Australia adventure rewarding for Springer

Hudson's Rebecca Springer missed three of her team's six games due to injury, but still had fun making friends and eating kangaroo tail soup.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000

Other than the fact she sprained a knee ligament and missed three games and got home a day late because of delayed flights, Rebecca Springer would do it again.

She would wash the cars. She would walk the neighborhood asking for support in an effort to raise the $4,000 needed to play in the Kanga Cup International Soccer Tournament.

The 16-year-old, who was one of two players from Florida to compete in the event July 2-9 in Canberra, Australia, returned home last Wednesday.

"It was great," said Springer, a rising junior at Hudson. "It was very energy draining. I learned you could get along with people you don't know just by having one thing in common."

Her team consisted of players from eight states and was part of a program called People to People Sports Ambassadors, a program founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In six games, the team finished with a 2-2-2 record, losing in the semifinals 3-0 to another team from the U.S.

"We clicked all together really good," Springer said. "I miss them. They were a lot of fun. I think we had one of the best teams there. We could have gone all the way. Our team really got along. There were no fights."

Springer and the team practiced with professional players, coaches and trainers for five days in New Zealand.

"I learned a lot of new drills for my team," she said. "I learned it's also not just a physical game. It's a lot mental. If you don't think you can do something that's why. You have to believe you can do it."

The team then transferred to Australia for the tournament.

Springer scored a goal in a 2-1 victory against an Australian team, but injured her knee at the end of the game and missed the final three games.

"I was very disappointed," Springer said. "I still sat on the bench, took notes for my coach. I was very much involved."

The trip wasn't all soccer though.

There were opportunities for sightseeing each day.

She saw the Opera House in Sydney, went to Planet Hollywood in Auckland, played Laser Tag and ate kangaroo tail soup and kangaroo sausage.

"It tastes like beef stew," she said of the soup.

Springer also had an opportunity to meet players on the Australia women's national soccer team and watch a Canberra Raiders rugby game.

"It was very interesting," she said. "The opening of the game they had skydivers. It was a big game because one of the guys (Laurie Daley) on the home team was retiring."

In between, she also found time to call her parents -- Darrell and Eleanor.

"We talked to her two or three times," Darrell said. "Just going, just being able to participate was worth it for her. When I was younger that would've never happened. How many 16 year olds do you know that have traveled halfway around the world?"

Getting back might have been the biggest journey. A delayed flight in Australia caused her to miss a connection and spend a night in Miami before coming home.

"She's now a world traveler," Darrell said. "You're not really a world traveler until you have a trip like that."

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