Junior Jessica Montrose and redshirt sophomore Erin Fish, two members of the LIU Brooklyn women's soccer team, are teaming up with Soccer WIthout Borders, an organization that uses soccer as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth with a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion, and personal success. The duo will spend a week in Nicaragua running clinics and teaching local children the benefits of soccer and sport.
Day 7
Although Fish and I were together for most of the day, we wrote separate entries because we both had a lot to say about our 7th day here in Granada.
[Written by Jessica Montrose] Today marked the last day of camp. The sessions were all on the main field and we had all the girls split into 5 mixed groups and they rotated around the 5 different stations we set up. Before that though we participated in one of the camp's traditions for the last day - a game called Galaxies. Which basically meant run as fast as you could as all of the girls pelted balls at you; I got a few good hits and one almost meant the end of Fish's new GoPro. For the actual session I was in charge of goalie wars and it was a blast.
After the final session of the week we went back to the tres for a quick lunch and picked out our uniforms for our game against the Nicaraguan national team. We travelled as a team with the girls from the camp not far behind in two buses. The national stadium was intimidating as was the official FIFA stuff that went on pregame.. We were really pumped to play and even though we hadn't played together as a team really, we have gotten really close as a group and wanted to win for the girls who were so excited watching us play. Another amazing bonus was having two of the older girls from camp play in the game with us; Lupe and Poncho. It was an honor to have them play with us and experience playing against their own national team - and tie them.
On the way back I sat with Fernanda and Brittany, two of the girls I had gotten close with throughout this week. Despite the fact my Spanish was probably the worst out of all of the volunteers by a long-shot (except maybe Adam - sorry bud) I was still able to form some amazing bonds and it was hard to see both girls so upset at the idea of me leaving. All of the girls reactions after the game and reflecting on this whole week, I was really touched by how much of an influence we had as a group in such a short amount of time.
Not only did I get to immerse myself in a new culture this week - I was also able to make some great new friends and really make an impact on these awesome young girls. They deserve role models and I can only hope that I was even close to being one for them; soccer and sport in general is a huge tool to help influence positive change and my experience here with all of these Nicaraguan girls has really reinforced that idea for me. Knowing I had to say goodbye really did upset me and I'm not a huge crier but as we hugged all of the girls and seeing the tough guise Fernanda so often put on fall and seeing her cry set me off.
After a long day the crew went out to eat at this fantastic gelato place on the Main Street. We reflected on our time at camp and how much it has taught us about Nicaraguan culture and how much of a positive impact sport can have. It was a fitting ending to such an emotional day.
[Written by Erin Fish] Since Jess already touched on most of the day I won't bore you with repeating stuff I'll just add some input. The last day at camp was by far the best day. The girls were so happy and engaged in all of the activities we did.
All week I have been joking with Fernanda about making me a sign for the national game. She showed up at the buses with a sign in Spanish that translated to "Let's go white girls, you can win!", which I thought was absolutely hysterical. I started the game at attacking center mid and Jess obviously started as our keeper. I played the whole first half and almost had a goal after a cluster in the box but the keeper came up with it. Jess played an amazing game and won "Player of the Game" from some Nicaraguan news channel which was pretty cool.
After the game, getting on the bus with the girls made us feel like superstars with all of the cheers, high fives and hugs we received. Although that part was happy the rest of the trip was very emotional for me. As some of you may know, I am a domino crier and when someone else cries I do as well... So when Fernanda started crying I lost it. So that was the first set of tears and then somehow the girls learned how to say "when are you coming back" in English and they kept asking me which made me cry even more. The final tears came when I sat with a girl named Ana (who kept calling me her mama all week) and a little boy who was one of the brothers of the girls. Ana fell asleep on my shoulders and the little guy fell asleep in my arms. In that moment I began to reflect on the entire trip; How much all of these kids mean to me, how much I mean to them.
I wish I could explain to you in words the emotions I felt and the entire trip as a whole, but I can't. While speaking with Larkin tonight she made a good point. She said we might not be able to change the world, but we can have a huge impact on these girls and this program. I am extremely sad that this is all coming to an end so quickly but my mind is already thinking in the direction of what other ways I can help. I am so grateful.