Posted by Morgan Long
This past August, 21 members of the Skidmore men's soccer team went on a trip to Salvador, Brazil. Their 10 days spent in Brazil were both productive and recreational.
One major part of trip included a community service project with the Favela Project, which is a non-for profit organization that helps poor city children by giving them the resources to participate in soccer and giving some scholarships to the Brazilian Touch Soccer Tours. The Skidmore soccer team helped with this project by bringing soccer gear, shoes and uniforms to the children of Salvador, as well as raising money. "You name it, we brought it," said Coach Ron McEachen.
Through working with the people in the favelas, which is the Brazilian term for slum, many members of the Skidmore soccer teams say views on their lives changed forever. "It made us appreciate everything we had; it was heartwarming to see the little kids' faces light up when you gave them something," Matt Wolff '12 said.
In addition to community service work, the team did some training. They went to semi-pro and professional games. It was great practice for the fall semester at Skidmore because they played against competitive teams and always traveled to the training grounds of the other teams. "Every Brazilian kid knew how to play soccer since he or she was born," Sam Glickman '12 said.
Besides playing games, the team also became immersed in the culture by exploring Salvador. They went to a beach but even then, when they were just supposed to be enjoying the view, the team still wanted to play soccer and found that the locals shared their passion equally.
The food was also an adjustment but a pleasant one. They agreed the barbeque was phenomenal. In addition to the food, the soccer team experienced the nightlife of Brazil and had fun dancing to local live music.