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October 28, 2009
Women’s volleyball and
men’s soccer teams get a taste of Italy
Not many community college athletic teams
get to compete overseas. Even fewer get a chance to make a positive impact on
another country’s environment like Moraine Valley’s women’s volleyball and men’s
soccer teams. Twenty-five athletes from both teams, as well as seven Athletics
staff and coaches, made the trip Oct. 8-17 to Milan, Italy.
Both teams competed in the World Interuniversity Games, pitting them against
world class athletes from around the world. The men’s soccer team performed
well, advancing to the quarter finals and playing last year’s champion, the
University of Nancy from France. The 16 soccer players competed against teams
from Finland, Italy, Iran, and Belgium, ending with a 2-2-1 record. They
received the Fair Play Award for their overall competitiveness and attitude
during the tournament. The last time they men’s soccer team competed overseas
was in 2007 in Nuremburg, Germany.
The nine volleyball players had a tough time from the get go, playing some very
experienced teams, a couple with Olympic athletes. They lost their matches to
teams from Italy, Romania, Belgium, and Russia. A Moraine Valley women’s
volleyball team last competed in 2006 in Dublin, Ireland.
Before hitting the fields and courts the athletes spent their first two days in
the Nature Reserve of Valpredina, a 45-minute trip away from Milan, to complete
a conservation project through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Italy. Before
doing any work the Moraine Valley caravan first learned about their project that
would take place on the side of Mount Misma. They explored Valpredina’s animal
shelter and hospital, olive grove, butterfly habitat, and composting area. The
group needed to create structures where fresh water could pool on the
mountainside. Those pools, which would gather rainwater, would become habitats
for an endangered species of freshwater crayfish indigenous to the area. Because
of polluted freshwater in the Lombardy area, the number of crayfish have been
sharply reduced. So the group made a human chain along the steep mountainside
and passed pieces of timber and logs about 50 yards down to the area where the
pools would be constructed.
“The service project was very interesting. I learned new facts about nature and
wildlife. It was great being able to significantly help the WWF, plus it was
fun,” said sophomore volleyball player Laura Flerick.
“Everyone worked extremely hard. We finished moving all the wood in about three
hours. Our hosts were very happy with us and our work rate. We completed our job
more quickly and better than anticipated,” said soccer coach Chuck Bales. “I was
very proud of the athletes. It was a difficult project but there was not a
single complaint. We definitely were excellent representatives of the college,
Illinois and the U.S.”
Moraine Valley’s group worked well together, while experiencing Italy more
intimately. “It was so rewarding to know the service project had saved the WWF
several months of work that we were able to complete in one day with our large
group of able-bodied athletes. It is also exciting to know that each of our
names will be displayed on the freshwater reservoir at its completion. We
participated in a day of manual labor and got a full day of exercise and
beautiful scenery in addition to having fun and being appreciated for our
volunteer efforts,” said volleyball coach Gloria Coughlin.
During the trip’s duration the group was able to explore Milan, its food and
historic landscape. The volleyball coaches also took their team on a side trip
to the waterways of Venice for a day.
“To compete against high-level players, some of them the top in their countries,
was overwhelming yet also astonishing that our community college was given that
fabulous, memory-filled opportunity. The experience was beyond what the players
ever expected and will be with them forever. What we gained was life changing
for all of us and is much more important than the wins in a match or game,”
Coughlin said.
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