Women's Soccer

Our final days in Brazil were spent relaxing and exploring on Ilha Grande, an island located off the coast of Rio de Janiero.  We arrived at the tropical island on a schooner and were immediately treated to a lunch complete with vegetables, rice, beans, seafood and of course BEEF.  With satisfied stomachs some of us spent the afternoon swimming and kayaking, while others made a cup of tea and curled up with a book (we may have been on an island, but it was cold!!).  After dinner Coach and Heather arranged a game of quizzo for the whole team, which for some of us exposed our lack of trivia expertise.  Below are a few examples of the questions we were asked, along with our highly creative and original responses.

1. Question: Who is known as “the flying tomato” ?  Answer: Babe Ruth
2. Question: How many fingers does Homer Simpson have?  Answer: 4
3. Question: When was the first Betty Crocker cookbook published? Answer: 1836
4. Question: How many titles has Michael Jordan won? Answer: 93

Although this might not have been one of our brighter moments, the excitement and humor from quizzo spilled over into an impromptu dance party complete with strobe lights and glow sticks

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Our final game in Brazil was played Saturday morning in Taubate.  We faced our strongest opponent yet and unfortunately due to weary muscles and an inability to rally, we suffered our first loss of the trip.  Our entire team was disappointed with the 2-0 defeat, which served to remind us all of the hard work and dedication still needed to secure a successful 2010 season that we can be proud of.  Although this loss was unfortunate, we did not allow it to taint the exciting cultural exchange that has encompassed our international playing experience thus far.  After posing for photos with the other team and supplying them with  (extremely valuable) Haverford Women’s Soccer bumper stickers we boarded the bus yet again and traveled to our new location: the vibrant waterfront city of Paraty. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been experiencing some technical difficulties while uploading pictures, so I unfortunately don’t have photos from our first game to share with you, but I will do my best to post them as soon as possible…sorry!

Like the previous morning, Friday began with a delicious breakfast followed by a speed and agility session at the resort.  However on this particular day, the team was offered the opportunity to go horseback riding in small groups.  For many of us this signified a chance for an exciting adventure, but for Coach Gluck it only appeared to be a recipe for disaster.  For those of you who are not familiar with the inner-workings of Coach Gluck’s mind (if that is even possible), the unpredictability of a situation involving moving animals, foreign terrain and absolutely zero comprehension of the English language, easily represented her worst nightmare.  The first group mounted their horses without a problem, but Coach Gluck’s anxiety quickly surfaced once Maura Schiefer’s beastly donkey horse refused to move sending its tiny rider into panic mode.  It also didn’t help matters that shortly before this she witnessed my own horse lead me directly into a tree.  As a result of these two incidences I have this video to share with all of you.  To view the video, please paste the following link into your web browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15nq3cZWjIM

In all seriousness though, all team members thoroughly enjoyed the activity as it allowed us to uniquely tour our surrounding terrain.  The earlier groups provided Coach with such great reviews of the experience that she actually agreed to do it herself later on in the day!! Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Everyone!  Sorry I wasn’t able to post yesterday, but we were in go-mode all day and didn’t get back from our game until midnight.  I will do my best to recount the numerous activities and describe our first international playing experience, which even now seems too amazing for words.  We started off the morning with an 8am speed and agility session on the resort’s hard-ball courts, followed by a traditional Brazilian breakfast.  This meal consisted of eggs, fruit, various types of bread and most importantly an assortment of savory cakes that very few members of our team were able to resist.  After our dessert-for-breakfast feast we boarded the bus to a local farm.  Here we learned, first-hand, the techniques and machinery involved in converting sugar cane into the Brazilian drink known as Garapa, as well as the processes involved in producing Brazil’s extremely strong coffee.  In fact, many of our family members will be able to sample this authentic Brazilian coffee, as we had the opportunity to purchase some before leaving the farm…so get excited!!  The farm owners were so welcoming and we all found this brief look into the rustic lifestyle that is still very much alive in this country to be refreshing.  Take a look at some of the photos from our visit below!

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I am thrilled to announce that after a few unexpected and minor setbacks we have finally arrived in Brazil!  Even with flight delays, hydraulic leaks, lost baggage and tummy problems each of us managed to arrive in South America in one piece and with a smile.  It was apparent that our experience traveling as a team was going to be nothing short of spectacular when Coach spotted the professional women’s soccer team, The Philadelphia Independence, within two minutes of us entering the airport.  This moment obviously could not go undocumented and as a result we have this extremely awkward group photo to share with you all.

Meeting the Philadelphia Independence

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Senior Kristin Sockett will be blogging from Brazil this August. She has been a defensive stalwart for a Fords team that has qualified for the Centennial Conference postseason playoffs the past three seasons. In 2009 she helped spearhead a defense that allowed a goals against average of just 0.89 per game for the season, posted 10 shutouts and allowed only one goal over the final seven games of the regular season.