News & Events
Two City Tech Soccer Stars Arrive in South Africa for CUNYAC Goodwill Tour
From left, Marcin Buk and Daniel Rendon
Last fall, both Marcin Buk and Daniel Rendon enjoyed a strong freshman season for the City Tech men’s soccer team. On July 26, they arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, for a 14-day trip that they will remember for the rest of their lives.
The two are members of the 2006 CUNYAC Goodwill Tour of that country along with 16 additional student athletes representing 10 CUNY senior colleges and five community colleges. Also in the travel party are athletic administrators, a trainer, a representative from CUNY and the team’s two coaches, Osborne Carter (CCNY) and Kennichi Yatsuhashi (Manhattan Community College), who are also the winning coaches of the CUNY senior and community college soccer championships this past season.
"We are thrilled to be able to take this group of student-athletes on an educational trip of a lifetime," said CUNYAC Commissioner Zak Ivkovic, who is leading the Goodwill Tour. "Aside from playing friendly games, we are excited to conduct a series of clinics for kids and learn about the South African culture, history and scores of languages while spreading good will from all New Yorkers."
Rendon, 23, a native of Bogota, Colombia, who lives in Queens, was the Yellow Jackets’ top defender last season, and even managed to score three goals and pass for two assists in 12 games. A graduate of Villavicencio (a high school) in Bogota, he probably possesses the best footwork on the City Tech team. Buk, 19, a native of Jelenia Gorce, Poland, led the Yellow Jackets in shots this season with 39, while playing at both forward and midfield. Despite being held scoreless last season, Buk probably possesses the strongest shot-making ability on the young City Tech team, which may return 10 of 11 starters from a year ago. He lives in Brooklyn and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School.
"I wanted us to go to South Africa because our diversity in the CUNY system translates extremely well to a young democracy there where they have been struggling with diversity throughout their history," continued Ivkovic, who previously led CUNYAC Goodwill Tours to the Dominican Republic (men’s basketball in 2003), Ecuador (women’s basketball in 2004) and Argentina (women’s volleyball in 2005). "We want to show them how diversity can work on a small scale, just through our own little soccer team."
Off the field, the student-athletes are expected to enjoy a safari on one of the nation's game preserves and will visit the Robben Island Prison, where Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela served several years of his prison sentence. Mostly, though, Ivkovic wants the student-athletes to learn about the struggles people in other nations are facing.
The team will return on August 10th, just about a week prior to the start of practice for the 2006 season, which City Tech is approaching with great aspirations for the season under second-year coach Emeka Ezeugo. Coincidentally, Ezeugo, a native of Nigeria, played for his native country in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1994 World Cup here in the United States.
08/28/06
