Travel to Brazil

My dad is the head soccer coach at Hobart College, a Division III school in upstate New York. Every three years he takes his team on an international trip where they are able to train, play games and tour around.

I have been lucky enough to go on two of these trips. The first one was way back in 2012 when I was entering my freshman year of high school. The previous winter my dad told me their trip was going to be to Brazil that summer and asked if I wanted to come along. Of course, I said yes as I already knew about how fascinating a country Brazil was and how some of the greatest soccer players in the world have come from the country.

We left the first week of August and stayed ten days. The trip was through a tour company so everything was preset for us.

Our first day we arrived in the morning and traveled from the airport to the small town of Buzios where we spent our first four nights of the trip.

While in Buzios we stayed at a small resort at which we practically had the whole place to ourselves. The resort had a private beach right down the road.

On that first day, we visited the beach where I was to do something that is a highlight of not only the trip but my life, which was learning to surf. I was taught by an instructor who despite not speaking much English was still able to help me.

It took me many tries (and falls) but after a while, I was able to stand up and ride some of the smaller waves. Even though I was only riding small waves, it was still incredible. Most people can’t say they have surfed in Brazil so I am glad I had that awesome experience.

The next two days of the trip involved exploring the city of Buzios and soccer training for the team.

The team’s first training session was led by coaches of a semi-professional team. It was interesting to see the differences in training in Brazil compared to America. The coaches had many different tactics and drills.

Buzios is not a very big place but there is a lot of shopping options as the downtown area had a nice stretch of stores. I personally enjoyed walking around just so I can take in the culture.

On the third day, the team played their first game against a semi-professional team. It was interesting to watch and see the differences in skills that these players had. Soccer is the biggest These players spend their whole life playing and it showed with how skilled they were.

The fourth day we left Buzios and headed to Rio de Janeiro. I was very excited to be going as I enjoy visiting big cities and this was my first time visiting an international one.

When we arrived in Rio we checked into our hotel which was located just a block away from Copacabana, which is a beach stretching two and a half miles. During our first day, we explored the beach and the city.

This was one of the most incredible beaches I had ever visited. The whole thing was open to the public and had all sorts of things to do. Along the beach, there was a path for bicycles and runners. You could also stop at the pull-up bars and other exercise equipment spread out along it. The beach offered public beach soccer fields and volleyball courts as well. There was also all sorts of street food and vendors. It was always packed with people but it was a very fun place to hang out.

On this beach the team also got to play against a professional beach soccer team. This was interesting as these beach players were very skilled in ways different from regular soccer players.

Our fifth day had us doing some sight-seeing in Rio. One of which was visiting Christ the Redeemer, which is a 98-foot tall statue of Jesus Christ, located on top of a mountain overlooking the city.

Over the next couple of days, we visited some other sites such as Sugarloaf Mountain which is a beautiful mountain with tremendous views.

We were also able to visit some very cool soccer related places. One of those was a Fluminense FC match. This was my first time watching a professional soccer game and everything about it was truly amazing. The crowd had large drums that they used for chants. It was amazing experiencing the atmosphere as it was nothing like any professional sports game in the United States.

The team got to play against of the developmental teams of smaller teams in Rio. They played at these clubs training facilities so were able to see the different them. These training facilities were very nice and I was impressed.

Overall, this was my first international trip and I can still say it has been one of my favorites. Being able to explore a country where soccer is so big and see all of the different stadiums was something that amazed me.