The entire group of 104 includes the team and many non-football players, including current BC students, faculty members and parents. The Beavers will take on the Fenix Granollers on May 19th. The game has been scheduled through Global Football (www.globalfootball.com) and the trip will meet the cross-cultural requirements of the Bluffton College undergraduate curriculum for those students wishing to take the trip for credit.
“This is a great opportunity for our team to line up against a good team from another country,” said BC head coach Carlin Carpenter. “Our preparation for this game and the camaraderie we’ll experience on this trip will definitely help our team as we prepare for the 2001 season.”
While in Spain, the team will be working in a home for battered women and children while studying the Spanish culture and fulfilling several other educational requirements. The team will also spend five days in Madrid, with a sight-seeing itinerary that includes a half-day cruise on the Mediterranean Sea and a tour of Montjuic Hill, where much of the 1992 Olympics took place.
Bluffton posted a 7-3 record last fall and won a share of the Heartland Conference championship. Their opponents in Barcelona are from a similar size college and also won their league title last fall.
“The educational value of this trip is the main reason we are going,” said Carpenter. “The experience of this trip will be a highlight of their college years, without a doubt.”
