The World Cup. What a way to start the summer for Trinity teachers Mr. Dale Helfrich and Mr. Jorge Serrano, two people who are crazy about soccer.

Serrano, who is from Colombia, grew up not only watching soccer, but living it as well. How much does soccer mean in Columbia? Serrano said some people in Colombia would sell their house to buy tickets for the World Cup.

Serrano traveled to Brazil by himself but met up with a friend who lives in the country.  He met his friend when they attended the same English classes.  Serrano stayed in many different places, among them the Belo Hotel, Sau Paulo Hotel and his friend’s mother-in-law’s house.

Serrano attended two World Cup games — Colombia against Greece and Belgium against Russia.  In describing the atmosphere in the stadium, Serrano said, “It was amazing, I felt like I was in my home country because 98-99 percent of the fans were Colombian.”

Serrano said the World Cup in some ways is a like a big party.  He said, “People would randomly stop you in the street and say, ‘Go, Colombia,’ just because you have the jersey on. Everybody is friends with everybody even though you have never met them.”

Serrano also got the opportunity to visit Copacobana Beach. Those who watched the game on TV saw people on the beach watching the action.

Helfrich, Trinity’s varsity soccer coach, decided he wanted to attend the 2014 World Cup after he left the 2006 World Cup in Germany.  He and a friend made a pact to go to the next available World Cup. This was Helfrich’s third World Cup, having also attended the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Helfrich described the atmosphere at this year’s World Cup  as “incredible. All the different nationalities gathered to one area is something special.”

Helfrich did encounter some problems while trying to attend the USA-Germany game. He overcame flooding and transportation difficulties to watch the USA move on to the knockout round.  Helfrich’s seats were located behind USA goalie Tim Howard, the section that was called “Sam’s Army.”

As Helfrich cheered for the USA, he was pleased with their success.  He said, “I didn’t expect them to get that far. I was hoping after seeing them get in the round of 16 that maybe they could get a little further.”  Spoken like a true fan.