PRETORIA, South Africa - Three members of the Western New England College men's soccer team are in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup Championship, which begins on Friday (June 11).
Juniors
Shawn Fitzpatrick (Burnt Hills, NY) and
Sean Healey (Portland, CT), and sophomore
Nick Starr (Somers, CT) are among 13 individuals taking part in the College's "Seminar Abroad 2010: FIFA World Cup/South Africa."
You can follow their travels on-line here.
Western New England College sports management professors
Curt Hamakawa and
Dan Covell are leading the group, which includes 11 students.
Senior
David Fitzpatrick (Burnt Hills, NY), who was a four-year member of the WNEC men's soccer squad, is also making the trip as is senior men's tennis captain and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president
Mike Jones (Stone Ridge, NY).
The other students are seniors
Tim Conrod (Bristol, CT) and
Kevin Shaker (North Adams, MA), juniors
Dan Gould (Newton, MA),
Ally Ostler (Sharon, VT), and
Spencer Severs (Woodstock, CT), and sophomore
Dave Quackenbush (East Hampton, MA).
Planned activities include a behind-the-scenes tour of the FIFA International Broadcast Center, which is the media nerve center that allows fans in more than 200 countries to watch the World Cup.
The group will visit Soweto, the township famous for the 1976 protest uprisings of the then-government's apartheid policy, as well as boyhood homes to Nobel Peace Prize winners
Nelson Mandela and
Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Hamakawa and company will attend at least four matches, including the June 11 opener between South Africa and Mexico, and the much-anticipated USA-England match on June 12.
In addition, the delegation plans to visit the Pilanesburg National Park and Game Reserve.