University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville Men’s Soccer Excited for ‘Once in a Lifetime Opportunity’ in Costa Rica
05.12.2017 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - For the UNC Asheville men's soccer program the chance to visit Costa Rica for 10 days in May of 2017 is truly an opportunity of a lifetime.
UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell knows just how important this trip will be for his program, and he does not mean just on the pitch.
"I don't know if you can really overstate the importance of a trip like this," the Bulldogs' third-year head coach said. "I think the opportunity to be together as a group in a foreign country, do community service outside of our local community and to interact with different people from a different culture is a wonderful thing. Experiences like these are once in a lifetime type of opportunities, and for UNC Asheville to afford our program the chance to do this means so much to all of us."
At UNC Asheville the student-athlete experience is about so much more than just playing games, which is why he knows it will mean so much for his student-athletes not only now but for the rest of their lives.
"In terms of what this means to the whole student-athlete experience, I would encourage every team in every sport at every institution to do this type of trip if they can," Mennell said. "Anytime that you can combine team bonding, community service and the unique situation to play four matches against reserve professional teams, well, it's just awesome."
UNC Asheville men's soccer is set to arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday, May 14. The Bulldogs will spend three days in the city and play two friendlies before departing for the Costa Rican rainforest on Wednesday, May 17.
The Bulldogs will spend two days in the rainforest and play one more friendly in the area before moving on to stay three nights at Pacific Beach. The Bulldogs will play their fourth and final friendly there before traveling back to San Jose on Monday, May 22, before departing back for Asheville on Tuesday, May 23.
The unique experience lined up for the Bulldogs has been in the works for quite some time.
"This has been a long time coming as we put these plans in place really in the spring of 2015, and we didn't get to go in 2016 with the outbreak of the Zika virus and we kind of erred on the side of caution, but our student-athletes have been excited about this from day one," Mennell said. "They've done a tremendous amount of work toward this both in fundraising, logistics and the coordination, so to see them excited through the whole process and now hear them talk about what a great experience it is going to be, that's pretty cool."
During his time as a member of the Loyola Marymount program, Mennell was a part of three teams that took foreign tours. He has made the trek to Costa Rica two times, and he is excited to see how his fourth trip abroad goes with his UNC Asheville men's soccer program.
"Every trip with every group is different," Mennell said. "This is the third time I've been with Costa Rica Soccer Tours and they do a great job, and they've got a really good handle on the American college soccer scene and the NCAA Division I level of play. In addition to the community service, each trip has a seminal moment. Sometimes it's the zip-lining, sometimes it's the whitewater rafting and obviously the soccer games have a huge impact. Knowing our group, I think our group is really going to be moved and will really do a great job with the community service aspects of the trip. We're doing a soccer clinic for kids in San Jose and then we're going to have the chance to work at a community youth center with some young people that are a little bit less fortunate than us, and I think our guys will really gravitate to that because we have a really selfless group."
Mennell knows that selflessness truly makes his group special.
"We do a lot of community service and you never have to ask these guys more than once," Mennell said. "You just suggest that there is a way that we can help out in the community and this group has always been super-excited to do that, and that's not something to be taken for granted. This willingness to help others really speaks to how this group approaches things on and off the field. This is a really fine group of young men. They are great stewards and representatives of our university."
In addition to all of this, Mennell knows just the opportunity to spend extra time ahead of the 2017 season together as a unit can mean a great deal. He knows that first-hand in fact, and he is hoping that history repeats itself with this year's men's soccer team at UNC Asheville.
"Anytime that you are able to do this type of additional training, it's great," Mennell said. "This will be the fourth time that I have done a foreign tour and all three previous trips have resulted in NCAA Tournament appearances. Hopefully we can make that four for four."
Make sure you visit uncabulldogs.com on a regular basis over the coming days as the men's soccer program will provide blogs, videos, pictures and much more from their time in Costa Rica.
UNC Asheville men's soccer head coach Mathes Mennell knows just how important this trip will be for his program, and he does not mean just on the pitch.
"I don't know if you can really overstate the importance of a trip like this," the Bulldogs' third-year head coach said. "I think the opportunity to be together as a group in a foreign country, do community service outside of our local community and to interact with different people from a different culture is a wonderful thing. Experiences like these are once in a lifetime type of opportunities, and for UNC Asheville to afford our program the chance to do this means so much to all of us."
At UNC Asheville the student-athlete experience is about so much more than just playing games, which is why he knows it will mean so much for his student-athletes not only now but for the rest of their lives.
"In terms of what this means to the whole student-athlete experience, I would encourage every team in every sport at every institution to do this type of trip if they can," Mennell said. "Anytime that you can combine team bonding, community service and the unique situation to play four matches against reserve professional teams, well, it's just awesome."
UNC Asheville men's soccer is set to arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica on Sunday, May 14. The Bulldogs will spend three days in the city and play two friendlies before departing for the Costa Rican rainforest on Wednesday, May 17.
The Bulldogs will spend two days in the rainforest and play one more friendly in the area before moving on to stay three nights at Pacific Beach. The Bulldogs will play their fourth and final friendly there before traveling back to San Jose on Monday, May 22, before departing back for Asheville on Tuesday, May 23.
The unique experience lined up for the Bulldogs has been in the works for quite some time.
"This has been a long time coming as we put these plans in place really in the spring of 2015, and we didn't get to go in 2016 with the outbreak of the Zika virus and we kind of erred on the side of caution, but our student-athletes have been excited about this from day one," Mennell said. "They've done a tremendous amount of work toward this both in fundraising, logistics and the coordination, so to see them excited through the whole process and now hear them talk about what a great experience it is going to be, that's pretty cool."
During his time as a member of the Loyola Marymount program, Mennell was a part of three teams that took foreign tours. He has made the trek to Costa Rica two times, and he is excited to see how his fourth trip abroad goes with his UNC Asheville men's soccer program.
"Every trip with every group is different," Mennell said. "This is the third time I've been with Costa Rica Soccer Tours and they do a great job, and they've got a really good handle on the American college soccer scene and the NCAA Division I level of play. In addition to the community service, each trip has a seminal moment. Sometimes it's the zip-lining, sometimes it's the whitewater rafting and obviously the soccer games have a huge impact. Knowing our group, I think our group is really going to be moved and will really do a great job with the community service aspects of the trip. We're doing a soccer clinic for kids in San Jose and then we're going to have the chance to work at a community youth center with some young people that are a little bit less fortunate than us, and I think our guys will really gravitate to that because we have a really selfless group."
Mennell knows that selflessness truly makes his group special.
"We do a lot of community service and you never have to ask these guys more than once," Mennell said. "You just suggest that there is a way that we can help out in the community and this group has always been super-excited to do that, and that's not something to be taken for granted. This willingness to help others really speaks to how this group approaches things on and off the field. This is a really fine group of young men. They are great stewards and representatives of our university."
In addition to all of this, Mennell knows just the opportunity to spend extra time ahead of the 2017 season together as a unit can mean a great deal. He knows that first-hand in fact, and he is hoping that history repeats itself with this year's men's soccer team at UNC Asheville.
"Anytime that you are able to do this type of additional training, it's great," Mennell said. "This will be the fourth time that I have done a foreign tour and all three previous trips have resulted in NCAA Tournament appearances. Hopefully we can make that four for four."
Make sure you visit uncabulldogs.com on a regular basis over the coming days as the men's soccer program will provide blogs, videos, pictures and much more from their time in Costa Rica.
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