FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- August 26, 2002 
CONTACT: Jason Mucher, Sports Information Director (585) 567-9559

MEN’S SOCCER TEAM TRAINING IN IRELAND

HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Houghton College men’s soccer coach Dwight Hornibrook is hoping a preseason trip to Ireland is the key to bringing his team closer together and preparing them for the 2002 season.

The team left August 20 for 12 days of training on the Emerald Isle on a tour sponsored by Athletes in Action (AIA). “In terms of preseason training, we will be going about the business of getting our team ready for the season,” said Hornibrook. “It’s a good focused environment. I expect to get some quality work done and be ready for our opener on September 10.”

The quality of play is at a high level as the Highlanders are training with and playing matches against two club teams, Bangor FC and Coleraine FC. A match with a third club team is also scheduled.

Hornibrook is also excited about the Christian ministry aspect of the trip. “I don’t feel every year I have the right ingredients to pull off a trip like this, both from a team standpoint and personally. I have to be confident about the makeup of the team,” said Hornibrook. “I really feel that this group of players is the most spiritually prepared team I’ve had. They will be great representatives for Houghton College and Athletes in Action.”

The team is working in local churches and conducting kids’ clinics, but the primary ministry focus is the one-on-one sharing they do with players on the club teams.

Houghton players and coaches have worked with AIA on numerous summer playing tours in the past, and two recent graduates, Scot Hourston and Aaron Rose, work full-time with the organization and are accompanying the team to Ireland.

“AIA is very excited about us doing this. We can take their ministry to a new level in terms of the soccer component,” said Hornibrook.

This trip is the latest in Houghton’s sports ministry commitment over the past five years. The women’s soccer team has traveled to Australia and Ethiopia, volleyball made a trip to Honduras, women’s basketball has made five trips to the Czech Republic, and men’s basketball traveled to the Czech Republic on one occasion.

Houghton is a Christian liberal arts college of 1,300 students located in western New York. Houghton's 21st century is to be a model in Christian liberal arts education, developing servant-leaders in a world-class learning community, building people of Christian character to solve real-world problems.

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