Galloway, N.J. — Aidan Pereira couldn’t hide his smile. The Stockton University senior had just taken a selfie with two of the stars of the Haiti national soccer team — Wilson Isidor and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.

“It’s so cool. It’s crazy how they are here at Stockton, using our field. It’s awesome,” said the midfielder for Stockton’s men’s soccer team. “I mean those guys also play in the English Premier League.”

Pereira, along with teammate Joseph Carbone, spent the last two weeks on campus working at Haiti’s Team Base Camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team arrived on June 9 and practiced at G. Larry James Stadium until June 22, preparing for games against Scotland (June 13), Brazil (June 19) and Morocco (June 24).

Pereira and Carbone set up equipment and the goals on the field, filled up ice baths for the players to recover after practice and moved exercise equipment into the Sports Center for the team to work out.

“It was a dream experience. The World Cup is the biggest event in soccer, so it’s just really cool to see the pros on our field and use everything that we’re going to use,” Pereira said. “It’s just amazing. I almost can’t explain it.”

And while the team may be disappointed with their results on the field — losing all three of their first-round games — the team appreciated their practice time at Stockton, according to Jeff Haines, associate director of Athletics and Recreation.  

“It’s been very smooth, just like last year with CR Flamengo in the Club World Cup,” Haines said. “I think we found a plan and a formula that works, and they really enjoyed the setup.”

That formula includes use of the Sports Center for meetings, conditioning and video preparation, and the immaculate Kentucky bluegrass field of G. Larry James Stadium. It’s worked well for previous practice camps with Saudi Arabia for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Nigeria for the 1996 Summer Olympics and Brazil’s CR Flamengo last year for the FIFA Club World Cup.

“Haiti said our field is actually better than the venues that they’ve played at in Foxborough (Massachusetts) and Philadelphia,” Haines said. “We provided them with a one-stop shop. The team enjoyed the fact that they could get their fitness and scouting reports in the Sports Center, and then it’s only a few hundred feet to the field.”

The field especially drew raves from Haiti assistant coach Alexandre Dellal, who added that while there was a business-like atmosphere when the team was on campus, the university staff also made the team feel like part of a family.

“The experience here was incredible because everyone was very welcoming, and we felt a very positive vibe,” he said. “They gave all they could to welcome us and make it very comfortable for the national team. They are professional and good people. When the professional and the human are combined, it’s the best thing you can have.”

FIFA Team Services Venue Officer Tim Lenahan ’83 said from FIFA’s perspective Stockton will get rave reviews for what the university has done to create a world-class base camp.

“As usual, Stockton opened its arms to create the home away from home for Haiti,” said the former coach of Stockton’s men’s soccer team from 1990-1997. “The facilities are fantastic, but more than that the reception every day of the staff to welcome the players in every day and try to create a joyful environment for them, I think that was mission accomplished.”

While most of the practices were closed to the public, the Haitian players welcomed the Stockton community during an open practice on June 9. After practicing for about an hour, the team ran drills with local children from the Atlantic United youth soccer team and took selfies and signed autographs with some of the 500 invited fans.

“Community Day gave local residents a wonderful chance to experience World Cup soccer at a grassroots level,” said Stockton Police Lt. Gio Maione, who coordinated the security at the Team Base Camp with state and local authorities. “I want to extend a sincere thank you to all the collaborating agencies whose hard work ensured a seamless arrival and smooth practice sessions for the Haiti national team.”

Haines also praised the work of everyone on Stockton’s staff, including the police and grounds departments. The university has prepared for months to have everything go as smoothly as possible over the last two weeks.

“We’re a small, liberal-arts state school, and we’ve shown the rest of the world that we can host a team for the World Cup and the Club World Cup (FC Flamengo in 2025),” he said. “We’ve done a great job both times. I was excited that I was able to bring this here to Stockton, and hopefully we’ll be able to bring a team here for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2031.”

After wrapping up its final practice, members of the Haitian team gathered in the Sports Center for a farewell photo with Stockton staff to thank them for their hospitality. Several team members signed autographs, and Pereira and Carbone showed off several Sharpie signatures on the front of their blue Team Base Camp T-shirts.

“They really went out of their way to do something that they didn’t have to,” said Carbone, of East Brunswick, who enjoyed watching the members of the team carry themselves professionally. “It was really nice to meet them and talk to them.”

Pereira’s favorite memory of the past two weeks goes all the way back to Haiti’s first practice.

“We were walking on the field while they were walking off. And Isidor gave me a fist bump, and he was trying to do some moves with the ball to get past us. It was pretty cool,” said the Business major from Spotswood, Middlesex County. “This T-shirt is never getting washed. It’s going right up on my wall in my room.”

-- Story by Mark Melhorn, photos by Abbigal Erbacher and Susan Allen

The Haiti National Team with the Stockton staff that helped put together the Team Base Camp for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

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