The Marquette women’s soccer team’s first steps off its plane and onto Italian soil in March will represent more than the program’s first-ever foreign trip.
They’ll be the culmination of a taxing funding campaign that spanned before, through and beyond a frenetic past-two years for the team.
“I was working with the former coaching staff on fundraising for this trip since about 2022,” assistant director of development Christine Lebiecki said. “We really first launched some efforts around their alumni weekend to try and promote and fundraise for the efforts and also worked really closely with the parents of the current team.”
Fast forward to the following year, the players got told the good news before the start of the 2023-24 season.
“We were coming in as freshmen, and obviously, I was so excited,” sophomore midfielder Capri Oliviero said. “Another reason why I was excited to come to Marquette because we were going to do this amazing trip.”
But in December of that same year, these plans came to a halt when it was announced that former women’s soccer head coach Frank Pelaez was stepping down from the program.
“The administration had asked that we put a pause on the efforts with fundraising and kind of pick things back up once we were able to kind of let the dust settle, get a new coaching regiment into Marquette and then kind of reassess and move forward,” Lebiecki said.
During the interview process, current head coach Chris Allen was asked for his thoughts about going on a foreign tour.
“It was a question that was asked to me in terms of a philosophical standpoint,” Allen said. “‘Am I like opposed or would I prefer doing foreign trips?’ Now they knew what the answer to that question should have been. But I have always had tremendous value in what these trips can be for a program and bringing people together and then really giving them a truly life altering experience.”
Once he was hired and “the dust was settled,” the process of planning the foreign trip was back on track — and is still ongoing.
As for Lebiecki’s involvement, she connects with donors and leads the fundraising efforts, the latter being a part of the criteria created by the NCAA.
“Over Labor Day weekend, I went out with a group of all the current parents or most of the current parents on a pontoon ride on the Milwaukee River before one of their games, which this is the second time now that I’ve had the opportunity to do this,” Lebiecki said.
“While I’m on the boat, I’m connecting in person with the parents and talking about the trip, answering any questions that they have. Towards the end of the boat ride, I’m on a microphone, basically doing a Q&A with the parents, asking any questions that they might have about what the trip might look like for their girls, opportunities for them to participate, and then really making that fundraising ask.”
Lebiecki and her team announced the details of the tour and went public with their fundraising efforts Sept. 23. Since then, they have raised around $12,000 towards their remaining $50,000 goal.
If they don’t reach their goal, Lebiecki said the administration is “fully supportive of this trip happening in March” and “there will not be any back out on this.”
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The team will stop in four Italian cities — Rome, Venice, Florence and Lake Como — and the trip also includes a friendly contest against a local team, training session and opportunity to see a professional match.
Senior forward Kate Gibson’s college eligibility will be up after this season, and the same goes for the 11 other players in her class. But there’s never been a question of whether they would be allowed to come.
“We knew like the staff was really cool and even like, it’s in the spring and we are done with our eligibility, but they still want us to come and because we’re part of the team,” Gibson said. “It’ll be super cool (and) really refreshing to come back and be with them for that time and have that one last hurrah with the team before we close out the year.”
This will be Oliviero’s third visit to Italy — her dad’s side of the family lives one hour outside of Venice. Allen and Gibson have never been there. What is Gibson looking forward to the most?
“The food, if I’m going to be honest,” she said. “I also love history. I’m a big history buff, so we’re going to the Colosseum and seeing really cool stuff like that, so I’m really excited about that. Those are probably my top two.”
It’s been a long time coming for this tour. But Lebiecki — along with the rest of the players, coaches and parents — is glad to see it finally coming to fruition.
“There’s been a lot of back and forth and it has been something that’s a little bit of an emotional roller coaster,” Lebiecki said. “One moment, you think your girls are leaving for a trip this spring and the next thing you know, it’s not happening. And then, it kind of gets restarted again and reignited.
“And now, we’re full speed ahead, which is awesome.”
The women’s soccer program is still in need of additional support. If you are interested in making a donation, visit this link.
This story was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.
