SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team will depart Wednesday for a nine-day excursion to Costa Rica to enjoy opportunities both in preparation for the upcoming season and in various service projects.
Slippery Rock will benefit from three friendly games during its trip, two of which will be played against Dimas Escazu and Tsunami Azul, professional teams that compete in the Costa Rican Women's Premier Division.
Those scrimmages will bookend a unique opportunity for SRU when The Rock takes on the Costa Rica U-20 Women's National Team. While Slippery Rock will be training for the fall season that lies ahead, the Costa Rican side will use this as one of its warm-up matches prior to competing in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup that begins Aug. 31 in Colombia.
Apart from time spent on the soccer field, Slippery Rock athletes and coaches will be working on a service project in a local public school in an underprivileged part of San Jose, the nation's capital. The team will specifically be helping with the school's kindergarten and fifth grade classes.
The SRU women's soccer team was impactful in its 2019 trip to Costa Rica when just shy of 150 pounds worth of school supplies were donated to a similar school.
Slippery Rock will also have time allotted in its itinerary for sightseeing, with plans to visit the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, go on a sightseeing tour of San Jose, explore Costa Rica's volcanic hot springs and go on a rainforest zipline tour before heading off to spend the last leg of the trip in a beachside town beside the Pacific Ocean.
A breakdown of the team's itinerary can be found below:
Day 1: Wednesday, July 31
-Fly from Pittsburgh to San Jose via Miami
-Arrive in San Jose in the afternoon before enjoying a traditional Costa Rican dinner
Day 2: Thursday, Aug. 1
-Service project at local public school
-Friendly vs. Dimas Escazu
Day 3: Friday, Aug. 2
-Visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Animal Sanctuary
-Tour of San Jose Historic District
Day 4: Saturday, Aug. 3
-Friendly vs. Costa Rica U-20 Women's National Team
-Travel from San Jose to Tilajari Rainforest
-Volcanic hot springs tour
Day 5: Sunday, Aug. 4
-Canopy zipline tour
-La Fortuna Waterfall adventure
Day 6: Monday, Aug. 5
-Travel from Tilajari Rainforest to Pacific coast
Day 7: Tuesday, Aug. 6
-Practice and fitness session on the beach
-Friendly vs. Tsunami Azul
Day 8: Wednesday, Aug. 7
-Beach day
Day 9: Thursday, Aug. 8
-Fly from Liberia, Costa Rica to Pittsburgh via Miami, arriving in Pittsburgh at approximately midnight.
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