Many NEC students had the chance to travel to various locations for spring break immersion trips. The Sport and Adventure Tourism class spent the first 7 weeks of the spring semester preparing to go on a trip to Florida. They started their trip in the west coast of Florida and then moved on to the east coast, taking part in different sports-related activities.
“We went to a polo match, which was really cool. We went to the Sarasota Polo Club. We went to Cabot citrus farms, which is a top twenty US gold course, bass fishing, archery, axe throwing, which is really cool,” said Kennedy Overhoff, a student on the trip.
When the students spent the day watching horse polo, they got to witness a big day for this sport. It was the clubs 30-year anniversary and was also the women’s challenge vinyl, so the students got to help celebrate.
“You like dip your hand in paint and like put it on a pony, it was like their mascot,” said Overhoff.
The next day the students got to tour the Cabot Citrus Farms Golf Club and learned how and what they do there.
“We met with them, got a whole tour of the facility, kind of like learned when people stay there, or like buy a house there like the activities that they could do and kind of like the history of Cabot citrus farms,” said Overhoff.
Although it was a school trip, Overhoff said it was also a way for students to bond.
“That was kind of part of the trip was like make connections with people and stuff, which is really nice,” said Overhoff.
On the east coast the students visited Charlotte County Parks and Rec. and discovered that it is used for multiple purposes, including functioning as a hurricane center during emergencies.
The students also got to experience multiple baseball games firsthand.
“We went to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game, and they were playing the Philadelphia Phillies. That was really cool to experience,” Overhoff said.
Not only did they see teams from in the states play that day, but also teams from much further away.
“We also saw a Cardinals game, and they played Nicaragua which was really cool,” said Overhoff.
Other activities included paddle boarding, deep-sea fishing, and taking a water taxi tour through manmade canals in Fort Lauderdale.
Since this trip revolved around the students, they were asked to make lot of decisions, including finding places to stay.
“We learned a lot about budgeting,” Overhoff said.
The students also had to plan all the pricing for the activities and food.
“It just like truly felt like a family,” said Overhoff. “It was so wonderful to get to know everybody on such a deeper level.”
