The Princeton men's lacrosse team returned Thursday night after spending seven days in Costa Rica touring, working with local children, engaging in a project to refurbish a community center and helping bring the sport of lacrosse to a Central American country where soccer is king.
The Tigers practiced with and played a game against the Costa Rican national team in the capital of San Jose. In doing so, Princeton became the first American college team to play in Costa Rica.
Princeton's practice with the Costa Ricans was held in a large park, and the lacrosse attracted many of the young kids who were playing soccer on the adjacent fields.
As for the game, Princeton had an overwhelming edge over its host in skill and experience, and the game itself was non-competitive. The large crowd cheered wildly for each of the three Costa Rican goals and marveled the way Princeton as able to play, and by the end, nobody even knew what the final score was.
At the conclusion of the game, the teams had lunch together, exchanged jerseys and talked about the sport.
From there, Princeton drove nearly five hours to the coastal town of Samara.
The team spent some of its first day there at a community center, running a lacrosse clinic for the local children and then demonstrating the sport to them with an intrasquad scrimmage.
The next day, Princeton returned to the center in temperatures near 90 with extreme humidity and spent four hours sanding and painting the structure, soccer goalposts and fence posts and building benches and bleachers around the field.
The trip ended with two days in another coastal town, Tamarindo.
In addition to the lacrosse and service aspects of the trip, Princeton also spent time whitewater rafting on the Pequare River, ziplining, surfing and on other touristy activities. Several members of the team also attended the Costa Rica-El Salvador World Cup qualifier.
Articles
June 5 - Travel, Play, Give Back: Princeton Heads To Costa Rica
June 9 - Rafting, World Cup Qualifier Among Day 1 Highlights In Costa Rica
June 10 - Princeton Practices With Costa Rican National Team And Then Ziplines
June 11 - Bates Leads Princeton Against Costa Rica - Nick Bates, That Is
June 12 - Princeton Works With Local Costa Rican Children After Morning On The Beach
June 13 - In The Service Of All Nations: Princeton Spruces Up Costa Rican Rec Center
June 14 - Tigers Spend A Day Of Leisure In Tamarindo, Costa Rica, As Trip Nears End
TigerBlog
June 8 - TigerBlog At 36,000 Feet
June 11 - Pura Vida
June 12 - Yo Quiero Agua
June 13 - Working Vacation
June 14 - Friends For Life
June 15 - Last Thoughts Of Costa Rica
Photo Galleries
June 10 - Men's Lacrosse Trip to Costa Rica Days 1-2
June 11 - Men's Lacrosse Trip to Costa Rica Days 3-4
June 16 - Slideshow Of The Entire Trip (song "Heaven" by Angels & Airwaves)
Videos
