Volleyball Eagles Travel to Costa Rica

When Costa Ricans use the phrase “Pura Vida,” it has a lot of different meanings – “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “This is living,” “Going great!” or even “Awesome!” or “Cool!”

Don’t be surprised to hear “Pura Vida” a lot in Hanner Fieldhouse when the 2012 volleyball season gets underway this fall.

The phrase was just one of the things picked up by the Georgia Southern Eagles on their trip abroad to Costa Rica from May 15-23, 2012.

The Eagles spent a lot of time taking in the sights and culture of Costa Rica on the trip, and got the opportunity to play three matches against the Costa Rica national volleyball team.

Even with all the distractions of being in a new country, hearing the opposing team speaking Spanish and playing in an open-air gym, the Eagles locked in on the game when it was time to play.

“Just hearing a different language across the net from you was one of the things that made it such a unique experience,” said Georgia Southern head coach Chad Callihan. “We have all these different things going on, and it’s easy to get off track when you’re in a different country. You’re doing all these different activities and all of a sudden it’s, ‘Hey, it’s time to play.’ It’s an opportunity to focus and concentrate on the game and say, ‘Give the game three hours of your undivided attention, then we’ll get back to doing something else.’ You need to be able to flip that switch when the season starts.”

Off the court, there were plenty of teambuilding activities taking place, including a Tarzan swing over the Costa Rican jungle.

“It was something the kids may never have had the opportunity to do without Georgia Southern volleyball,” said assistant coach Crystal Poskey. “The fact that everyone in the group did it – we all did it together and nobody sat out – I think that helped a lot.”

It wasn’t easy for everybody on the team, especially setter Kate Van Dyke.

“They literally just pushed her off of it,” laughed Callihan. “She was not a willing participant when she got up there, so they just gave her a little nudge to get her on her way. It was pretty funny.”

The teambuilding wasn’t restricted to the activities, either. Callihan saw just how close the group has become, even based on their interactions while traveling Costa Rica on a bus.

“Everybody has their own little quirks, their own idiosyncrasies. We’re so close as a team, we can just laugh about those things rather than taking it personally or too seriously,” he said. “I thought it was neat to see that we’ve gotten to the point where we’re close and everybody knows pretty much everything about the other person. Going into the season, we’ve got a really tightly-knit group.”

The Eagles also swam in hot springs formed by Arenal volcano, one of the 10 most active volcanos in the world, went white-water rafting, visited central market, which is similar to a farmer’s market with produce, seafood and knick-knacks, and spent time on a working coffee plantation.

“We’re still drinking that coffee at the house right now,” Callihan said. “We had people who don’t even like coffee who couldn’t stop drinking it because it was so good.”

The Eagles found the culture to be relaxed and friendly, and the biggest adjustment was getting used to the Colon, Costa Rica’s currency which translates roughly to 500 for each American dollar.

“It’s kind of strange when you see a bill for 2 million,” said Poskey.

The Eagles returned home from the nine-day trip on May 23. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) permits programs to travel abroad once every four years, and trips like the one to Costa Rica are still relatively uncommon to Georgia Southern’s league.

“This may be the first time anyone in the Southern Conference has taken a trip like this,” Callihan said. “I think it’s a growing trend, and if you fundraise well, thing like this trip become a possibility.”