WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2008 Sports WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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SPORTS UDK THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Women's soccer team explores culture of Brazil
BY JESSE TEMPLE jtemple@kansan.com
The women's soccer team has returned from a nine-day tour of Brazil, where the team played four exhibition games against Brazilian teams.
The Jayhawks traveled to the country where soccer is a lifestyle from May 21 to May 29.
"That's all we saw over there were people playing soccer games, whether it was on the beach at night, on cement or on little grass fields," Sara Rogers, Overland Park senior, said. "I don't think we ever saw a basketball court. It was all soccer."
Under NCAA rules, college teams can leave the country once every four years to take part in exhibition games. KU coach Mark Francis decided to take full advantage of that opportunity this year to bond as a team.
"Just for our girls to be exposed to that kind of competition was great," said Francis, who mentioned that some of the opposing players were members of the Brazilian women's national team. "Two of the four teams that we played — we will never play a team in college better than those teams."
Kansas finished the trip 2-2, defeating the University of Sao Paulo and Corinthians, a soccer club in Sao Paulo.
Midfielder Missy Geha, Overland Park senior, said her team's final two exhibition games were televised nationally on the country's version of ESPN. Soccer, particularly at the college level in the United States, typically doesn't appear on television unless two teams are competing for a national championship.
"Brazil is like the soccer Mecca of the world," Geha said. "It really is. The amount of people that they get out to their soccer games is ridiculous."
The team didn't just focus on soccer the entire trip, though.
Among the highlights of the trip was a tour of the mountains, white water rafting and living the night life of Sao Paulo.
Both Rogers and Geha spoke of the cultural differences they experienced while in Brazil. Cars were
smaller, houses virtually nonexistent and the food was unusual.
"They eat chicken hearts," Geha said. "The thought of eating a chicken heart was absolutely disgusting."
The team also had to overcome the language barrier. In Brazil, the native language is Portuguese, so many players used hand gestures to communicate with the locals. The only word many players knew was "obrigada," which means "thank you."
In the end, Rogers said the trip split up about 50/50 between soccer and fun in the sun.
"When we were playing, we were very serious about it," she said. "But when we weren't on the field, we had tons of fun and got to see tons of things. I think it was a good balance."
For Geha, Brazil, with its sandy beaches and rich soccer tradition, left a lasting impression.
"I will never get that opportunity ever again," Geha said. "Being able to experience the soccer culture over there was the best thing ever, and I got to do it with all my friends. So that was amazing."
Edited by Rustin Dodd
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KU women's soccer team played four exhibition games in Brazil from May 21 to May 29. College teams can leave the country once every four years to take part in exhibition games under NCAA regulations.
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