By So Nishikawa, Sam Drake & Cooper Wild
The athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) are reaching more than statewide for their players. Athletes are recruited from around the world to compete as Phoenixes. Kazuki Okazaki is a defender on the UWGB men’s soccer team from Nagano, Japan. Okazaki is a junior who transferred from Southern Nazarene University. Matisse Chretien is a freshman forward on the men’s soccer team and is from Contrecoeur, Quebec. Finally, Dennis Osei, a freshman forward for the men’s soccer team, is from Seoul, South Korea.
Language Barriers
These athletes work very hard to improve themselves both on and off the field. Being from a different country, they face a lot of difficulties in adjusting to life in the United States. The biggest one is the language barrier. “I am very fortunate because I have a teammate who is also Japanese, so it is nice to be able to speak my native language at times,” Okazaki said. The language barrier is something that is a recurring difficulty with the athletes the Fourth Estate spoke to, as Chretien also stated that it was the biggest difficulty for his adjustment. It’s not easy to change the way someone has been speaking their entire life. But, the teams seem to foster a sense of support for students who are facing a language barrier with their teammates. Okazaki said he has adjusted to life in the United States and said about the support he receives, “my teammates have been very supportive and have helped me whenever I come across any issue.” All three international student-athletes we spoke to mentioned the help that they receive from their teammates daily. Osei said, “My Coach and soccer teammates are the main people that help me.” Although the language barrier is very difficult to overcome, the help they get from their peers and coaches makes day-to-day life a little bit easier.
Benefits and Support
The international athletes also answered questions about the benefits and support they get while being away from home in a new country and environment. Off the field, there are a lot of different things that can benefit these athletes. Chretien said, “You meet a lot of people here that you would never meet ever back home.” One benefit for all these athletes is the opportunity to network with different kinds of people outside of their own country. With the same question, Osei said, “There are Scholarships that you wouldn’t get back home.” This allows the university to incentivize international athletes to come and compete as Phoenixes, which has an overall effect of attracting more athletes to come from overseas. To help with the difficulties that come with being an international athlete, UWGB provides ways to support these athletes in their everyday lives. Okazaki said this about support at UWGB. “I have supportive teammates who are always willing to help me. The coach is super nice, and he always says that whenever my grades are falling behind, I can get a tutor, but so far, I don’t need it. I have been lucky because I’ve had at least one teammate in my class, so I have been working closely with them.” Osei similarly said, “My coaches and teammates always support me.” Chretien had a different answer that is just as important, saying, “Academic advisors and French events around the school have helped me.” These are all things around campus that help these students adjust to the new opportunity and continue to wear UWGB’s colors, and perform to the best of their abilities in their sport.
The Recruitment Process
As these spectacular students are not from the United States, their recruitment process looks a little different. For American athletes, it is usually as simple as a coach from UWGB going to a high school game and watching film or high school coaches getting in contact with UWGB to get the athlete’s name out there. There was a similar process for Chretien but a few small differences. When asked about being recruited, Chretien said, “My head coach contacted UWGB’s head coach, to which there were a lot of complicated papers to go through, and everything had to be translated.” Once again, the language barrier has proven itself an obstacle to foreign athletes. Being from another country, Chretien had to fill out more information and translate everything because, at the time, Chretien was not very proficient in English. Osei’s experience was similar when he was recruited to Clarke University, which involved getting in contact with his coaches and having them watch his game film. When getting recruited to UWGB, Osei said, “Coach came to watch a game in Iowa, and we sent highlight videos to an agency.” The process of getting to Clarke University was similar, but getting to UWGB was more traditional for a student-athlete from America. It seems as if the main difference in recruitment is similar to all the difficulties that they have in everyday life. The language barrier is constantly making everything more difficult for these students, and they have to put in a lot of work to overcome it.
Future Plans
All athletes at UWGB dream big, and these international athletes are no different as they strive to be the best version of themselves. All three of these athletes were asked about future plans. Okazki said, “After graduating college, I plan to stay in America and pursue a career in playing professional soccer. I started playing soccer at the age of four, and I have loved it ever since. This sport has allowed me to not only travel the world but gave me the opportunity to play at a D1 level in the United States.” This shows his dedication and love for the sport and the appreciation he has for the opportunity that he earned here at UWGB. Similarly, it seems Osei also has an appreciation for the opportunity he’s earned here, saying, “After I graduate, I plan to stay in the US.” International athletes go through many different difficulties when coming overseas. These student-athletes prove themselves on the field and in the classroom and are determined to have a bright future at UWGB and beyond.
