Boys volleyball team visits Nicaragua

The Samo boys volleyball team didn’t spend spring break in the typical gauntlet of trips from bed to couch to fridge. Instead, the players boarded a plane and headed south of the border to the small Central American country of Nicaragua on March 19 where they would spend a week helping out the community and playing the sport they love. Upon arrival, the team was met by a tour guide who spent the week uncovering Nicaragua’s beauty. revealed to them the beauty of the foreign nation for the rest of the week. The guide led their daily activities from visiting a hammock factory to ziplining. Each day was action-packed. Beach trips were their cornerstones of the week. The team learned how to surf and just took in some rays. The players found the food a lot more familiar than they expected, with meals that included a lot of fish and chicken.  According to Tyler Logan (’16), the best part was being able to impact the local community in a positive way.“[My favorite part] was giving back to a community less fortunate than ours,” Logan said. The Vikings also participated in another job that branched out far beyond their beloved sport–entertaining the local children.According to Noah Wright (’16), the team went to San Juan del Sur to hold a sports clinic for the kids.The clinic was held far away from any major town, with kids from ages 5 to 15. In itself, the school was run down and in visibly poor condition. Wright described it as life-changing experience. “We ran two sports clinics for the local kids that included volleyball, kickball, basketball and soccer stations,” Wright said. “Since there aren’t any organized sports, this was the first summer camp these kids have ever been to. They took the games very seriously and they got quite competitive. It was amazing to watch and really fun to play with them.”Of course, the main reason for the trip was to play volleyball. Samo battled against three local schools: Managua, Granada and San Juan del Sur. The week ended with a 1-2 record. In their match against Managua, the team was able to take it to the final set where they lost 25 to 20.  Losing in fifth set was a common theme throughout the trip, seen as though the very next game with Granada, they lost in the final stage. Samo hung on until the end yet faltered down the stretch. The final game came down to the wire with Samo only winning by two. After losing two straight close games, the team learned from their mistakes and was able to end their trip on a high note. In the end, it was very event-filled week. Many team members hadn’t experienced a new country before this trip. Taking the sport past the borders is something these players will remember forever. Even though there wasn’t  a lot of marks in the win column, it was a bigger journey than just for sports.