Women's Volleyball Day 2-5

Thursday Day 2...

Finally have internet back! Here's a very brief summary of what has been going on with the volleyball team for the past few days. Today we made our way to the grocery store where we filled baskets of food for families that needed them. Rice, beans, sugar, oil, toilet paper, and coffee were the main ingredients of the baskets. We went to Isabell's house; she and a group of underprivilaged women get together to make bags and clothes to make extra money. We were able to surprise them with the baskets and were able to help them raise money by purchasing their bags. These women come together with faith based fellowship and have a theme of "Virtuous Women" from Proverbs 31:10. Isabell was extremely grateful and happy to have us there.Brit Long was able to join us for the day! It's also Brooke's birthday!!

Friday Day 3...

It's Friday Friday... :) This morning, our team was allowed to split up. Half went on a beautiful hike and the other half traveled with the soccer team to Summit school. The volleyball girls watched the soccer girls run a clinic and were able to play with the local kids there. Cassidy, Jenna, Audrey, and Renee had a blast teaching the kids Ninja, learning to Salsa, and learning about the sustainability program that they raise money for to build a garden. The kids were so cute and spoke English well. We played Santa Barbara women's team and then were able to scrimmage the men's team. What a blast that was!! Erica's defense was on and the team did work from the service line. The cement court made us extremely grateful for our wood floors at home. No more complaining about diving at home!

Saturday Day 4...

Happy Birthday Audrey!!! Today we traveled to Food for the Hungry headquarters. Half the group went to the market while the other half scraped a giant cement wall and then switched. The next half painted the cement wall from light blue to yellow. The sun was hot but nobody complained. The weather has been extremely nice for us with only one major rain storm. Tonight, we played a really good club team. With the soft, setting hands of Andi, our team was able to pull off a victory. Krista successfully nailed the 12ft line! Megan was able to share her testimony with the girls and we were able to connect with them on a spiritual level. We were able to watch and cheer on the basketball girls, as well!

Sunday Day 5...

Today we were privilaged enough to attend a Costa Rican church service. It was a 2 hour long, spanish service but the message was insightful. Bear good fruit! After church we went to an outdoor market and the girls got to shop. Darren had set up a nice dinner for us at Kaffe Cafe (a local restaurant) and ate chicken lasagna with salad and pie. We gathered as a group for Bible study and had team time. I can honestly tell you that this group of girls is extremely talented and their hearts are continuing to grow spiritually!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We miss our parents! :) God is doing amazing things within our teams, He is working in powerful ways in Costa Rica!

Women's Soccer Day 2 "Soccer Clinic"

Internet Down

We just received an internet connection after four days. Family and friends no need to worry we will try to update the blog by tomorrow with all of the great stories we have experienced! It has been an amazing four days, to say the least!! We all experience Costa Rica and its people in unique and great ways everyday! We are so blessed and can't wait to share our journeys with you all!

Thanks for being patient with us!

Costa Rica Earthquake

Costa Rica experienced an earthquake yesterday and the whole team fine. Here is a quick report that we received from Darren in San Jose.

Had a 6.0 Earthquake here. Women's basketball was in the mall and had to be evacuated, soccer was on the field playing and felt the ground shake, and volleyball was driving in the bus and nobody had a clue that they just had an earthquake. Darren said he heard it was 20 miles outside of San Jose, but 43 miles deep.

Everyone is doing great. More updates to come hopefully!!

Women's Basketball Day 1

A message from our senior captain Brittany Long!




This was our first adventure-the basketball team went to the local rec center to watch the soccer girls play their first game against a Costa Rican club team...but then our girls found another thing that interested them too....



...the basketball girls found a gym inside and were watching the local guys team practice and play. Then they decided to ask some of the guys to play a game of pick up! They played for about an hour-let's just say our girl's held their own! It was a great opportunity for the girl's to get to know some local guys and tell them about our school and what we do!




After watching the soccer girls play and playing against the local Costa Rican boys basketball team we drove to the University of Costa Rica to play against their women's basketball team. It was a fun and competitive game! After the game the girls gave out CCU basketball t-shirts to all the girls on the team and got to know some of girls as well. It was great to show them how Christians compete and also be able to share a little bit about what we do as a program.




This is the drive from our hotel which is on top of hill that over looks the whole city of San Jose. As you can see very green and pretty! :)

Women's Volleyball Day 1

Wow, what a first day. We started off with breakfast after our red eye, and were given the chance to nap for a little while before lunch. After lunch volleyball was off to our first clinic.

Our first clinic was held at St. Francis University, where they have kindergarten to eleventh grade. We had the pleasure of teaching girls from age six to fifteen the skills of volleyball. We went through fundamentals, drills, and then got to finish with playing six on six, even with their coach. It was such a great experience getting to see the joy and excitement the girls had through each and every point on the court.

These girls were so great! They went through every drill like a champ, and were such an entertainment to watch. These "muscolos" poses were their signature. Teaching us some spanish through the clinic, and acting each of them out. They look small, but they were defintely tough girls.

After getting to play some six on six Andi was given the chance to share her testimony, and pray over the girls sharing with them how beautiful Jesus sees them and the love that he has for them. They were such hard working girls and it was such a pleasure getting the spend the afternoon with them. While getting our gear off and getting ready to leave the friar/principal of the school came to thank us and speak with us. He was so funny in that he kept apologizing for not being able to speak Enlish, but at the same time none of us are able to speak Spanish. He was such a welcoming man, and seeing the love he has for the kids at the school was such a cool experience.

After having the clinic, we drove directly to the University of Costa Rica were we played a match against them. They were much scrappier than what we expected and lost the first game 21-25. We came back in the second game, getting our groove back and playing intense volleyball, we won 25-18. The third game we got down to where it was 1-10, and ended up getting the win, 28-26. The girls we played were intense, and in the end we were able to give them CCU sixth man t-shirts, and thank them for giving us the oppertunity to play with them.

After our match we met up with women's basketball and soccer, and just barely missed the ending point for the basketball's game. Our first day was defintely an adventure, and such an amazing time getting to work with the girls, and even getting to play the Costa Rican University team. We all are trying to get used to the fast pace driving of Costa Rica, you may think Colorado is bad, but you can not imagine it here, especially with no street signs to add to it. All the while the drivers communication being through their horns, BEEEEEP!!!!!, seriously.

Women's Soccer Day 1

Natalie and Kelsey on the bus

Today was our first whole day spent in Costa Rica. The day was packed full of adventures from start to finish. We had breakfast when we first got back to the lodge, but because of our red-eye flight, we then all needed naps. After a few hours of good sleep, we decided to explore the land around us, and walked down the long path from where we are staying. We are right in the middle of a rainforest, with massive trees, bamboo, and lots and lots of rain all around us. But don't worry; we all packed our rain jackets. :)

At 5pm we played our first game against a Costa Rica club team. We also had one of the Costa Rica National Players join us on our team for a half. We played 9v9 on a regular size field. It was pretty exhausting! Madi scored a great goal in the bottom left corner. The soccer was awesome and many of these young girls showed a lot of talent and speed! It was so much fun to get the opportunity to play in Costa Rica.



We then got the opportunity to share testimonies with the girls on the team we played against. Last minute, Coach Carrie asked Natalie and Ciara to share their testimonies to the young girls. They were all between the ages of 16-19. We all joined together in prayer, first in English and then in Spanish. It was altogether a very moving experience. After we gave them each a CCU shirt and a verse attached with a granola bar. The girls were very sweet and we were able to really talk with one of them specifically. She was the keeper and was looking to come to a Christian college in the U.S.

Madi, Lauren, Hannah and Erin on the bus

We've Arrived! -"Pura Vida"

After a five hour red eye flight and little sleep, here are some pictures of our arrival into San Jose, Costa Rica! When we arrived we quickly learned the common saying here for "welcome" is "Pura Vida," which directly translates as "pure life". We are now off to play some soccer, basketball and volleyball games!

-Coach Carrie

Flight, Contact and Destination Info.

Flight info:

Frontier Airlines FLT 86

Depart May 11, 12:10am
Arrive in San Jose May 11, 5:20am

Lodging info:

Wed. May 11 -18
Coronado, Costa Rica
Flores y Helechos (flowers and ferns)
floresyhelechos@hotmail.com
(506)8380-7396 or (506)8854-5439

Wed. May 18-20
Punta Leona, Costa Rica (beach)
www.hotelpuntaleona.com

Return Flight info:

Frontier Airlines FLT 87

Depart from San Jose May 21, 6:25am
Arrive in Denver May 21, 12:00pm (noon)

Our contact:

Eduardo Gamboa
President for Food for the Hungry
and
Director of GOALL

(011)(506)8866-6226 or (011)(506)2227-4736
edgardogamboav@gmail.com

Costa Rica 2011

For the third time since 2009, Colorado Christian Athletics will send a team to the San Jose area of Costa Rica. This year, we're sending the biggest group yet, made up of student-athletes from our women's soccer, volleyball, and basketball teams. Eight staff members will accompany the group to the capitol city, where ministry will be served with Food for the Hungry Costa Rica and GOALL sports ministry.

Flying non-stop on Frontier from Denver to San Jose, this year's group leaves at 12:10 am on May 11 for a ten-day trip.

Stay here for details leading up to the trip, and updates from Costa Rica.