The American International College women’s soccer team has begun fundraising for their planned preseason trip to the United Kingdom in 2017. An itinerary has been formulated and the trip will likely be held in the preseason of the 2017 soccer season.

The fundraising effort and hopes for a trip abroad have generated considerable excitement among the team.

AIC nursing major Kelly Koslosky, a sophomore from Naugutuck, CT and her teammate Taylor Souza, a sophomore accounting major, are the two players heading the fundraising team.

“We are so excited to be presented with an opportunity like this,” Koslosky said.

“We thought we’d better start fundraising now to ensure we’ll have enough money for it to go ahead,” she continued.

Fundraising measures so far include collecting recyclable water bottles to cash them in at supermarkets such as the Big Y. On their first visit to cash the bottles in, $20.40 was raised. Although the amount seems small, members are optimistic, feeling certain that eventually this will add up.

Koslosky and Souza are currently brainstorming ideas for more fundraising events.

“More ideas are definitely in the works,” Souza said.

She also stated that soon the trip will be fundraising through crowd funding service ‘Go Fund Me.’

The site is a free tool that the two hope most of the funds will come through, as it is the most accessible.

“The Go Fund Me is going to be great as the international players’ friends and family will be able to donate more easily over the internet,” Koslosky explained.

The trip’s first draft itinerary was developed with aid of head coach Kevon Isa. At this stage, the tour will include training and playing against some local English teams, seeing some of the United Kingdom’s famous tourist attractions and watching some English Premier League games. Although the trip’s main priority will be to train for the upcoming season, it certainly won’t be devoid of fun.

The team will need every bit of funding it can raise to ease financial pressure on the students.

Souza and Koslosky both exclaimed, “in the near future at our games look out for raffle baskets, barbecues and other fundraising events,” so be sure to support the women’s soccer team by attending their remaining home games.

In the meantime, make sure to donate any recyclable water bottles and cans to the team.