Colorado College Athletics

The Colorado College men’s soccer program has an amazing history of community service all over the world. 

The Tigers have left a trail of soccer equipment from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico to Albania. They have organized soccer clinics in China and Costa Rica during two of their international trips. 

But to make its most recent contributions, the coaching staff went to extraordinary heights – 12,500 feet, to be exact. 

Head coach Horst Richardson and assistant James Wagenschutz were part of a 25-person contingent that trekked in Nepal from March 26 through April 6. 

The group was led by Erik Richardson, Horst's son who played soccer at CC from 1988 to 1991, and included Horst's daughter, Stacia Richardson Arcila, who graduated from the college in 1995. 

Erik, who is Director of Athletics and Activities at the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL), Malaysia, was making the journey with a group of high school-aged students for the sixth time. But for the first time, he was joined by his father and sister. 

“I get to see my family once a year, normally,” Erik Richardson said. “The last time was when I got married at CC on July 7, 2007, so just seeing them is great. But being with them in that part of the world, where spirituality seems to ooze from the mountains, is extra special. There is a magical energy about Nepal, particularly the Everest region.” 

Following in the footsteps of his globe-trotting father, Erik Richardson has made community service part of the experience. 

“My dad's influence has probably come through most clearly in the way that service can be a fun way to accomplish a variety of goals – most obviously helping people in need, but also the bonding between assisting members of a club or group,” said the former CC captain. “The travel, difficulties, and other obstacles involved with a service trip build life-long relationships with your teammates.” 

This year’s project was to make donations and interact with the students at the Khumjung Elementary School in Pangboche, the highest elementary school in the world. The school was one of many established by Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. 

Pangboche is located in the Khumbu Valley, one hair-raising flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, and four days of trekking toward Mount Everest, or as the locals call it, Sagarmatha. 

“One target of the trek was for us to go to that particular school and offer a donation of sports equipment to the 55 elementary school children,” Horst Richardson said. “We had gathered training items from the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the equipment room – Colorado College shirts, balls, etc. – all of which had to be hauled up there in bags on yaks over four days from Lukla to Pangboche. That, no doubt, was one of the highlights of the trip.” 

In addition to the assorted soccer equipment, members of the group also donated books and games. The ISKL students organized arts- and-crafts projects – such as making bracelets or necklaces out of beads – in which they could interact with small groups of the Sherpa students. 

“ISKL students carried their own materials up to the Pangboche School,” Erik Richardson said. “It's a real challenge physically to make it there for most of our kids coming from sea level. It's a way for ISKL students to earn CSA (Community-Service-Action) hours for their IB requirements. It's also a way to interact with the Sherpa people in a non-verbal-based but valuable and meaningful way.” 

Since little English is spoken in Nepal, the most effective form of communication with the Nepalese people was a smile. And one of the activities that put a smile on everyone's face was when Stacia Richardson, Wagenschutz and one of the ISKL teachers taught the children to do the Macarena. 

“We went through it four or five times and they caught on,” said Richardson Arcila, who earned a master of arts in teaching from CC. "They were smiling and laughing. It’s always kind of hard when you go into a place where you don’t speak the language, but kids are pretty resilient and welcoming. Some kids were pretty shy and held back, but others jumped right in. It was a really fantastic experience … one that I’ll never forget." 

Another common bond between the groups was their passion for the game of soccer. 

“The kids had a real twinkle in their eye,” Horst Richardson said. “You could see that they were thinking about playing the game, testing out the balls, putting on the shirts, things like that. They were very appreciative of any kind of donations. They wanted to show me their shirt or whatever they had learned while we were there.” 

As you might expect, playing football near the "Roof of the World" poses some unique challenges. The school had no formal soccer field, so the quad was the only place to kick a ball around. The area was surrounded by a stone wall, which was nowhere near tall enough to corral a bouncing soccer ball. 

When an errant ball clears the fence at CC's Stewart Field, it lands in the brush along Monument Creek. When a ball goes over the eastern wall at the Khumjung Elementary school, it can roll down hill as far as 1,000 feet in a matter of seconds. 

The donations actually started a couple of days before the group arrived in Pangboche. The CC soccer coaches also brought a duffel bag full of dental supplies to donate to a clinic in Namche. That town is where traders from India, Tibet and other places in the region meet, thus earning the name Namche Bazaar. 

It was there that Nepal’s love of soccer was obvious, with a coffee shop decorated in global soccer posters. 

Midway between Namche and Pangboche is the town of Tengboche, the site of a Buddhist monastery. That's also where the group witnessed an impromptu soccer game between the visiting Sherpas and the Buddhist monks. 

“Needless to say, we only watched,” Horst Richardson said with a grin. “I don’t think I could run at that altitude.” 

Like true students of the game, the CC coaches were able to learn an important piece of strategy. 

“They play with semi-deflated balls so they don’t bounce a lot,” Horst Richardson said. “It’s sort of like playing shuffleboard. They keep the ball on the ground.” 

That keeps the ball from rolling back to the next town, or getting run over by a yak. 

As part of their philanthropic mission, the Colorado College coaches got to see Mount Everest in person. It's no surprise that both referred to seeing the highest point in the world as the most memorable part of the adventure. 

“Erik, who has been there before, said 'dad, get your camera ready,'” Horst Richardson said. “You come around this bend and there it is in its full glory, with a puff of snow being blown off to the east. You are nearer to God. It’s unbelievable, glorious nature. 

“You’re at the elevation of the top of Pikes Peak and then you see this monstrous mountain, which is another 15,000 feet higher. You think 'Oh my God, how do you get up there.'” 

Wagenschutz had almost the same experience on March 29 at 8 a.m. 

“I have this memory of coming up to this stone wall and Erik saying when we get there you should be able to see it,” he said. “Knowing that I was going to be able to see Everest, that anticipation, and to be able to view it in the flesh for the first time was really remarkable. 

“It was a beautiful day. I ate a little tangerine that I had bought from someone. It is just remarkable to be there, eating a tangerine, staring at Everest and thinking about all the people who have attempted to climb Everest and recalling the mountain’s history is simply amazing." 

Wagenschutz and Erik Richardson would get an even better view. 

The day after visiting the Khumjung Elementary School in Pangboche, the pair went on to Phorste Drengka. The following morning they continued on to Gokyo, where they spent the night at an elevation of 15,700 feet. 

“The next morning, we hiked up to a peak called Gokyo Ri (17,600 feet) and we were on the summit at 6 a.m. to watch the sun rise over Mount Everest,” Wagenschutz said. “We had a 360-degree view of some of highest peaks in the world. We could see Cho Oyu, Lhotse and Makalu as well as the Gokyo Glacier and the valley that we hiked up. Being able to see these mountains, as well as Tibet at sunrise, is a memory I will never forget.” 

The entire mission would not have been possible without the assistance of the 10 Sherpas, including four with yaks, who helped carry the donations and gear to Namche and Pangboche. There were varying degrees of ability among the 25 hikers, so the group often became spread out during the daily treks, which averaged about five miles. 

“There was always one Sherpa carrying several gallons of water,” Horst Richardson said. “At high altitude, you have to hydrate, you have to drink. The guy was going back and forth to everyone in our group. He must have hiked three times the distance, serving all the people on the trek because of the various levels of ability.” 

Another time, one of the accompanying parents discovered she had left a personal item at the previous stop. One of the younger Sherpas scrambled down the mountain to retrieve it and was back within two and a half hours. 

On the final day in Nepal, the group held a farewell ceremony at which each Sherpa was given a token of appreciation. 

“We made bags for each Sherpa and donated numerous clothing items (hats, jackets, hiking boots, money) to the Sherpas and their families as a thank you for assisting us,” Horst Richardson said. “That is a traditional thing for trekkers to do. Erik has made it a point to do that on every trip because without them, the trek would be impossible. 

“Many Sherpas we saw during our trek had club jerseys – Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea. Now, Colorado College men’s soccer has a presence in the Khumbu Valley of Nepal.”