To the Editor,

I recently returned home from a group trip to Fonds Parisien in rural Haiti. The focus of our group, Princeton based Konekte, was to aid with the construction of a vocational school and to establish a connection with local Haitians through a love of soccer. We were a group of 22 motivated and energetic people of ages 15 to 52, but I would like to draw attention specifically to the role played by four coaches from the Princeton Football Club. Stoyan Pumpalov, Vesco Marinov, Hristopher Tsochev, and Brian Ruddy were truly inspirational in their level of enthusiasm, capacity for hard work, and their ability to bring a smile to the face of every Haitian with whom they interacted. They worked a 12-hour day pouring concrete, they held babies, made children laugh, conducted soccer drills on dirt fields, distributed shirts and cleats to boys who would otherwise play barefoot and organized a tournament between four local teams the likes of which had not been seen before. They were an inspiration to me and to all the people on our trip and I feel that any young Princeton soccer player should feel honored to know and be coached by these men.

Judith Sarvary

Province Line Road

Editor’s Note: See the related sports story on page 37.