CA College-Athletes Plan Humanitarian Aid Across The Globe

MENIFEE, CA — The Head Coach of Westmont College Women's Soccer, Paloma Valley High School alumna Lauren Dorr Matthias, is taking her team international this summer. The team of NCAA Division II athletes from across the Golden State, Idaho and Illinois, will spend 15 days in May in Africa this year.

The Santa Barbara-based Westmont College has long ties to Sports Outreach, regularly taking athletes around the world and expanding minds and hearts through humanitarian efforts beyond our borders. This year, nearly 20 Westmont Women's soccer players will travel to Uganda and Kenya, the team announced.

This is a full-circle moment for coach Matthias, as she retraces her journey from over 13 years ago, when she visited Africa as a Westmont student-athlete.

Now, as a head coach, she is on the other side of the field, helping her team raise funds for their journey while carrying the lessons from her last visit with Sports Outreach. Since then, much has changed.

“It was 2013, and my first time out of the country,” she said. “I’d never served on an outreach trip like that - as a student athlete. I experienced culture shock, it was life-changing, different, and such a cool thing to be able to experience with your friends and teammates and coaches, all of us, together.”

The team members and coaches from Westmont Women’s Soccer will visit and work within the communities in Kampala and Gulu, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya, serving alongside the Sports Outreach staff teams.

Once in Africa, the team will engage in soccer clinics, Bible studies, manual labor work projects, home visits, and spend time with young ladies staying at Christine's House - a shelter and home for girls and women who are the victims of traumatic violence.

It takes a village to get there, with each team member raising individual funds for their journey onto the mission field.

Matthias recalled her trip to Uganda, describing the experience as "life altering." This year, she returns with longtime Westmont Women’s Soccer assistant coach Dan Ribbens, one of the Sports Outreach Board of Directors, who will also take part in the journey.

“When I was a student athlete, we helped Coach Dan lay the foundation of the house. We helped with the concrete, and I still remember the vision for the house, and talking about it,” she said. “It was 2013 when we first visited what would become Christine’s House,” she says. “It’s a home for young moms, many who’ve suffered relational sexual abuse.”

Coach Matthias recalled the farm, owned by Sports Outreach, where they grow food and house the recreation center where church services are held, but mostly she remembers Christine’s house. There’s a birthing center, where the women can come for a safe, clean place to have their baby.

Her memories of visiting a decade ago include working in the sweltering heat, being overseen by construction workers, to make sure they were doing things correctly, laying the foundation of what has become a cornerstone for many women in that corner of the world.

“Now, the building is finished. People live there, work there,” she said. “The last time the team went was in the summer of 2023,” she said. At that time, she was just weeks away from the birth of her second son. “I was unable to go as assistant coach, Daxton on the way.”

Now, she is leading her team back to Gulu, in the northern reaches of Uganda in Africa, to see the completed Christine’s house for herself and take part in the good work that happens there.

"Sports outreach has also built a full school, feeds the kids, and teaches the gospel," she said. “These kids are getting an education and being nourished in so many ways. I’m so excited to go do that with the team.”

Coach Dan Ribbens, a Santa Barbara resident and Board Member of Sports Outreach, has visited Africa several times over the last 25 years, and also conducts outreach with the local men’s prison. During Matthias’s freshman visit, she had the unique opportunity to play a game against the prison team.

“(That game) was a whim,” Matthias laughed. “We played an 8 v. 8 game with a tree in the middle of the soccer field,” she said, recalling the match. “Everyone from the prison lined the field, they played drums, they were all tied into the work we were doing. It’s one of my favorite soccer memories. I’ll never forget it.”

Along with the mission trip are added costs to each athlete attending, and each is fundraising for their journey.

We asked Madison Ford of Murrieta to describe what the fundraiser will cover:

"Your donation will help cover travel expenses, accommodations, and supplies for the mission work," Ford wrote. "Every contribution, big or small it helps bring me closer to fulfilling this calling. If you’re unable to give financially, your prayers and encouragement mean just as much to me."

Learn more and support the full team or individual athletes on their journey:

Southern California Athletes:

• Antonella Haro, class of 2029, Fullerton CA, Fairmont Preparatory Academy.
• Aubrie Ambrozic, class of 2029, Lake Arrowhead, CA, Rim of the World High School.
• Lauren Matthias, class of 2016, Head Coach, Menifee, CA, Paloma Valley High School.
• Madison Ford, class of 2028, Murrieta, CA, Murrieta Valley High School.
• Madeline Steinbach, class of 2028, Palos Verdes, CA, Palos Verdes High School.
• Kayla Snyder, class of 2029, Redlands, CA, Redlands High School.
• Vanesa Alcala, class of 2028, Redlands, CA, Citrus Valley High School.
• Hannah Hayes, class of 2028, Valley Center, CA, Classical Academy High School.
• Skyler McNamara, class of 2028, Valley Center, CA, Valley Center High School.
• Ellie Gilbert, class of 2028, Visalia, CA, Redwood High School.

Northern California Athletes:

• Daniella Coyle, class of 2029, El Dorado Hills, CA, Oak Ridge High School.
• Estella Bacsafra, class of 2029, Fair Oaks, CA, St. Francis Catholic High School.
• Sydney Reese, class of 2027, Campbell, CA, Westmont High School.
• Kaia Diederichs, class of 2029 Meadow Vista, CA, Colfax High School.
• Jane Hotaling, class of 2028, Morro Bay, CA, Morro Bay High School.
• Emily Jordan, class of 2026, Santa Maria, CA, Righetti High School.
• Amelia Villa, class of 2026, Solvang, CA, Santa Ynez High School.

Out of State Athletes include:

• Grace Rhodes, class of 2028, Boise, ID, Bishop Kelly High School.
• Angelina Garcia, class of 2026, Hinsdale, IL, Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School.

For more information on the team, follow them on Instagram and online at athletics.westmont.edu or on Instagram @westmontwsoccer.

"Thank you for considering partnering with me and my team," Ford said. "Together, we can make a lasting impact and share hope where it’s needed most."