Media Credit: Photo by Vicky Ruiz-Rosario The UWF women's soccer team bonds with neighborhood children in Antigua. Often workshops turned into clinics with children who watched the players practice. Top row from left, Sarah Hughes, Sharon Kerby, Klara Verbova. Middle row, Sheka Codner, Cici Marre [Click to enlarge]

Hurricane Ivan canceled the 2004 University of West Florida women's soccer season, but a summer Royal Caribbean cruise from the beaches of Puerto Rico to the gorgeous Antiguan landscape made up for lost time. The trip offered the team a chance to prepare for this year's competition.   

"The entire time I spent with the team was awesome," said Patricia Toledo, midfielder/forwarder. "We supported each other in games and training sessions everyday."

Joe Bartlinski, head coach for women's soccer, said 17 players and five staff members drove together to Orlando, where they hopped on a flight to Puerto Rico. 

From Aug. 1 to Aug. 6, the cruise took them from San Juan, Puerto Rice, St. Thomas, St. Martin and St. Lucia in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Antigua and Barbados. Although it may seem like a vacation, it was rigorous, hard work that made up for lost time because of Hurricane Ivan.

"When you miss the season, playing collectively is an important part of being successful," Bartlinski said.

Bartlinski said the team trained for 10 days starting on July 18.  Most universities do not begin training until Aug. 8.  He said the NCAA allows this kind of international competition once every four years, and those teams are permitted to train 10 days before departure.

On the islands, the team played different matches. Bartlinski said the girls were in a "team-building atmosphere" because "we missed so much time together last year."

He said a major reason for the cruise was to promote women's soccer in the Caribbean.  Much of this was done through TV and newspaper interviews.

"Men's soccer is good in the Caribbean region," he said. "Women's is still developing."

In St. Lucia, the team took a tour of the city and had a chance to shop at the markets. The team even saw some areas where local residents live. When the girls returned, they warmed up for a match, played and then went back to the ship, where they departed at about 5:30 p.m. each night.

"We played on every island that we stopped," Toledo said. "We walked around each island to get to know people from there as well as the foods and shopping around."

Bartlinski said the United States is fortunate to have quality soccer fields. During the cruise, he said some fields had grass that was 10 inches tall, and the other side of the field was partly mowed. In St. Lucia, the field had hard sand; in Antigua, there was broken debris.

"It was a chance for our players to appreciate what we have in the states," Bartlinski said.

He said the team connected with a lot of the locals in the region. In Antigua, the team let youngsters warm up with them, and it became a clinic. When the team left, they let the children have some soccer balls because such items on the island are hard to come by.

The girls also competed in soccer fields in random neighborhoods. Bartlinski said the teams they played were the under 20 National Team.

"We pounded the teams pretty well," Bartlinski said.

Bartlinski said the staff had to be conscientious that the girls did not come back in worse shape than before they left, mostly because cruises involve a great deal of leisure time and elaborate foods. 

To stay in top shape, the girls ran from the bottom floor to the top of the 14th floor of the ship several times. They also attended the vessel's 40-minute aerobics class, followed by a 30-minute run on the cruise liner's track. 

"After that, everyone knew we were UWF women's soccer preparing for the season," Bartlinski said. "(The girls) really pushed themselves."

In order to pay for the cruise, the girls did some fund-raising of their own and participated in some clinics and tournaments for youths. The university also used some of last year's money because Ivan canceled most of the season.

After competing in the Caribbean, the Puerto Rico National Soccer Federation recruited defender/midfielder CiCi Marrero to play for them after she graduates in December.

One of the team's captains, forward/midfielder Brianna Oeser, is considered a "hurricane senior."

"I was a senior last year, but I got an extra year of eligibility because Ivan canceled our whole season," Oeser said.

Oeser said the trip was an amazing experience.

"After time in Puerto Rico, we got on the cruise ship and made five stops at different islands. Three of the stops, we played teams from the islands and trained with them," Oeser said. "We trained, though, everyday, on the ship and off ... and the kids on the islands watching the game just loved to see us. They went crazy, like we were the coolest thing."

Article Tools