ODP IN COSTA RICA BLOG
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| Eagles player Michela Paradiso of our U15 Girls team recently returned from Costa Rica with her Olympic Development Program. Check out her blog... |
| Hi, I am Michela Paradiso and play for the U15 Girls Eagles Soccer Team. Recently, I went to Costa Rica representing Region II 1993 Girls ODP in the Torneo Femenino Internacional Tournament. There were 8 teams all together that attended this tournament. Out of these eight teams there were 2 divisions. The United States Regions were one division and the international teams were the other. The US Regions were Region 1 (eastern states) Region II (Midwest) Region III (southern states) and Region IV (western stares). The international bracket consisted of the U20 Chile National Team, Costa Rican National Team, Trinidad and Tobago National Team, and the Honduras National Team. Each division played the other division throughout the week. The trip started out on Thursday morning (April 4) when the whole Region II came to the Detroit airport and we flew to Houston Texas and then from there to San Jose Costa Rica. Once we got there we took a bus to a hotel and went to an opening ceremony. The next day we had training early in the morning. Our first game was the following day and we played the U 20 Chile National Team. We lost 4-0. Our whole team was at a loss of words. Chile was absolutely amazing!!!! They would flick the ball in the air as they did moves so it was hard to tackle them. I play defensive mid and defending them was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! Our coaches were awesome and they taught us many lessons as we moved on and had another game the next game. We played Trinidad and Tobago. We started out the game well and had some early goals. We ended up beating them 10-0. We played very well and learned our lessons from the Chile game. Trinidad and Tobago were very fast but there ball skills were not were ours were. The next couple of days we did not have soccer. The went into the rain forest and stayed in an extremely nice hotel. We went zip-lining which was awesome! We also saw an active volcano erupt and went to visit many parks. After two days we headed back to the Best Western hotel at San Jose to finish up the tour. On Wednesday night, our team went to a pro soccer game. We saw Saprissa (Costa Rican Team) vs. the Houston Dynamo. In Costa Rica, they take there soccer very seriously and it was extremely intense. There were fights, fires, and yelling constantly. I had fun but it was one of the scariest moments of my life!!! We played the Honduras National Team and beat them 8-2. We actually did not play that well but Honduras gave the ball away a lot and we finished our opportunities. Our coaches were not pleased and they kept pushing to be better. On Friday, we went to Children's Center which was my favorite part of the trip. We brought the center soccer balls, puzzles, clothes, and toys. The kids there were extremely poor and most of the kids did not have families. The children there loved to play soccer and we played keep away with them. The little girls there would ask for the rubber hair band that was on your wrist. There faces looking up at you can not even be explained in words. The kids were so thankful for every little thing we gave them. After we took a tour of downtown San Jose and learned the history and culture behind Costa Rica. We also went shopping in the markets and had fun shopping in the stores. In the afternoon, we had a game against Costa Rica and got beat 3-0. Costa Rica only had 3 shots on goal and scored on all three first touch. We actually had the ball for the majority of the game but we did not finish our chances. The next day we had closing ceremonies. Unfortunately, we had to wake up at 3 am to catch a flight to Houston. Things did not go our way in Houston because our team missed the flight because it took too long going through the customs line. I finally got a flight to Columbus and made it home. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was when I started the game against Chile and I was chosen to carry the American Flag onto the field. It was an amazing feeling that I am extremely thankful for having. The experience taught me a lot and i am happy to share it with you. I would like to say thanks to the Eagles and I was happy to represent them and hopefully I did it well. |