The trip was a career highlight for a group of players who have been integral in the Eagles' improvement over the past four years. Ten of the sixteen players traveling to South Africa will be seniors in the fall. The trip, according to Head Coach Dan Mouw, originated as a brainstorm on a van ride to an away game three years ago. “We were talking about the potential to take an international trip,” Mouw said, “and someone in the back of the van said something about Africa. I said we can look into it. It became something that we talked about every other week or so.”

The Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Champions finished 2007 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 19-4 record. Between playing games in South Africa, the team had the chance to run clinics and to work with children and women from the townships outside Pretoria and Cape Town. The team worked at C.R. Swartz High School in  Pretoria. They started out with a school assembly where the team was introduced to the 360 eighth and ninth grade students. They had competitions, shared testimonies, played games, and ran a pair of soccer clinics through the morning.

“Even through the segregation and separation, God has shown through in so many ways,” Ashley Hackman said.  “It is absolutely amazing the way God has presented Himself here in South Africa. He simply radiates through the people here. The way in which the children seek love and attention, the way the people of this country have been so eager to serve us, and the love he has also shown us through each other. It has been beautiful.”

The Eagles spent part of a day at Hatfield Christian School, in an affluent suburban setting. There they scrimmaged the high school boys and had the opportunity to share with the students in an assembly and in an informal time of conversation during a school break. The Hatfield students enjoyed having the Eastern girls on campus and wanted the team to come back for a rematch. The Eagles scored the only goal of the scrimmage on a tremendous blast from Hackman, but were unable to give the rematch because of their busy schedule in Pretoria.

In contrast to their time at Hatfield, the team also worked in Mamelodi Township, which stands outside Pretoria as a reminder of the time of Apartheid. In the township, the Eagles ran a pair of clinics and had the chance to spend time with school children who had very little.  Heidi Peachey said of the opportunity, "It was a great chance for us to love the children and to use our love of soccer to share with them about our love for God and our love for them."

During their time in Africa, the Eastern team played six matches. They lost a pair of matches against the Under-20 National team, but learned a lot from the experience and had a great opportunity to share their lives with the team. Seven members of the U-20 team see regular time with the full national team, and the U-20’s won the first leg of their final World Cup Qualifying match on Saturday. The Eastern team watched the game on TV while in Cape Town on the weekend.

“Our girls connected immediately with the Academy (the team is in residency year round, and is known as the Academy) Girls,” Coach Mouw said.  “It was a great challenge to play them, and it was fun to watch them win on TV.” The Eagles won their other four games against local teams from the South African WPL.

 “It was great to have a chance to play together, and I think the trip was good for us, but the real purpose of the trip was much bigger than the soccer,” Mouw said.  “We played well, but I believe we learned a lot about ourselves and what it means to live and compete as Christians. The AIS staff in South Africa was great to work with, and the players learned a great deal from them about handling adversity and following God’s lead.”

The team also had the opportunity to visit a game reserve outside Johannesburg and see lions, rhinos, and cheetahs. After flying to Cape Town, the Eastern team had the opportunity to visit an AIS site called the Ark, which is a city of refuge. They spent time with 25 children who were there without parents. After plans for a soccer clinic were ruined by rain, the team spent time with the kids. The children performed songs and dances and listened as the Eastern girls shared their life stories. The children were amazing in their joy, and they loved to have the team there.

“Coming to South Africa has been an amazing experience in so many ways,” Graf said.  “There have been many situations that have shown me that not only am I truly blessed with my life, but that I can now appreciate everything that I have.”

“We had an amazing experience at the Ark today," Kara Neef said.  “In my life, I have never seen so many smiling faces and happy hearts before from such precious children despite their background and living situations. We took a little tour of the orphanage and then we were given the privilege of interacting with the children and just spending time with them.”