Looking for some offseason action, the team headed down to Colombia’s capital city, Bogota, to play three games, do some work in the community, and explore.

This past reading week, Huskie Women’s Soccer got the rare opportunity to play soccer outdoors in the winter, highlighted by a game against a local professional club. 

A major change of scenery from slow-paced Saskatoon, Bogota is a bustling city with almost 12 million people in its metropolitan area, making it one of the largest cities in the world. 

Nestled just north of the equator amongst the Andes, the city boasts an average altitude of 2,640 meters above sea level. Not only does the altitude help contribute to a cool, consistent climate which averages highs of 20 degrees year round, but the thin air also results in reduced oxygen levels, which proves to be particularly challenging as a soccer player. 

Arriving at four in the morning on the first Saturday, we took a day of rest before we kicked into gear Sunday morning with a much needed three kilometer sprint interval run to help adjust ourselves to the altitude for the games. 

Interestingly, we were able to do this on the street in front of our hotel, which just one day before had been bustling with bumper to bumper traffic but now was overrun by swaths of Bogotanos walking, running, and cycling. 

This access to foot traffic is because of an innovative program in Bogota known as Ciclovía. Since 1974, every Sunday and public holiday in Bogota has been marked by the closing down of over 100 kilometers of road to motor vehicles to allow foot traffic. 

This was one of many major cultural differences we came to appreciate during our time in Bogota. As Cheyenne Lehman, a third-year forward put it, “It shocked me how active everyone was. They’d just close down the streets on Sunday so everyone could run and be active, which is something I wish we could do here in North America.”

After we had finished our run, we travelled across the city to a small field where we helped coach a local academy of young soccer players, as well as donated gently used and new soccer equipment for the children to play in. In exchange, we were treated to a picnic of empanadas, arepas, and fresh Colombian coffee.

While it was initially tough to overcome the language barrier, the session was a great success, with lots of new soccer skills and dance moves learned. 

“It was a really cool experience to be able to share my love and passion for soccer with the kids,” remarked Lehman. “Just seeing how their training environment is compared to ours, it’s really cool. It made me realize how lucky we are to play on a well kept field – but honestly, it definitely explains why their touch is so good.”

The following day was game day against Future Soccer, the champions of Bogota’s local semi-professional women’s league. During this first game, we quickly realized the altitude affects soccer in yet another major way – the speed of the ball is much faster in the thinner air. While it was initially a difficult challenge to overcome, we were able to come away with a 6-0 win.

Two days later, on Wednesday, we would go on to face Universidad de Sergio Arboleda, the champions of the Bogota’s university women’s league at a beautiful grass field located on the outskirts of the city. 

Although we would go on to win the game 10-1, the game was not without its challenges. With many players sick, second-year goalkeeper Julie Snider had to enter the game as a forward in the second half – and would go on to score her first goal as a Huskie!

The following day, a few players including Lehman would take the opportunity to rise early and train with local professional team Patriotas Boyaca women.

“Getting to practice on Thursday morning was probably my favorite part of the trip,” commented Lehman. “Even though it was difficult to communicate, it was cool to actually interact with the other team and be put into a training environment that was different from what I’m used to.”

The next day we would go on to play against the Patriotas to wrap up our series of games. We would play against them at the training facility of Millonarios F.C., another local professional club and one of Colombia’s most iconic and successful teams. The game was hard fought and would conclude in a 2-2 draw, leaving us with lots of valuable takeaways from the world of professional soccer. 

“I need to be a lot more physical and go into stronger tackles as that’s what other players are going to be doing to me. So I just have to be strong physically,” reflected Lehman, who hopes to one day play professional soccer as well. “It was a cool experience. I enjoyed playing all the games, especially our final game against the professional team. It was definitely competitive and a big learning curve.”

While soccer occupied much of our time, the trip wasn’t all business. We still got to explore some popular tourist attractions in Colombia’s most populous city. 

Highlights included: riding a funicular to the top of Monserrate, a mountain which at 3,152 metres provides a stunning view of the entire city; exploring the gold museum, which details the history of precolonial goldworking by Colombia’s Indigenous peoples; and heading to the nearby town of Zipaquira to explore the Salt Cathedral, a massive Catholic cathedral built 180 metres underground in a decommissioned salt mine. 

In such a large and historical city, this is just the tip of the iceberg of interesting attractions for tourists to experience. 

“I would definitely recommend other people to travel there. It was exciting to see something different in terms of living style and culture,” said Lehman. “I love my teammates, and they’re all amazing people to be with, so that also made the trip that much better. I’m so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be able to travel with my team to Colombia and play the sport I love!”