Brooke Beasley had been on an exhibition trip with the Centre College Women's Soccer team to Ireland, but that was the only time she had been out of the country before going to Brazil recently with a USA Division III soccer tournament that had 17 players from nine different schools and 12 different home states.

Beasley, a West Jessamine High School graduate, called it an "eye opening" experience for her seeing how different everything in Brazil was compared to the United States.

"The people were very nice but honestly the trip felt more like a mission trip to me," said Beasley, who started 12 games for Centre last season. "We were able to give back to the community in different ways. The (four) teams we played were very good but at the end of the game the girls gave us hugs and told us how good we were. I even learned a little bit of Portuguese."

Beasley and Centre teammates Ella Mann, and Claire Mullen brought Centre soccer T-shirts to share and she also brought West Jessamine shirts she no longer needed.

"The girls there do not have nearly as much as we do. It was sad but heartwarming to see how much they appreciated just getting a T-shirt," she said. "We were actually thinking of trying to find an address to ship  more things to them. We gave them cleats and they were jumping up and down because they were so happy.

"It just gave me a different perspective on life. Playing soccer at my level is a cool experience but for these girls in Brazil soccer was their whole life and that made a big impact on me. They were definitely inspiring with the passion they have for soccer and I am already back in the gym preparing for our preseason."

Beasley said the competition was good and all four games her team won were close matches. She enjoyed bonding with other Division III players and now will get to play against some of them next season.

"I went on this trip to see a different country and to get to play soccer. But I grew personally from seeing how things work in other countries and the energy and gratefulness they have just to be able to play soccer," the former West Jessamine standout said. "The biggest thing I came back with was how much having an opportunity just to play soccer meant to all those girls. It made me way more grateful for all I have and what I get to do.

"Practicing and balancing school at Centre can be hard but some of the girls we played against do not even get an education. They were so grateful just to get a T-shirt."

Beasley enjoyed going on runs with her Centre teammates and getting to see Rio de Janeiro from that perspective.

"We loved those runs. There was a really long trip on the side of the beach and we would go on about 3 1/2 mile runs. You might go by a section where people were playing soccer or volleyball. You would see surfers and it seems like there were cabanas every 10 feet. It was gorgeous," she said.

"It was just a great overall experience making the trip. It was good for us to get some coaching from a new coach, play with new players and also play against some other teams that had some players who were insanely good. All my teammates have asked  me about the experience and I really hope in the future some of them get to do the same thing."