The BYU Men's soccer team left Sunday evening for Fiji to participate in service projects, church activities, friendly matches and vacation as part of their annual international trip.

The purposes of these international trips are missionary work and to help the team prepare for the upcoming season, which starts May 16.

Assistant coach Chad Sackett said the trip helps those players who have been on missions continue to be missionaries, and helps those who haven't been on a mission prepare and experience what missionary work is like.

The team will play three of the top Fijian professional teams, including Ba District, the most successful team in the country.

These trips are very unique to college soccer teams.

"Not very many guys have the opportunity to play against this quality of soccer," senior defender Clay Christenson said.

He also added playing a different style of soccer than they are used to in America gives the team confidence heading into the season.

"The international experience helps the team prepare for the regular season," said Richie Bindrup, another BYU defender.

Besides soccer, the team will meet with church members, speak at firesides and devotionals, and visit the members of many Fijian wards and branches.

"It is great for the youth of the church to see," Sackett said. "They say to themselves, I can play soccer and still have the church in mind."

Not only do the players benefit from the trip, but the members do as well.

"It is a good opportunity for church members to see the church and all of the activity," Bindrup said, "that BYU has a soccer team who can come and compete with the teams they support."

Players will be split up into small groups and spend time together at the various activities all throughout the trip. Sackett believes this will "create the bond that you always need to start the season." Bindrup concurs with Sackett, identifying that the team lost a lot of seniors from last years team.

"It gives us a chance to mold as a team," midfielder Britton Osborn said.

The team recently hosted the Real Salt Lake reserves, and instead of charging money for tickets, fans were required to bring new or used soccer cleats as a means of admission to the game. Hundreds of cleats were collected at the game, and the team will take them to Fiji along with soccer balls and T-shirts to distribute to hundreds of Fijian children. The team will also host clinics teaching soccer skills to children.

Osborne identifies these types of activities as the most memorable of the international trips.

"We have played some great teams, but you can't beat the service," Osborne said.

He describes these service opportunities as memorable for seeing how the service affects the people.

Christenson said he really enjoys these international trips because he is able to get out, go to Fiji, and "meet a different culture." Sackett described the mood of the team in one simple word: excited. Bindrup, who served his mission in nearby Indonesia, is looking forward to "getting back into a tropical environment, visiting with friends and meeting new people."

After playing the Fijian national team last year, both teams created what Sackett calls a "good relationship" with each other and the team was invited to Fiji by the national team, which led to this year's international trip.

Past international destinations for the team have included Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile. The trip is financed by donations and also the players themselves have contributed to the financial costs of the trip. Parents and alumni will also accompany the team to Fiji.