Westfield State Women's Soccer to embark on eight day European trip

By Zach Farley

Westfield State athletic department intern

This summer the Westfield State College women's soccer team will embark on the trip of a lifetime: an eight-night journey to the Netherlands, Germany, and France, where it will play matches, sightsee, and train with European clubs.

The European excursion from Aug. 9-18 will include visits to the soccer stadium FC K�ln, the Ajax Amsterdam Arena, as well as training sessions with the Dutch national coaches. In addition, the Owls are scheduled to play four exhibition games.

Westfield State women's soccer head coach Todd Ditmar is excited his team will be able to watch professional games and train with some of the best players and coaches in Europe.

"The training will involve two-hour sessions at the Dutch national soccer academy," said Ditmar. "They will be focusing on skills training like passing and shooting. It should be very helpful to get a view from a different culture."

Among the highlights for the Westfield State traveling party of 23 will be a visit to the Van Gogh Museum, which opened in 1973. It is the largest collection of Van Gogh works and contains more than 200 paintings and 500 drawings.

"We all are excited and honored to be going on this trip." said Alicia Chandler, a sophomore from Duxbury. "It should be fun learning about the different cultures and how soccer is played in a different country."

The team also will visit the Anne Frank House, where Anne Frank was in hiding during the period leading up to World War II. The museum originally opened in 1960, and has since been expanded.

"This is a good opportunity for more growth, but we are already very close because we only graduated one senior." said Chandler, the team's defensive player of the year in 2007.

Other scheduled tours include the Rhine River, the Cologne Cathedral, and a canal cruise thru the center of Amsterdam. The trip will end in Paris and the soccer team hopes that will be extra special. The team will visit and have lunch at the Eiffel Tower, then take a boat tour on the Seine River.

"I am very excited to spend our last day in Paris," said Chandler. "The team would like to personally thank (Westfield State) President (Evan) Dobelle for all that he has done, especially the trip to Paris."

The Owls also hope the overseas trip can be the springboard to an outstanding season. The young team finished 4-12-1 last year and will look to draw from this trip as the tough Mass. State Conference schedule plays out in 2008.

Westfield State women's soccer assistant coach Kevin Meek, along with President Dobelle, pressed to make sure the trip would become a reality.

"He (Dobelle) made this whole thing happen, it's going to be a great experience," said Ditmar.