HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lincoln Memorial University men's and women's soccer programs are set to take flight to Brazil to begin preseason training for the upcoming 2016 seasons on Monday morning.
 
The LMU soccer programs have ventured to South America's largest country - and the world's fifth-largest country in terms of size - every four years since 2004. This marks the programs' fourth trip to Brazil of the Helio D'Anna era.
 
The travel party consisting of 68 student-athletes, coaches and staff personnel departs the LMU campus on Monday morning and will complete the long journey to Brazil on Tuesday morning. From there, the group will travel to Caraguá, where it will be stationed throughout the six-day stay.
 
Both the men's and women's teams are scheduled for five scrimmages apiece against a variety of local club teams. Along with that game-heavy itinerary, the team will be allotted free time to encourage team bonding and experience everything Brazil has to offer.
 
On the second day of the trip, the group will head to Sao Paulo to watch two women's soccer matches as part of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Railsplitters and Lady Railsplitters will watch Germany take on Zimbabwe as well as Canada vs. Australia at Arena Corinthians.
 
Lincoln Memorial returns to Harrogate and the LMU campus bright and early on Monday morning to continue preseason training.
 
The Railsplitters begin the 2016 campaign on September 1 against Montevallo in Columbus, Ga., while the Lady Railsplitters kickoff the season at the same location on September 2 versus Bellarmine.
 
For an inside look at the upcoming trip to Brazil, listen to the Splitter Sound Bites podcast with head coach Helio D'Anna.
 
Fans can follow LMU's trip via the teams' official Facebook pages. The men's page can be found here, while the women's is located here.