TEMPE, Ariz. -- For 11 months, senior midfielder Lara Barbieri trained for an anticipated season without seeing her Sun Devil Soccer teammates in-person. In March 2020 she left Tempe for a quick trip home to wait out COVID-19, but that rapidly turned into a pilgrimage to reach the United States for her senior season amidst pandemic-enforced border closures and mandatory weeks-long quarantines.
Despite every possible obstacle and a mass of land separating her two homes, Barbieri landed state-side to cheer on the team during the home opener last week. The journey back to ASU wasn't easy and required a 15-day trek from her hometown of São Paulo, Brazil, to Cancun, Mexico, and eventually, Tempe, to join the team for the 2021 season. After arriving in the desert, Barbieri needed to complete another quarantine - seven full days - before slowly integrating into team activities. By sure determination and flexibilty, Barbieri made it just in time to watch her teammates compete in the season opener against UTEP last Thursday.
THE JOURNEY
Barbieri went home in March 2020 when school was canceled, having intentions to come back in May for summer classes and training with the team. As time went on, it became clear that a May return would no longer be possible due to the pandemic, and she pushed her return date back to July. Come July, the borders remained closed, and Barbieri had canceled her return trip altogether.
After two failed attempts to return to the U.S., Barbieri joined a group chat of around 200 Brazilian students who were all trying to get back to the U.S. for school. The only countries Brazilians are allowed to travel to are Mexico, Peru, and Chile, so Barbieri and two other student-athletes she met through the group chat decided to travel together to Cancun, Mexico. Upon arriving in Mexico, they had to pay $150 for a COVID-19 test and would have to quarantine in a hotel for 14-days before being able to fly to the U.S.
After leaving Brazil on January 15th, Barbieri arrived in Tempe, AZ, on January 31st and went into a 7-day quarantine before joining the team for the season.
While waiting out the situation and sifting through the changing circumstances surrounding the soccer season and border closures, Barbieri focused her attentions on the controllable: training. Various restrictions limited her ability to train and workout at the end of the spring 2020 semester, which she struggled with until June, when she was able to begin working with a trainer. In August, she started training with a former coach who helped with her conditioning and overall game. Barbieri explained that during the fall semester, the team was able to train together in Tempe and it took an adjustment for her to be able to stay fit and competitive while away from the training grounds at ASU.
The coaching staff is looking forward to assessing Lara's fitness and physicality once she is fully immersed in team activities. The Sun Devils are 2-0 after hosting non-conference opponents, UTEP and New Mexico State last weekend. ASU continues its non-conference schedule this week with a home-and-home series against GCU.
Despite every possible obstacle and a mass of land separating her two homes, Barbieri landed state-side to cheer on the team during the home opener last week. The journey back to ASU wasn't easy and required a 15-day trek from her hometown of São Paulo, Brazil, to Cancun, Mexico, and eventually, Tempe, to join the team for the 2021 season. After arriving in the desert, Barbieri needed to complete another quarantine - seven full days - before slowly integrating into team activities. By sure determination and flexibilty, Barbieri made it just in time to watch her teammates compete in the season opener against UTEP last Thursday.
THE JOURNEY
Barbieri went home in March 2020 when school was canceled, having intentions to come back in May for summer classes and training with the team. As time went on, it became clear that a May return would no longer be possible due to the pandemic, and she pushed her return date back to July. Come July, the borders remained closed, and Barbieri had canceled her return trip altogether.
After two failed attempts to return to the U.S., Barbieri joined a group chat of around 200 Brazilian students who were all trying to get back to the U.S. for school. The only countries Brazilians are allowed to travel to are Mexico, Peru, and Chile, so Barbieri and two other student-athletes she met through the group chat decided to travel together to Cancun, Mexico. Upon arriving in Mexico, they had to pay $150 for a COVID-19 test and would have to quarantine in a hotel for 14-days before being able to fly to the U.S.
After leaving Brazil on January 15th, Barbieri arrived in Tempe, AZ, on January 31st and went into a 7-day quarantine before joining the team for the season.
While waiting out the situation and sifting through the changing circumstances surrounding the soccer season and border closures, Barbieri focused her attentions on the controllable: training. Various restrictions limited her ability to train and workout at the end of the spring 2020 semester, which she struggled with until June, when she was able to begin working with a trainer. In August, she started training with a former coach who helped with her conditioning and overall game. Barbieri explained that during the fall semester, the team was able to train together in Tempe and it took an adjustment for her to be able to stay fit and competitive while away from the training grounds at ASU.
The coaching staff is looking forward to assessing Lara's fitness and physicality once she is fully immersed in team activities. The Sun Devils are 2-0 after hosting non-conference opponents, UTEP and New Mexico State last weekend. ASU continues its non-conference schedule this week with a home-and-home series against GCU.