This summer, the men’s and women’s soccer teams participated in an eight-day trip to Reykjavik, Iceland. Anna Ingisdottir ’26, a women’s soccer player from Iceland, gave her account of the trip.
“We usually do a preseason trip everywhere. We went to California my first two years. Then we went to Hawaii last year and this year we went to Iceland,” she said.
Her favorite part of the trip was being able to share her culture with her teammates.
“I think it was just a really fun experience for the soccer teams. It’s a very (good) bonding experience they all got to do. I think they see a lot more context into who I am as a person, and it’s a lot of their first time going overseas as well. So it was a very opening experience.”
In most places outside of the United States, sports teams are not affiliated with particular schools. Instead, athletes compete for club and professional teams. For their trip to Iceland, both Lewis & Clark teams participated in scrimmages against local teams.
The trip also had an educational aspect. Alongside practice, the teams went to the University of Iceland for an economics seminar and visited museums.
“It wasn’t just soccer and practice. It was three-way — we had soccer, we had tourist things and then we also were learning about Iceland and Iceland-U.S. relations,” Ingisdottir said.
Soccer is not the only athletics team that has planned to go abroad. According to Tennis Head Coach Jimmy Chau, the tennis teams are currently in the process of planning a trip to Costa Rica in 2026.
“It’s been a big thing in college sports, I guess, more recently, where this is kind of part of the experience now. I won’t say it’s expected, but more and more programs across the country are adding that to a student-athlete’s kind of journey, so to speak, through college sports and their education,” Chau said.
Due to the responsibility of athletics, many athletes choose not to go overseas for a semester or are limited to programs because of their seasons. According to Chau, this trip helps make up for that gap in experience.
“Many of our athletes don’t choose to go overseas because they don’t want to miss out on a sports season … so this is my way of giving them that overseas experience,” Chau said.
The LC tennis teams will be playing individual players from Costa Rica. Chau gave some insight into how these trips are put together.
“We were required to go through a reputable company that does these kinds of student-athlete trips. This company was actually recommended by Blythe Knott, who is obviously our Overseas Studies Director. We had a connection there, and it just worked out, because they’re based out of Costa Rica and the most well-known company there.”
According to Chau, the trip to Costa Rica is being fundraised by team members.
“Definitely, a large part of it comes from alumni and families of our current players, actually, who want to add to their experience here. But also, I ran a tennis camp this summer where all the proceeds go to this trip,” he said.
According to an email from LC Athletics, both the tennis teams and women’s lacrosse team are planning trips to other countries for 2026. Ingisdottir gave her opinion on whether more teams will want to plan trips abroad in the future.
“I’ve always heard talk about someone trying to go, but I’ve never actually seen anyone go abroad. Now I’ve heard there’s more (interest), like they’ve seen that it’s actually possible and you can do it. So I definitely think there’s gonna be more effort.”
NCAA rules allow DIII teams to travel internationally every 3 years. In the coming years, we may see more athletics teams plan trips to international destinations.
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