Slippery Rock women's soccer head coach Jessica Griggs recaps The Rock's trip in the seventh and final edition of Journals from Costa Rica.
 
Costa Rica Recap
As we journeyed back to SRU, the players reflected upon their experience in Costa Rica. The collective feelings included words such as being humbled, grateful and educated on having a different perspective. That is exactly the team Mark Sappington and I intended to produce going into our 2019 season. What an incredible experience to bring a group of wide-eyed athletes to immerse themselves in a culture completely unfamiliar to them and have them return feeling even more inspired to make a difference in our SRU community, within their families, social networks and in their own futures. The team is certainly prepared to take the lessons learned from this experience into the immediate future in school and season.
 
Over the course of our trip, we watched players step outside of their comfort zone on multiple occasions. We watched the entire team overcome language barriers to connect deeply with children who live in extremely poor conditions and want the opportunity to feel loved. We watched girls thrive in an environment of wilderness and new creatures and watched some players overcome serious fears while zip lining, white water rafting, or exploring other activities.
 
In all of those moments, they were overcoming barriers, fears and new experiences knowing that 30+ teammates and coaches were by their side supporting and encouraging them. During meals, transportation, rooming and small group activities the players created new relationships within the team and spent each moment with different players, creating a welcoming and fun environment for new members of the team and solidifying already established relationships. In the end, they bonded before our season even began and created life-long memories through adventures in giving back. In our team culture, we strive to create an environment that asks "what can I give?" rather than "what can I get?" and this team embraced the giving over this bonding experience.
 
We are so grateful to represent a university and a community that supports our mission. Your gifts and donations to these schools and centers were received with love and awe and we encourage those who supported our mission to feel the connection with our program and our culture. We spent the last nine days feeling an overwhelming sense of thankfulness and gratitude and we want to give back to our university through competitions, service and academics.
 
This experience has been a reminder to stay humble, never take anything for granted and create relationships that inspire you to always give what you can. We will be taking that mentality into our 2019 season to compete in the PSAC and represent a university and community we are so thankful to brand.
 
Pura vida and we look forward to seeing you all back on campus this fall!
 
-Head Coach Jessica Griggs
 
PAST ENTRIES
- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3 
- Days 4-5
- Day 6
- Days 7-8


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