Averett University women's soccer senior Rosa Morales has always been an advocate of helping out people in need in developing countries who aren't as privileged. During a three-week span over the summer, Morales got the chance to use sports to bridge social issues through the nonprofit organization Coaches Across Continents while working in Lebanon and Armenia.

"Coaches Across Continents is a nonprofit organization that basically uses sport for social impact," Morales said. "The experience that I had was phenomenal. It was really eye-opening to see what people were dealing with, the lifestyles and all of that."

Coaches Across Continents has worked in 54 countries on six different continents, impacting over 100 million consumers and 16 million children in "working to design, develop and implement corporate and foundation legacies," according to its mission. Morales got the chance to work with the organization through a familiar face, Ashlyn Hardie, who was a graduate assistant coach for the women's soccer team from fall 2015 until spring 2017.

"She thought it would be a great idea and that I would be really fitting for the role to volunteer overseas," Morales said.

Morales, who also plays women's lacrosse at Averett, has been a standout for the women's soccer team, starting 33 of 34 games for the Cougars over the past two seasons. She has impressed both on the field and in the classroom, earning USA South Academic All-Conference honors in both her sophomore and junior seasons.. Morales is also Averett's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) treasurer for the 2018-19 academic year.

Morales said the strong bond between her and Hardie built during the time working together made the experience overseas that much more beneficial.

"I loved her competitive nature," Morales said. "She was very organized, driven and motivated to be the best she could be. She always wanted to help other people out to reach their potential and all of that. I think that we really connected on that level and I think that's what drew me and her close. So I think having that connection overseas made the experience that much more worthwhile."

Morales mentioned how eye-opening it was to see so many refugees in Lebanon who didn't have things that are seen as basic needs in America — such as health care, a governing body and a simply having a roof over your head.

"In Lebanon, I was working with Palestinian and Syrian refugees," Morales said. "What was really surprising was that some of the Palestinian refugees had been living there since the 1940s, but they were still only given the right to an education. They had absolutely no representation, they had no parliament, they had no health care, they were still living in little shacks and little tents. They weren't getting any support from the government, which is really sad to me, but it was really eye-opening. I think it's really important for people to understand what other people are going through."

This is where the role of sports in society comes into play. No matter where a person comes from, sports have a knack for bringing people from different backgrounds together and giving them something to relate to. Morales added that sports can act as an escape from everyday problems and give people a chance to relax and have fun. Soccer in particular has this effect as the most popular sport in the world.

"Sports play such a huge and incredible role in bringing people together during hardships," Morales said. "People rely on outlets and different sources of relief from their hardships and I think sport is a big one. Soccer has such a large community across the globe and it continues to keep growing. People are always watching soccer games, people are always looking up to soccer players as their idols, and just seeing people that they can look up to coming together to help them out, I think is re.ally incredible."

As a whole, her experience with Coaches Across Continents helped her not only hone her skills as a player and leader, but general life skills and global knowledge as well.

"I learned a lot about different coaching techniques," Morales said. "I learned a lot about self-directed learning, and I learned a lot about life skills and development. So I learned more about communication, having empathy for people, cooperation, teamwork and participation. Making sure that whatever you're doing, you're getting the optimum result of that experience and just putting your all into it and making sure that everyone's included, making sure that no one's left behind and just enjoying what you do."

In terms of what she wants to do after she graduates later this school year, Morales revealed she really never had an interest in coaching, and that this experience has actually made it difficult to zero-in on one particular thing after giving her so more possible career paths to take post-graduation.

"Out of school, it has definitely made it harder for me to decide," Morales said. "I've had so many different opportunities in so many different fields already, and all of these fields have such great benefits and such great experiences that I'm taking from each one and it's so hard to choose."

For more, Morales wrote about her experience in a journal entry for the Coaches Across Continents website titled, "It's Your Turn," available at this link: https://coachesacrosscontinents.org/its-your-turn/