United by Soccer: Internationally Speaking

Soccer transcends sport at Georgia Gwinnett College, serving as a vibrant global gathering uniting members of the men’s and women’s teams from four different continents through stories, music, food recipes, and tactical wisdom in a shared mission to put the Grizzlies among the nation’s best NAIA programs this fall.

The women’s team has players from 16 foreign countries while the men’s roster is filled with players from 12 nations. They have come to Lawrenceville from such lands as South Africa, Australia, England, Japan, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, and Paraguay.   

“We’re from different places, sure, but we share the same language,” said Ousmane Fall, a Senegalese striker who arrived at the men’s team this spring from Senegal. “Soccer is the simplest way for everyone to get together. We communicate with each other out on the field.”

While Fall’s four goals have ranked him one of the team’s top scorers, he has developed a deep sense of belonging with his teammates through things not found on the statistics.

“It’s a very good environment to play [soccer],” he explained. “I like it very much. It is easy to catch up with the guys.”

Men’s Soccer Head Coach Steve DeCou has ingrained culture as a foundation of his program since arriving to start the GGC program in 2011.

“Our philosophy is simple,” explains DeCou, enjoying his 26th year as a head coach. “We strive to help young men grow and develop through soccer. Wins and losses are important, but what matters most is that they leave here as better people, better employees, better husbands, and better men.”

That’s why DeCou highlights four core values for the program: love, excellence, respect, and responsibility. Those words can be found on a sign in the team’s locker room. The Grizzlies spend each preseason listening to stories of their idols, sharing moments of triumph and hardships, and bonding without the limits of language and geography.

That family culture was why wing back Esteban Correa, from Columbia, transferred to GGC in the fall of 2023 after starting his collegiate career at a NCAA Division II college in West Virginia.

“This has surpassed my expectations, not only athletically, but intellectually and socially,” he describes. “Communicating with people from every part of the world has been great … This year’s team is more diversified than ever before, and that diversity is blending wonderfully. It has received very good results (5-1-2 record and No. 17 nationally ranking).”

Correa has taken an easygoing personality to accentuate his role as a team leader – on and off the soccer pitch. “I like to help my teammates,” he remarks. “If someone has a housing problem, I’m the guy they can reach out to. I bring energy and strive to make people smile, especially during those early morning practices at 7 a.m. (in late season) when the cold sets in.”

Meanwhile, the No. 19-ranked women’s team (3-3-2) also reflects an international flair with Head Coach Dr. Mike Giuliano proudly stating, “It says something about the school and program that we get people from so many different countries to come here.”

He adds, “It’s massively enjoyable for us to have so many cultures and nationalities playing for our side. And at a time when the world seems more disparate than at any other moment in history, we’re transmitting a very loud message as to how we all should be all the time.”

Like many of her teammates, Lore Van Onsem, a midfielder from Belgian, came to GGC because of the international aspect of the program. “In other programs I looked at, I would’ve been one of only one or two foreign students,” she notes. “[At GGC] there are so many others walking the same (international) path. You get to experience different cuisine, a different mentality, and a different lifestyle. It’s a great experience. Everyone bonds over our differences.”

Van Onsem joins teammates for Sunday dinner on campus, enjoying the opportunity to prepare and eat different cuisines from around the globe. “Whenever you’re all together and laughing, you feel how your shared culture counts. You’re no longer from other countries, you’re coming together as a team,” she mentions.

Rikke Steenhold, a defender from Denmark, says she has grown as a player and person while being around teammates from different countries. “Being away from family makes you grow into your own person. I came here a little young and immature, but I’ve grown immensely,” she remarks.

Samara Dullabh, a defender from New Zealand, adds, “Coming [to GGC] made me fitter, more talented, and significantly more confident. Being away from family made me learn how to cook and do laundry while making friends by myself. The warmth of the south and its ‘southern hospitality’ along with the close-knit nature of the team really eased any homesickness that I may have had.”

Further, Dullabh has introduced a little Kiwi culture with her teammates, including traditional “sausage sizzles” from her home country, while slang phrases from her home country and her thick accent bring laughter and enjoyment from others.

Camila Madriz Figueroa has injected the women’s team with the cultural richness of being an Aussie-raised Venezuelan. Her pregame meal is always vegemite on toast, which is a nature of Australia, while she has prepared arepas, a Venezuelan favorite, for her GGC teammates.

“That takes me back home,” says Madriz Figueroa, who admits that she has been challenged by homesickness, time zone displacement, and adaptation of academics and a tough playing schedule all challenged her. She hasn’t been alone.  “Everyone goes through the same struggles at some time,” Madriz Figueroa notes. “Our coaches even check up with us for homesickness. The players talk to each other, and the support makes all the difference.”

A winning spirit that’s intertwined with culture and strong personal relationships has become a definitive strength of the men’s and women’s soccer programs, which are striving to contend for Continental Athletic Conference and NAIA championships at the end of this season. 

“Take the chance,” replies Steenhold when asked what she would advise potential GGC recruits. “You will find your family and your friends. In 20 years, I can turn around and go, ‘I was in America playing soccer and I went to college.’ How many people get a chance to do it?”

That’s experiences being shared by Fall, Correa, Van Onsem, Madriz Figueroa, Steenhold, Dullabh, and many other Grizzlies. The message may vary, but the tone is the same: at GGC, the world’s game truly belongs to everyone.