By Judy Reed

If you’ve been thinking about hosting an exchange student, and would like to try it out on a short-term basis (four weeks), this summer might be the time to try it. If you do, you will not only get to help a teen from another culture, you will also be helping some members of the Cedar Springs boys soccer team fund a trip to Brazil.

According to the Red Hawk boys soccer coach Kyle Avink, he and JV coach Josh Hause are taking the three Varsity captains, Robert Klein, Aaron Dault, and Trevor Rose, who will be seniors next year, to Niteroi, Brazil. They are leaving on June 15, and they will stay for two weeks. While there they will train for 30 hours per week with a semi-professional soccer club, attend a game, and do some sightseeing.

“Every year I take the captains somewhere for leadership training,” explained Avink. “This year I wanted it to be big, because this is the first group I’ve had all four years. I joked about taking them to Brazil, and somehow it worked out.”

Avink hopes that the boys will bring back something they can share with the whole team about what they’ve learned—whether it’s another way of playing or something else. He also said that in the future he’d like to take all the seniors.

Avink partnered with the Counsel for Educational Travel, USA (CETUSA), who is looking for host families for a four-week commitment during July 21-August 18.  For every Cedar Springs area family that hosts an exchange student during that time, CETUSA will fund the soccer trip $200. “We are looking for a bout 25 host families,” said Avink. “We want to keep costs down as much as possible.”

They are also looking at doing some other fundraising also, such as a 50/50 raffle at the girls soccer game on May 21, a popcorn drive, and other things. But they will also accept direct donations.

If you are interested in hosting an exchange student to help the soccer team, or would like to make a direct donation, you can contact Coach Avink at kyleavink@gmail.com.