The Thunder women's basketball team departs campus on Monday, May 11 for a weeklong sports ministry trip to Costa Rica. The program has partnered with High Performance Sports (HPS) and will be serving in Costa Rica on athletic missions from January 11-18. In Costa Rica, the players, coaches, alumnae and staff will serve in over three different ministries (special needs, widows, children and teens, etc.), compete against local teams, and conduct basketball clinics. Everyone will also have opportunities to explore the area of Coronado, near Bráulio Carrillo National Park, do white water rafting in the Pacuare River and visit area communities.
Updates will be provided throughout the trip so be sure to check back to this page throughout the week.
DAY 1 UPDATE ---
DAY 2 UPDATE ---
DAY 3 UPDATE ---
DAY 4 UPDATE ---
DAY 5 UPDATE ---
DAY 6 UPDATE ---
DAY 7 UPDATE ---
DAY 8 UPDATE
DAY 1 (Monday, May 11)
The team departed campus at 2:45 a.m. on Monday morning for O'Hare Airport. Travel went smoothly with a stop over in Atlanta and the group arrived safely at Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica and then advanced to their accommodations for the next week with High Performance Sports (HPS). HPS host for the week, Ronny. Following orientation the team took a beautiful hike in mountains near HPS headquarters to San Pancracio Coffee shop. At the coffee shop, they had fresh locally sourced coffee, fruit drinks and desserts. Following the visit to the coffee the team returned to HPS for dinner and visited to close out the night.
DAY 2 (Tuesday, May 12)
A 6:00 a.m. start time to the day greeted the team and staff, along with a homemade breakfast. Following breakfast, the group headed to San Ramon to a public school in the city for special needs students (PICTURED LEFT). The team and coaches performed two sets of sessions with the the school's younger students and then followed with the older students, engaging with both groups in a series of activities. At the end of the first session, the school's director honored the the team with a certificate of appreciation for their work at the school. At the conclusion of the sessions, the director gave a tour of the facility and the team had a wonderful lunch prepared by the school staff.
Folling the visit to San Ramon, The team boarded their bus for Cerro Espiritu Santo, one of the most scenic views in the area. Following a 25-minute hike to the top, the group found an unfinished, abandoned shrine at the top of the mountain. At an elevation of 6,000 feet the team took in the remarkable views and amazing nature that surrounded them. Along with the abandoned shrine, was a venue for speakers and musical artists. It was here, surrounded by this natural beauty, that Coach Madsen gave the team a devotional on being rooted in the Lord. Following this visit, the team went to an area supermarket for snacks and drinks to prepare for their final stop of the day.
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The team's busy day closed at an area school where they were scheduled to host clinics and play a game. They arrived early for the clinics and were invited to join the school children that were playing volleyball. Following, volleyball was the first of two clinics - the opening clinic was with younger students. In this session there were three stations that consisted of passing, dribbling and shooting drills. In the second session with older students, the same stations were used and an agility station was added. Following the stations, a series of games were played by the students, including knockout. Once the clinic concluded, Wheaton's team and a local team began warming up for the game scheduled to follow. The two teams were a mix of Wheaton's players and the local players as they had an exciting 40 minutes of action. Following the game, the teams prayed, the local group gave everyone from Wheaton a gift and the team headed back to HPS headquarters (with a stop for dinner.) Upon arriving at HPS at 10:30 p.m., Ronny and Coach Madsen praised the team for their effort and Ronny shared the plan for Wednesday's busy day of activities.
DAY 3 (Wednesday, May 13)
The team departed HPS headquarters early on Wednesday morning for a work project at a local church. The team and staff broke into two groups. The first group moved dirt to prepare the church for a future parking lot, as the group moved an immense amount of dirt in the project. The other group worked to prepare for bleachers at the soccer field at the church campus that serves the entire nearby community. One section of the group moved much of the dirt in their area to to the area of the future bleachers, while the group in the area for the bleachers poured dirt into the specified area, cleared the area and leveled it. Later all groups participated in creating and pouring the concrete that will house the future bleachers.The team's dedication and hard work impressed the church staff and construction workers who worked alongside all of the groups all morning. At the conclusion of the work the church prepared a delicious meal for the team and staff and then the team headed back to HPS headquarters.
After a quick clean up, everyone headed out again. After a stop at a local coffee shop for fresh coffee and baked goods the team headed to another clinic for area youth. The clinic was for area boys in new program after drills with the youngsters, the team played a scrimmage against them and then later mixed the groups to close out the event. Following a group picture and prayer the team returned to HPS for delicious dinner, and visited with each other to close out the day.
DAY 4 (Thursday, May 14)
Following breakfast the team departed for a local supermarket where everyone competed in teams of two to purchase select items on a budget.
Lydia Brogan and
Paige Ferwerda won the supermarket challenge. The groceries from the supermarket challenge were part of the group's next ministry opportunity, the widow's ministry.
At the widow's ministry, the group heard from Isabella, the organization's founder about how she started the ministry. Additionally, Isabella's son and one of the women that was deeply impacted by the ministry. While there, the group was served a delicious lunch, sang worship songs, and visited with Isabella, women from her ministry and her son.
Following the trip to the widow's ministry, the group visited POPS ice cream shop in Coronado where everyone enjoyed frozen treats and Lydia and Paige received their prize from the supermarket challenge. Following a brief stop back at HPS the group departed for their next clinic. The clinic saw the team work with and encourage an enthusiastic group of youngsters coached by former NBA player Keith Closs. Following the clinic, Closs spoke to group and shared his appreciation for Wheaton's visity.
Ann Magee Stradinger gave her testimony and
Sydney Athearn led the group in prayer.
When the team returned to HPS they had another terrific meal and met with HPS' Ronny to preview the upcoming day, have a powerful conversation, pray and sing worship songs.
DAY 5 (Friday, May 15)
On Friday morning the team headed to Thrive Ministries. The group played with local children in the ministry, and later moved to a local park for soccer and games. On the return to the Thrive facility, everyone had a lunch of KFC (children's choice) followed by more visits with the children. Everyone headed back to the park for dodgeball, coloring and more activities. Later the group visited with the children at another Thrive facility before returning to HPS.
The team had a quick stop back at HPS and headed out to their final clinic of the week. They did drills and worked with a local team for the final clinic that closed with a few words from coach Madsen and a prayer. Following the clinic, Wheaton played a game against the Costa Rican U-20 National Team.
Wheaton defeated the Costa Rican team, 52-47. Wheaton played well throughout the night in the contest, despite the game coming at the end of a busy week. The Thunder won the contest in three-quarters, 52-47. Wheaton's defense impressed and Grace Kaiser was among the multiple standouts for the Thunder in her final game in a Wheaton jersey. The two teams played one quarter with mixed squads to wrap up the evening and then shared pictures, held conversations and traded jerseys.
DAY 6 (Saturday, May 16)
On Saturday, the Thunder started the day with a visit to a visit to a local farmers market and returned with fresh fruit and pastries for breakfast. The team returned to HPS for for breakfast before heading out for their next ministry opportunity.
The next stop was a visit to Thrive Ministries' home for teenage girls. There several members of the team and staff met with the girls and worked on their hair and nails in a unique ministry opportunity.
The team returned to HPS headquarters for lunch and back for their long overnight stay in Turrialba. Next up was a stop for 'coffee in the clouds' in an adventurous drive to a coffee house in the mountains under rainy and foggy conditions in a one-of-a-kind setting where the team had coffee and other drinks, with pastries.
Next was a long trip through the mountains to their hotel in Turrialba. Once settled into the hotel, the team had an enjoyable dinner where most in the group had either chifrijo or salmon. Everyone relaxed at the hotel following dinner or utilized the beautiful surroundings in preparing for the upcoming day.
DAY 7 (Sunday, May 17)
Sunday started with devotions from Coach Madsen in a beautiful setting in the hotel as rain came in. Among the points made was praise for the players that made the trip this week and their families for the way that the team members represented themselves throughout the week.
The team then took another adventurous drive expertly handled by their driver Eduardo (the best driver in Costa Rica). Once the drive was completed the team was at the Pacuare River for a whitewater rafting adventure. The 27 kilometer trip included Class III & Class IV rapids, beautiful surroundings and scenery. Among the sights seen were toucans, iguanas, numerous waterfalls and tropical rainforest views. Many members of the group enjoyed opportunities to get out and float in the river. Halfway through the four-hour adventure the guides paused to prepare a lunch of tacos and fresh fruit and resumed the trip. The group cleaned up following the whitewater rafting and prepared for a lengthy trip back to HPS as they traveled through the mountains and traffic.
During the trip there were stops for souvenirs, coffee orders and snacks. Once back at HPS the team and staff had dinner and then spent time reflecting on the week-long adventure and closed with worship songs.
DAY 8-9 (Monday-Tuesday, May 18-19)
On Monday, the team headed for the airport and bid farewell to their host Ronny followed by a farewell to expert driver Eduardo at the airport. Once at the airport, mechanical issues with their airplane delayed the return home by one day. They group spent one more night, unexpectedly, in Costa Rica at a hotel near the airport. The team had dinner at the hotel, had more opportunity for fellowship and reflection in preparation for Tuesday's return to the United States.
On Tuesday there were no travel issues and once the group landed in Atlanta members of the traveling party made their way to various destinations to conclude a memorable week.
