VARSITY ATHLETICS

May 15, 2008

A Horseback Ride In The Brazilian Mountains And A Youth Clinic...

By Senior Midfielder/Forward Matt Paglia (Pittsburgh, PA)

Zeyad [Schwen], Chris [Cservak], Nikola [Ivanovic], Jon [Milan] and myself were all riding on the backs of horses through the beautiful Brazilian mountains. This was the first time I have ever ridden a horse, and I could not have asked for a better experience. We walked, trotted and galloped up and down dirt roads. The scenery was unbelievable, nothing I have ever seen before. The mountains were so large and green and there were groups of banana trees and animals grazing all up the side of the mountains. Some of the cows were so high on the mountain I wondered how they even got up there. The five of us had a blast naming our horses and attempting to race. My horse was a little lazy I think. I would get him running, but when we came to the base of a hill he would stop running and decide to walk up the hill. I guess I don’t blame him.

Later that afternoon, our guide Pat took the team hiking through the Brazilian jungle. We hiked up a mountain stopping frequently to take pictures of the scenery. Bigart [Kevin], Milan and I fell way behind the rest of the group because we couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything around us. We finally forced ourselves to leave the area and found the path the rest of the team had taken into the jungle. The path was so narrow that plants and branches brushed against your legs and upper body the entire hike. At one point the path became muddy and slippery. Bigart, Milan and I slipped and slid down a small hill covering our legs in mud. We could do nothing but laugh and help each other back up onto the path. Finally, we caught up with everyone else and I was not ready for what I was saw. There were two huge beautiful waterfalls rushing down the mountain. The rest of team had already gotten into their bathing suits and were climbing the waterfalls and jumping off rocks into the water. The whole thing was so surreal. It took me a minute to soak everything in. Then I got into my bathing suit and joined the team. For over an hour we took pictures of us climbing, jumping, and swimming. When it was time to leave I was so disappointed. I could have spent the rest of the day at those two waterfalls in the jungle and I think everyone else felt the same way.

Tuesday night, we left our resort for town. We were to put on a soccer clinic for the younger children of the local town. I was very impressed with the amount of children that showed up to participate in the clinic. Coach Palmer lined them all up at half field and tried to get them to warm-up by form running. When he said go the kids scattered all over the field in total chaos - it was so funny. After Coach Palmer got the children warmed up, they were split into groups. Will, Kyle [Bednar] and I were assigned to work with the youngest of the children. I thought this was going to be a disaster because we cannot understand each other and they are so young. But I was wrong. It was a lot of fun and everything went very smoothly. We had them do a few soccer drills and juggle the ball as a group. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and they listened well.

As it got closer to game time the stands filled and the stadium got louder. The atmosphere was so awesome. During the clinic little girls would run around the field asking for every Case player’s autograph. There were also young girls on the other side of the fence screaming for us and shoving paper and pen through the holes in the fence asking for our autographs. Before the game, our team was in the locker room under the stands. The crowd was so loud at this point it rumbled the walls. We exited the locker room and went through a tunnel to enter the field. We stood facing the loud Brazilian fans as the Brazilian national anthem was played followed by the American national anthem. The whole atmosphere made me feel like a professional at a professional game - it was awesome. One of the best game experiences of my life. The game started after the two anthems. The game was very physical and competitive. The Brazilian style of play is so much different than the American style. The team we were playing was very skillful and fast just like the other teams we’ve played in Brazil. But this team was the best of them all. One thing that impressed me greatly was the Brazilians’ first touch on the ball - it was so soft and perfect. During the game, we were able to score two goals making the final score 2-0 in favor of Case. After the game both teams shook hands, took some group photos and exchanged shoes, shin guards, socks, and shirts with one another. This part of the game allowed us to meet and communicate with the other team which I enjoyed a lot. I personally exchanged my shin guards and a shirt for shin guards and a pair of soccer socks from players of the team we had just played. I also traded my long sleeve warm up jersey for a soccer jersey a younger fan was wearing who had been begging for my shirt.

Posted by: Creg Jantz May 15, 2008 03:05 PM | Category: Men's Soccer

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) May 15, 2008 03:05 PM | Comments (2) | Trackback