The Elon University men's soccer team is spending its Spring Break week in Brazil as a part of Elon's commitment to diversity and global engagement for its students. Throughout the week, various members of the program will share stories and content from their time abroad.
DAY ONE
by Scott Vatne and Victor Stromsten
Two busses met at the back of the Schar Centre parking lot amidst the frenzy of the track and field meet Elon Athletics were hosting on Friday the 22nd of March. These two busses would soon be flooded by two teams who love to keep a ball at their feet. The Elon Women’s Soccer team excitedly jumped into the first bus, heading towards the first Portuguese speaking country – Portugal. The Men’s Soccer Team, on the other hand, came out of their cars blasting funky (a Brazilian music type) as we entered the bus to go to Portugal’s former colony of Brazil.
Close your eyes, and picture everything you associate with Rio de Janeiro. We bet you see a strong sun, people playing futevolei on the beach and music playing into the long night. Well, when we landed, we were not met by those things. We took the overnight flight from Miami to Rio, and all we could see when we opened our eyes was the grey skies, and sound of silence in the streets. However, this isn’t stopping Elon men’s Soccer team from enjoying the experience to the fullest. The first thing we did after arriving was drive through the heart of Rio, the mouths and laughs that we had enjoyed on our trip suddenly stopped as everyone pressed their faces against the windows of the tour bus in awe of this strange but beautiful place. The bus took us to our first touch-point with Brazilian culture. We ate at an all-you-can-eat buffet, with a churrasco (open meat bar) constantly grilling the steak we put on our plates. In our first meeting, and first experience of the open-heartedness of the Brazilian people. They brought out a cake for our goalkeeper Jackson Leavitt, a bolo de brigadeiro (their national dessert) which we shared with the group.
We were then brought to our hotel, where after a quick shower and nap, we turned the bus around to enjoy our first experience which connects us and the Brazilian people – Futebol (Soccer). We went to a public restaurant area where they had a massive flat screen in the middle showing us the game between Brazil and England. Almost all of us cheered, our English coach not so much, together with the locals as the Seleção beat the three lions 1-0, and we got to see Brazil’s future star Endrick score his first goal for the country. To conclude the day we got to experience a local pizza place where we were served many different Brazilian specialty pizzas, including something they translated to sweet pizzas. These included one with banana and one with chocolate and M&M’s.
DAY TWO
After a long first day, the team tiredly woke up for the hotel breakfast before leaving to go to Brazilian soccer legend Zico’s training facility. There we were met by two Fluminense coaches, who took us through 90 minutes of Brazilian futebol training. As much as we think soccer is a universal language, we learned that much like our team ourselves, the sport is filled with accents. And many say that the Brazilian accent is the most beautiful that soccer can offer. The setting was humid, rainy and warm, but we really enjoyed our first experience with flair. The remainder of the day was spent at a local mall, where we ate at a similar type of lunch restaurant as the previous day. Then we walked around the shops and our very cohesive team split up as we all bought shirts from the four different local teams in Rio (Vamo Botafogo), so as you can imagine, tensions are high at the hotel tonight. Now we are just hanging out together for a relaxing night, in anticipation of where our next meeting with this beautiful country’s culture will be. Boa Noite gente !
DAY THREE
By Patrick Shealy and Petro Klishch
Day three began with an early awaking and ready to grab the day with driving over to train at the Fluminese futebol club youth facilities with two very experienced youth academy coaches that have competed all over the world with their youth teams, beating teams AC Milan, Spurs and Benfica youth teams. The practice consisted of an open play possession drill and a separate goalkeeper session with a scrimmage at the end, where the coaches focused on teaching how to find time and space on the ball. It was a simple session yet insightful and the players enjoyed learning from the two Fluminese coaches. After training we got to walk around their training facility and interact with the coaches and players who were friendly, inviting, and all-around welcoming to us using their facilities. Although some people struggled getting up a big hill to the cafeteria for lunch, we got to eat a classic after workout meal of Brazil which is rice, beans, and some chicken.
Embarking on our next activity we got to visit one of the most iconic places in Brazil and the world, Christ the Redeemer. The weather was finally sunny after three long days of clouds and rain, it was like a blessing in disguise by Jesus himself. After exploring the statue on top of the mountain and soaking in the astonishing views of Rio, we stopped to discuss the significance of the site. We had a discussion with Professor Kirk about the significance of the site, and how it became a part of the Brazilian identity not just religiously but culturally. The thing that we discussed about that stood out to us the most was how the statue faces East toward sunrise with its open arms as if it was to say “We welcome everyone”. Wrapping up the journey to Christ the Redeemer we got back on the bus to drive over to the hotel and finish the day at the local beach. The players got together to play a foot volleyball tournament and the sophomore class swept away the rest of the classes only losing one game out of the whole tournament.
DAY FOUR
The next day was another early awakening as we had a game against the Vasco Da Gama U20 team. After a beautiful hour-long bus trip we arrived at the facilities and warmed up. Nerves began to fill our bodies but each one of us knew we just had to enjoy the moment and do what we loved. Once the game was finished we drove to the first team's stadium where we had lunch and a tour of the stadium. It was nice to get to tour a stadium with such rich history and understand the passion that comes from the fans. We were also lucky enough to see a little bit of a U6 futsal training session before heading to the hotel to get ready and go to watch the Spain vs Brazil international friendly as a team.
DAY FIVE
by Sumner Nenninger and Carlos Levy
On Wednesday we left the hotel around 9:00 a.m. to go to our charity event. We had an idea of what we were doing but no one knew how much fun it would be. We had the opportunity to play with some of the local kids. The program provides the kids with the opportunity to play soccer and also helps them with phones and other necessities. It's incredible to see the passion for soccer this group has and makes us realize how fortunate we are to have the opportunities we have been given.
After the service project, we then headed to lunch at an all you can eat buffet. The buffet consisted of the main Brazilian dish, Rice and Beans, and also steak and lots of different fruits and vegetables. The food in Brazil has been amazing and it has been great to experience this part of the culture.
After lunch, we had some free time on the beach as a team where we hung out as a group. Because of the early game the next day we enjoyed a dinner as a team and ended the day early as we had an early departure the next day.
DAY 6
Today, we woke up at 6:30 am to go get breakfast as a team and get ready for our game against the Fluminense under 20s team. We then arrived at the facilities of Fluminense FC and got our warmups underway. We played a total of 3 periods of 30 minutes, and ultimately left with a hard-fought 2-2 tie against one of the best youth academies in the world. We are extremely proud of the character that the team showed and the playing style that we had during the game. We wanted to make a statement that we could play and compete against the best of the best, and we were able to do just that. We left the facilities with our heads held high after a great team performance and a great meal inside the Fluminense training facility. We then headed to what is considered to be the temple of the fútbol world: the Maracanã stadium. We got to tour the museum of the stadium and learn about the history and significance of the stadium in the country. It was built in 1950 to host the World Cup and Olympics in Brazil that year and is a symbol of national pride. As we walked through the tunnel towards the field, you could feel the imposing presence of the monstrous stadium. The empty 78,000 seats were filled with some of the most iconic moments in football history. We stood there thinking: Rudd Field, the favelas, and the Maracana, all hold the same amount of goals and painted lines: The magic happens within those lines. We have truly learned that football knows no barriers. Through our love of this sport, we have been able to communicate with an entire country: It was truly magical to be able to experience this trip.
DAY SEVEN
by Jordin Wilson
With what was a thrilling spring break week in Brazil, we wrapped up this great experience. Waking up after the great performance against Fluminese moods were very high, so in the morning before checking out of the hotel, some members of the team enjoyed the sunny beaches of Rio one last time. With the unexpected rainy weather throughout the week, Brazil gave us the last gift of sun on our final day. After this, the boys finished packing, got to the lobby at 12:45 pm, and instantly reminisced on the fantastic memories and moments that will last us a lifetime. The new perspective learned about The Beautiful Game is something we can take with us for the rest of our athletic careers. A quote from Francesco Totti states, “Playing soccer with your feet is one thing, but playing soccer with your heart is another.” From watching and playing in this beautiful and passionate country, we saw first-hand what this looks like, and made us realize the true global importance of soccer. Soccer is much more than just a game, it’s a lifestyle.
DAY EIGHT
by JP Quigley
Our first class session we had with Dr. Kirk was close to five weeks ago. The opening activity we did as a class was to discuss and come up with any terms we associated with Brazil. Most of these terms related to soccer and other positive aspects of Brazil. Listening to Dr. Kirk talk about the history of Brazil and famous football clubs such as Vasco de Gama, Fluminense, Botafogo, and others was very interesting and helped us to grasp the importance of soccer in Brazil. On the other hand, on our last day in Brazil, Dr, Kirk discussed an emotionally heavy issue for Brazil that still affects the country to this day. As we stepped out of the bus for our last stop of the trip, my eyes were met with piles of dirt and rocks. Dr. Kirk sat us down and educated us on the history of slavery in Brazil. We were sitting at the auction site for Brazilian slaves. This place did not look like much, but after hearing Dr. Kirk speak about the mass amounts of people who were sold here, the importance of the site resonated with me. I began to feel emotions I hadn’t felt on the trip so far. I sat in disgust and feelings of despair. Despite slavery being abolished, the emotions that come with a sad time in human history still remained and lingered. After slavery was abolished in Brazil, most of the slaves had no money or jobs to help pull themselves out of poverty. So, favelas were born. These favelas are cluster of houses that spread vastly across Brazil. Connecting slavery, poverty, and favelas to football in Brazil is very simple. Throughout the trip, Dr. Kirk did an excellent job connecting what we are seeing and feeling to what we learned in our previous class sessions and to the sport we love. Soccer gives poor Brazilian kids an opportunity to pull their families out of an impoverished society. Soccer gives them hope to succeed.
All of this to say, hearing and seeing the importance of football to the population of Brazil really put everything in perspective for me. This experience gave the team a sense of gratefulness for what we have. We are blessed to have opportunities, equipment, and a healthy environment to succeed that lots of Brazilian kids are not given. This experience is something we will cherish for the rest of our lives, and we thank everyone at Elon and XL Tours for making this trip possible for Elon Men’s Soccer.