins August 5, 2008, and participants return to the United States on August 18. The soccer team will set up a blog to provide accounts of the trip for other to read. Check back in August to updates.
More extensive information and itineraries for the trip can be found at http://www.morris.umn.edu/cerp/abroad/Program%20Pages/Brazil.htm
For more specific trip questions, please contact either the UMM Center for International Programs (cip@morris.umn.edu 1-800-842-0030) or Christian DeVries (devriesc@morris.umn.edu 1-320-589-6422).
