Senior Banquet

This past saturday, we had our 2nd annual Timothy "Tito" Isom Memorial Banquet to honor one of our fallen players and the graduating seniors and our annual Alumni game. The game started at 11 o'clock in the morning on the soccer field. The alumni beat the varsity team 4-3 in a quite intense match. The game was followed by a food and drinks gathering at Bombay's, where it gave alumni and al players a chance to reunite and share words with one another. 

Following the long day of soccer and catching up, the memorial banquet began at 6:00pm in Mabee dinning hall. At the banquet there were a few guest speakers, one being Tim's father, the annual soccer awards were given, and also the recognition of our seniors. After dinner, and all the awards and speakers, there was a live auction. The live auction included signed jerseys of the best players around the world, to name a few that we had: Cristiano Ronaldo, Torres, Gerrard, Messi, Giggs, Beckham, Kaka, the whole Manchester United team, and the whole Liverpool team (which Jacob got). In addition to those, there was a Tony Parker signed Spurs jersey, Tracy McGrady, and other memorabilia. All the money that was raised from the auction is going to the construction of a media tower by the soccer field that will go up in Tim's name. So everything that surrounded the auction and the banquet was all in memory of one of our former Trinity players. It was a successful night, and a good ending to our graduating seniors career as a Trinity soccer player. We will surely miss their presence next year. 

Brazil Tourism

Soccer wasn’t the only part of our Brazil tour. Throughout the week we did many tourist activities as well as relaxed on the beautiful Copacabana beach.

Our first sight seeing expedition was going to Sugar Love, which is a tall mountain next to the Copacabana beach that overlooks Rio de Janeiro’s coastal lands, that is only accessible via cable car. The sight from the top was spectacular, and was definitely the highlight of the 2^nd day of our trip. The sight seeing was just beginning though because our next trip was up to the top of the Corcovado mountain to see one of the new 7 Wonders of the World. Christ the Redeemer, a 120 ft statue of Jesus Christ, stood at the top with his arms stretched out wide. Being in the presence of such a massive piece of artwork was indescribable. For hours we stood at the base of the statue looking up at it in utter amazement. The sight will forever be engraved into my memory.

One next site seeing adventure didn’t have the same effect but nonetheless was just as exciting in its own way. On Friday we got in our huge coach bus and drove about 2 hours to our next destination. This time we would be traveling by water. Everyone on the trip boarded a 50ft touring boat and set sail of the coast of Rio. We ventured off land and were intrigued by the sight of the many tropical islands of Brazil. We stopped at two separate islands and had the chance to get off at them and enjoy their empty beaches. Joined by refreshments and lunch, the whole day we spent of the coast touring the islands and soaking up the sun and gazed in awe of the astonishing views.

Our weeklong trip had come to an end, but it was nothing less that miraculous.  It was the best vacation that I have been on yet, and the memories will last a lifetime.

Brazil Tour 09

We just got back from a great week in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, that was full of soccer, tourism, and relaxation. First things first we played a total of three games, and faired well in all of them given the circumstances (field and weather conditions). Monday morning around 9:30AM Rio time we kicked off against Fluminese at their training grounds. The ground temperature at game time was 101 degree fahrenheit, the grass was about 4 inches long (which is way too long for a soccer pitch), and there was no shade anywhere. The first half was underway and the heat took a toll on our bodies, the half ended 2-1 in their favor. At the start of the second half we were winded, over heated, and just about ready to die but we pushed through for the first 30 minutes. After that the wheels fell off and within 5 minutes they scored three goals. We were all spent and had nothing left in our tanks when the final whistle blew. The first game was complete and everyone was excited to get back to the air conditioned hotel and rest up for our next adventure. 

The second game proved to be our greatest feat on the trip. We arrived at the Botofogo training grounds on wednesday afternoon, rested up and ready to play. Luckily, on this day we had playing conditions that were more suitable for our type of play. The field was big in size, the stadium casted shade over the pitch and the weather was clear skies with a temperature around 80 degrees. What more could we ask for? The game started and we got ahead 1-0 just minutes before the half time whistle blew. With some momentum going our way, we started strong in the second half and were able to score two more goals before we conceded only one goal. Just after there goal we scored one more to put the icing on the cake. We had just beat one of the best youth teams in Brazil, and without a doubt we didn't let it down. 

Thursday was the day of our third and final game. It was probably the best game that we played while we were down in Brazil. The training grounds of Flemengo were up in the mountains of Rio, about two hours from where we were staying. The field was perfect and the sun was beating down with intense heat. The game begun, and right off the bat you could tell it was going to be evenly matched. We played some of the best soccer we have play just yet, and they showed us what Brazilians are capable of. The game ended 3-0 in Flemengo's favor, but we were satisfied with how we performed and felt that we did the best we could. This completed our Brazil soccer campaign but there was a still a lot more left to do while we were there..

Scrimmage

In getting prepared from our trip to Brazil next week, the Trinity Soccer team had a small scrimmage on our home field against one of the college teams here in San Antonio. In three 30 minute periods played the result was Trinity 0, Incarnate Word 1. The game didn't reflect how we played, and definitely didn't show what we are capable of. In preparation, and since it was only a scrimmage, we made sure to let all our players get playing time while the opposition played their best 11 players. We are all looking forward to the trip next week and are in the process of making our final preparations. 

Our soccer schedule for Brazil is as follows: 

Monday March 9th: Trinity vs Flumenese

Wednesday March 11th: Trinity vs Botofogo

Thursday March 12th: Trinity vs Flemengo

I will keep you posted on the trip and how the results of the matches.

Spring

February 11, 2009

A quick recap on last season... we finished with an overall record of 20-1-1, the one loss coming in the NCAA Quarterfinals to Amherst. The loss was a devastating end to our outstanding season. 

With the past behind us, we just got back to school and started practice today. The Trinity Soccer Spring season is underway. This spring season is going to be quite exciting because every three years the NCAA allows us to take a international trip, and it happens to come around again this year. For spring break the team will be traveling to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to play 3 competitive games and take the rest of the break to enjoy the sight seeing and beaches down in Rio. The spring season is looking promising and will hopefully start off a much anticipated 2009 Trinity Soccer campaign on a goo foot.