At Senda, one of the things we enjoyed the most is to hear stories from Senda Ambassadors and share their passion for the beautiful game, Fair Trade, and suing soccer as a vehicle for change. They often times send us their reflections on the trip, and we want to share the latest one, from our latest ambassador in Brazil: Juliano.

Here is the story he shared with us, and our readers:

”After graduating from Vassar College in the spring, I took a flight to Brazil to pursue my dream of playing professional soccer. The past few months have been a humbling experience, and I’ve learned so much about the world of soccer. I spent two months training with Portuguesa, a second division club in Brazil. The club has a rich history, starting with the Portuguese who founded the club many years ago. They’ve grown to be one of the biggest, most well-known clubs in São Paulo, with a strong reputation for developing young players. I could write extensively about my experiences at Portuguesa, but there’s one humbling experience that stands out in my mind: the bus rides to training. Each morning we met at the club’s headquarters at 7:30 AM to get changed and take a bus to the training fields. The drive to the fields takes about 25 minutes, but the last five minutes were always the most important to me.