WOMEN’S SOCCER CALIFORNIA TRIP MORE THAN JUST SOCCER

WOMEN’S SOCCER
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
CALIFORNIA PRE-SEASON TRIP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOMEN’S SOCCER CALIFORNIA TRIP MORE THAN JUST SOCCER

LANGLEY, British Columbia – For women’s soccer at Trinity Western University, the pre-season trip south of the 49th parallel has become something of a valued tradition.

Not only does the American expedition provide an opportunity for coach Graham Roxburgh’s team to gel as a unit early on, but it also gives the Spartans a chance to serve the community in which they’re playing.

During the Spartans most recent trip foray to the U.S., Trinity Western’s women’s soccer team was hosted by a church called “The Crossing” – where defender Heather Stevenson’s dad is an outreach pastor – and had the chance to help the church build relationships with local homeless children through the avenue of soccer.

The event began as something of a soccer clinic for these kids but it quickly turned into much more.

“Our afternoon with the kids was more than just a soccer clinic,” said Spartans assistant coach Erin O’Driscoll. “We were able to spend a few hours with some very special kids, who gave us much more than we gave them.  The joy we were able to share and receive from these kids that live in material poverty, reminded us of our need to love and share joy in our own lives.  Our team is committed to learning how to better love each other, and those around us, which will determine our true success this season.”

Roxburgh added: “These kids come from rough backgrounds and tough situations. It was cool because we not only played various soccer games and gave them a great experience for a few hours, but we were able to connect with the kids and start a friendship with the church and these kids.

“We have talked as a team about continually finding ways to serve, because at the core of it, we want to model our culture after the fact that God's love for us is overwhelming and in turn our response is to treat others with tangible expressions of His love. It was a simple thing and yet likely the highlight of our time together.”

Along with the time spent with the children, the squad also had plenty of opportunity for team-building exercises. O’Driscoll led the team in a variety of activities throughout their trip in an effort to continue to build an already strong foundation of trust and chemistry.

“We spent a lot of time investing in the team culture,” O’Driscoll said. “The more united and cohesive a team is off the field, the higher functioning they will be in their performance on the field.  We strive to create a team that embraces each others' unique differences while supporting each other to be better, which will lead to our overall team success each season.”

The Spartans will hope to see early dividends from this valuable experience when they open the Canada West regular season with a trip to Lethbridge (Saturday, Sep. 11 at noon) and Calgary (Sunday, Sep. 12 at noon).

About TWU:

Trinity Western University, located in Langley, B.C., is a not-for-profit Christian liberal arts university enrolling over 4,000 students this year. With a broad based, liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers undergraduate degrees in 41 major areas of study ranging from business, education and computer science to biology and nursing, and 17 other graduate degrees including counselling psychology, theology and administrative leadership. For more information, visit TWU's Official Athletics site at gospartans.ca.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport:

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.

About CWUAA:

"Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year since 1997-98. Comprised of 14 schools, from Manitoba to B.C., the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in events such as the Olympics or Universiade Games."

-TW-

Last Updated: 2010-09-09
Author: Mark Janzen