From February 10th to the 21st, Rhinebeck High School seniors Sophia Schofield, Olivia Pulver, and Delilah Tumolo were recruited by Westchester United Football Club to travel to Viareggio, Italy and play on the club team with other young female players from New York and New Jersey. The Westchester Boys U-19 club also traveled with the girls to play in their own tournament.

Because the girls team was formed relatively recently, only four teams entered for the girls tournament compared to the much larger 32 team tournament for the boys, which has been around for much longer.

Both teams stayed in a beachside hotel in Viareggio, in Tuscany, Italy.

A typical day for the girls was spent training in the morning; practice lasted for around an hour and a half. The girls shared that they would then go and watch the boys team play their games. If the girls had a game, then they would sleep in instead, get breakfast, and complete schoolwork if they had time.

Also staying in their hotel was a soccer team from Budapest, Hungary. The trip was a good experience for these girls, and helped them become better soccer players.

“For sure, I have never experienced that level of play before. The way Americans and Europeans play is so different, and you never realize it until you’re playing against them,” said Sophia Schofield.

All the girls on the team were going professional, getting paid to play even at a young age.

“Nothing could have prepared me. I was blindsided by how good they were. The warmups were intense, and the play was so aggressive that I unfortunately lost two toenails in one game,” said Olivia Pulver.

Their stay wasn’t all soccer. They also went to the Carnival of Viareggio. The Carnival is a parade featuring marching bands, massive floats, and decorative masks.

This soccer trip was a really good way for soccer players from America to connect with another culture and to learn ways of playing the same sport in a different country.