While the majority of the University’s athletes spent the summer months separated from their teammates and coaches, the field hockey team stayed active and spent part of their summer together in another part of the world. Thirteen players from the 2007 squad joined Marley Aloe ’03 and Melissa Courtemanche ’03 on a week-long journey in Argentina led by head coach Patti Klecha-Porter and assistant coach Lindsay Wasserman.

Leaving on June 26, the team enjoyed an educational and competitive experience, playing exhibition games against local Argentine clubs, touring various sites in and around Buenos Aires, and spending one day interacting with children at an orphanage.

Klecha-Porter organized the trip and relied on Aloe and Courtemanche, who now both coach field hockey at secondary schools in Connecticut, to help guide the group both on and off the field.

“Having the alumni around was awesome,” said Alex Bean ’11. “We really needed them to play and they were great leaders on the team. They attended all the games and practices along with participating in pretty much all of our team trips and activities.”

The exhibition games gave the players a chance to see how global a game field hockey is. The team faced tough competition from club teams with players ranging from 17 years old to players in their mid-twenties. In a soccer-crazed country and continent, field hockey seemed to be a way of life in some of the Argentine neighborhoods, with children wielding field hockey sticks from an early age.

“The competition level in Argentina seemed much higher than that in the United States, especially in developing youth programs,” Bean said. “Field hockey in Argentina starts at a much younger age and is played at many different club levels. In general, [field hockey] is much more developed in Argentina and more of a part of their culture.”

The team fought through jet-leg and remained active in their down time. A specific amount of time was reserved for sightseeing throughout the trip. On an excursion in Buenos Aires, the group learned the city’s history firsthand from a local guide and spent an afternoon in an artisans’ market checking out crafts and knickknacks.

At the orphanage, the team conquered the language barrier to spend time with Argentine children.

“Although it was definitely challenging for those of us who didn’t speak Spanish, we spent the day playing volleyball with them and talking to them,” Bean reflected. “At the end of the day, we gave the orphanage a bunch of volleyballs and they gave us handmade soaps.”

The team returned to the United States on July 2 and will begin the 2008 season on Sept. 6 with a visit to Tufts to take on the Jumbos.

Go to www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/fieldhockey to see a photo journal of the entire trip.