International travel is an important part of the Rhodes Soccer program. Coach Marcinko's first experiences abroad date back to his youth playing days, when he spent a month in Great Britain, training and playing with a select team from Dallas, TX. Since those days, he has traveled to 34 countries on four continents with soccer teams, sharing soccer experiences along with priceless cultural experiences. The NCAA permits Division III teams to travel abroad once every three years, allowing members of each class the opportunity to make a trip during their four years at Rhodes.
2018: Germany/Austria
The Rhodes College Men’s Soccer team returned to Memphis Sunday night from a successful 12-day preseason trip to Austria and Germany. Based at The BSFZ sports centre in Obertraun Austria, the team was able to spend a full week training while also taking in many of the sights in the Austrian Alps. The team played three very competitive games against Upper Austria Regional League teams. The team also spent two days in Salzburg, Austria and two days in Munich, Germany. This was the 9
th International tour for the men’s soccer team since 1991.
2015: Germany
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Head Rhodes soccer coach
Andy Marcinko announced on Thursday that the the men's soccer program will embark on its eighth International Pre-Season Tour August 6-17 this year to Germany.
The team will be based in Hennef, Germany just outside Cologne, for training camp and will also spend several days in Oberwesel on the Rhine River and Mainz just outside of Frankfurt. Rhodes will play 3-4 friendly matches as they prepare for the 2015 season with hopes of improving on their 2014 season's fourth place Southern Athletic Association Conference finish.
The NCAA permits Division III teams to travel abroad once every three years, allowing members of each class the opportunity to make a trip during their four years at Rhodes. The men's soccer team made the College's first International sports trip in 1993 to the Czech Republic and Austria. Other tour's were made in 1996 to Belgium, Germany and Holland, 1999 to Germany and Austria, 2002 to Germany, Austria and Hungary , 2006 to Germany, 2009 to Germany, Austria and the Slovak Republic and 2012 to Germany and Austria.
Marcinko led his Rhodes women's teams abroad in 1994 to Finland and Estonia, and 1997 to Holland, Denmark and Sweden. Marcinko also took alumni trips to the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
2012: Germany-Austria
Fifteen members of the Rhodes Soccer team travelled to Germany and Austria for an International pre-season tour, August 2-13. The team had a successful trip, winning 1 game and tying 3 games. The lone win came against SAK 1914 of Salzburg, Austria in the Lynx' opening match, a 3-2 result. While at the Austrian National
training center in Obertraun, the team played 3 more matches, all resulting in 1-1 draws , against SV Ebensee, ASKO Gosau and SV Traunkirchen. The team spent the final 3 days of the trip relaxing in Munich Germany where they toured the Allianz Arena -FC Bayern Museum, The Olympic Village, Schloss Nymphenburg, Dachau Concentration Camp and the Altstadt of Munich. The Rhodes Soccer team travels to Europe for preseason every 3 years. This year's preseason trip marks the seventh European Preseason trip since 1993.
2012 trip photo gallery
2009: Germany-Austria-Slovak Republic
The Rhodes Men's Soccer team completed its 6th international preseason trip August 16th, just in time to return for the start of preseason 2009 on August 19th. The team traveled to Munich Germany, Salzburg Austria, and Vienna Austria, where the team was based for most of the trip at the sports center BSFZ Sudstadt. The team also traveled to Bratislava, Slovakia to play a friendly match with Slovan Bratislava, a team the 1993 team also played on the first ever Rhodes Soccer trip. The team was able to play three matches while in Austria, winning two against Austrian club teams ASC Modling and PlayPoint Vienna. While in Munich, the team was able to visit Allianz Stadium the day before Bayern Munich's 2009 home opener. The team also enjoyed the familiar sites of Munich, including the Marienplatz, the Frauenkirche, the Residenz, the Olympic Village, and Nymphenburg Palace. While traveling in Austria, the team visited Melk Abbey and Mathausen concentration camp just outside of Linz. Salzburg visits included the Old Nazi Documentation Center and Bunkers. When the team had time off from training in Vienna, they were able to visit the Hofburg, the Imperial Treasury, Schonbrunn Palace, and St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was an enjoyable trip for everyone (including player/coach Neil Brunetz '97) and a great way to get a jump on the 2009 season.
2009 trip photo gallery
2006: Germany
In 2006, the Rhodes men's soccer team traveled to Germany in August for their 5th International Tour since 1993. The team was based just outside of Frankfurt in Grunberg, at the Hessen Soccer Association's regional training center.
The team also spent several days in Erbach, about an hour south of Frankfurt. The team trained every day and played three friendly matches during their stay, beating SG Birklar of Giessen, SV Hassenroth of Verinshiem and losing to TSV Grunberg. When not training, the team was able to explore the surrounding areas which included visits to the Gothic Cathedral in Cologne, Heidelberg Castle, Erbach Palace, Schloss Fulda, Marburg Castle, The Romerberg in Frankfurt and the medieval village of Alsfeld.
The 2006 trip was coach Marcinko's 8th international soccer trip since arriving at Rhodes in 1991. Other trips have been as follows... 1993: Czech and Slovack Republics; 1994 (women): Finland and Estonia; 1996: Belgium, Holland and Germany; 1998 (women): Holland, Denmark and Sweden; 1998: Alumni World Cup Trip to France; 1999: Germany and Austria, and 2002: Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
2006 trip photo gallery
2002: Germany-Austria-Hungary Marcinko and the Rhodes men's soccer team added another chapter to an already storied international travel history August 1-13, 2002 with a preseason tour to Austria, Germany, and Hungary. After arriving in Munich, the team spent two days in Salzburg, Austria, sightseeing and adjusting to the time change. The team then moved on to its training center in Stubenburg, Austria, at the Schielleiten Sports Center-one of six National Sports Centers in Austria. Schloss Schielleiten (Castle Schielleiten) is an 18th-century palace that was converted into a sports center in the early 1930's.
Rhodes was able to play four of its six scheduled friendly matches, having to cancel two of the contests due to the the heavy rains and flooding that plagued the area during most of August. The team traveled to Szombathley, Hungary for its first match, which resulted in a tie with Haladas. Rhodes then hosted and defeated USV Kaindorf, but later lost to a very good Sturm Graz team-one of the top professional clubs in Austria. After an eight day stay at Schielleiten, the team moved on to Vienna for two days and was able to enjoy many of the sights of the Hofburg and the Imperial City.
Rhodes also played its last match in Vienna, defeating USV Gablitz to end the tour with a 2-1-1 record. Although it was mainly a soccer tour, the team was able to get out and see many of the sights in the areas they visited. most memorable were trips to Riegersburg Fortress-a castle built on a 500 ft. volcanic cone; the Armory Museum in Graz; Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg; the State Opera House in Vienna; and Marienplatz, the Glockenspiel, and the Hofbrauhaus-all in Munich.
2002 trip photo gallery
1999: Germany-Austria
1999 saw the men's soccer team travel to Europe in early August for an 11 day preseason tour of Germany and Austria. The team of 14 players was based at the Gundelfingen training center in Gundelfingen, Germany (between Munich and Stuttgart) for 7 days before moving on to Salzburg, Austria for 4 days. Hosted by FC Gundelfingen, the squad trained daily and played several local amateur teams from Landesberg, Bachagel, Lauidinberg and Dillingen--winning each game. The most difficult match of the trip took place in Salzburg, against ASK-Salzburg, a Landesliga 2 team (Austrian 2nd Division).
Facing a much more skillful Austrian team, the Lynx played an organized and stingy defense, only to give up a goal in the 86th minute and settle for a 1-1 tie and a 4-0-1 record for the tour. Although it was primarily a soccer trip, the group was able to venture out and enjoy many of the surrounding cities and sights. Some of the most memorable sights were Neuschwanstein Castle near Schwangau, Ulm Cathedral, the second largest Gothic cathedral in Germany, Hitler's Eagle's Nest above Berchtesgarden, Salzburg Fortress, the concentration camp memorial at Dachau, Olympic Village in Munich, and the Royal Palace in Stuttgart. The team also witnessed a total solar eclipse, the last of the millennium, while visiting Berchtesgarden.
1999 trip photo gallery
1998: France-World Cup
A group of soccer alumni also made a trip to Europe in 1998. Coach Andy Marcinko and four men's alumni: Everette Herring '94, Justin Klestinski '94, Brian O'Neill '94, and Andy Wildman '96, traveled to France for the 1998 World Cup. All were veterans of previous Rhodes Soccer tours. Based in Paris, the group was able to attend a game at Stade de France and watched several others at the main square. They also traveled to Bordeaux to see a second round game between Romania and Croatia. When not watching games, they visited sights in Paris and also traveled to Versaille, Mont St. Michel, Caen, and Marseille.
1998 Trip Photo Gallery
In August 1996, the men's team traveled to Europe for a 10-day tour of Holland, Germany and Belgium. Based at the Bleyerheide Sports Center in Kerkrade Holland, not far from the German border, Rhodes played against three professional teams that were on preseason training tours of Holland--Kfar Saba and Hapeol Askolon from Israel, and Ismailya from Egypt. Other games were against Borussia Brand of the German First Division Amateur League, Dutch First Division Amateurs F.C. Venlo, and Lindenheuvel. The players attended several professional games, as well, including the final games of the Limburg Cup with Dutch teams Fortuna Sittard, MVV, Venlo VV, and JC Roda. The team also trained with Fortuna Sittard's head coach Pim Verbeek and assistant Jan Lauers. When they weren't playing soccer, the Lynx went on sightseeing trips to Liege, Belgium; Achen and Cologne, Germany; and Maastricht and Amsterdam, Holland.
1996 trip photo gallery
1993: Austria-Czech Republic-Slovak Republic
In August 1993, head coach Andy Marcinko took 14 members of the Rhodes men's soccer team on a tour of the Czech Republic and Austria, marking the first time a Rhodes athletic team had ever competed outside the United States. Hosted by F.C. Brno of the Czech First Division, the team played seven games in nine days and posted a very respectable 2-4-1 record, considering the competition. They trained with professional F.C. Brno coaches, as well as with the Czech Republic national team assistant coach, Masapust, who was European player of the year in 1962 and a member of the Czech World Cup squad in the 1960s.
Rhodes also opened F.C. Brno's new athletic facility with a 3-2 victory over the Czech Division I champions of 1978. The team also traveled to Bratislava in the Slovak Republic, where they matched up with Slovan Bratislava for a match that ended in a 2-2- draw. The highlight of the trip, however, was challenging professional team Dukla Prague, resulting in a 2-0 loss, in their 40,000-seat stadium.
1993 trip photo gallery
