There are currently 11 international players out of 27 on the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay men’s soccer team roster. Each international player chose to come to the U.S. for new opportunities while representing their countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Jamaica, and South Korea.
“Recruiting players is one of the most important assignments as a head coach, and international players can bring some qualities that are differentiated from domestic players while satisfying our needs,” said Jeremy Bonomo, the head coach for the UWGB men’s soccer team.
He seemed very positive at recruiting international players, and he has been putting a lot of effort and time into recruiting international players.
“I go to Canada every year for recruiting players; besides Canada, I’ve been to many countries such as Sweden, Finland, Germany, Iceland, and the Caribbean,” said Bonomo.
The importance of international players is getting bigger and bigger. According to NCAA, among a total of 4,874 players, 1,501 international players enrolled during the 2018 season, which means that international players represent approximately 30.8% of all college soccer players.
In fact, Marshall University won the 2020 NCAA Division I National Championship in 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19) with 25 foreign players on their roster.
Two UWGB men’s soccer players share their experience in choosing to come to the U.S., UWGB, and their expectations as foreign student-athletes.
Tobias Jahn, a sophomore majoring in Business Administration, was born and raised in Owen, Germany, arguably one of the biggest soccer nations in the world. Like many German boys, Jahn also started playing soccer in early childhood and was more interested in catching the ball rather than kicking it while dreaming of being a great goalkeeper like Manuel Neuer.
As he grew up, he made a major decision to pursue his dreams, which included both soccer and an academic career.
“I came to the U.S. to combine academics with athletics; In my country, that would not have been possible like here due to the lack of university-sponsored sports programs,” Jahn said.
Studying abroad as a student-athlete is challenging, and Jahn was also having a tough time being successful both on the field and in the classroom.
“It can be really stressful, especially when your team travels a lot during the season, but you are provided with the resources you need, and you can always ask for help either for athletic help or non-athletics-related help,” according to Jahn.
Jahn also talks about the university system built by NCAA. He said that the system is perfect for people like him, who want to continue his sport and develop academically at the same time.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity the NCAA, the U.S., and the university gives me. Without it, I would have to decide either continuing my sport at a high level or going to college,” said Jahn.
In the end, Jahn wished to prove himself to be a perfect example of a student-athlete, who is pursuing both careers athletically and academically. As he finished this 2022 season, he was named Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year for the first time in the UWGB men’s soccer program and earned Horizon League All-Academic Honors at the same time.
Michael McDougall, a senior majoring in Human Biology, is another international student-athletes in UWGB Men’s Soccer team from Perth, Australia. He also had a similar reason for choosing to come to America. He said that when offers came from universities in the U.S., he thought it was the perfect opportunity because he wanted to continue playing soccer at a high level while studying at the university at the same time.
He started his journey at Stetson University in Florida for two years before he transferred to Green Bay. However, this semester was not easy to prioritize things for the senior ahead of graduation and his last soccer season in NCAA.
“When it comes to senior season, it was very stressful than ever. Sometimes, I had to leave training earlier because of the class time, and sometimes I missed my lectures because of my game schedules. Thankfully, there are many resources that I can use, and coaches or professors were trying to help and understand my situation,” said McDougal.
The Australian boy, who was dreaming of being a professional soccer player, is now dreaming of being a dentist, and there was a lot of effort behind this transition to a new dream.
“Having a new dream like becoming a dentist besides a pro soccer player is something that I would never imagine before coming to the U.S. I have been grinding both athletically and academically to seize the opportunities that are given by this study abroad,” according to McDougal.
Hopefully, there will be a chance to receive dental treatment from Dr. McDougal.
For international student-athletes, pursuing another career like general students and having a competitive season in their sports while still dreaming of being a professional player is attractive enough to move across the world to attend college in the United States.
Moreover, our international student-athletes said that the experience of cultural diversity and building an international social network are other valuable pros they can expect from studying abroad in the U.S.
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