In a move from England to Lexington, Kentucky, in 2006, Otterbein men’s soccer head coach Jason Griffiths followed his dream of playing college soccer. Now he is making the same dream come true for three international students.
Griffiths became one of the top midfielders in the country as a Kentucky Wildcat before being drafted by Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution in 2010. Unfortunately, his MLS career was limited to one season due to an injury. Yet, many countries do not have the opportunity to pursue an education while competing in sports, so Griffiths is grateful that he was able to pursue both, even for a short time.
Since Griffiths’ staff cannot afford to travel to trials held by agencies that connect aspiring international student-athletes and college coaches, the process of extending that opportunity as a head coach begins by “watching film and connecting with peers around the world” to identify players who will fit in his program, he says. Recruiting beyond the United States is beneficial, Griffiths says, because international players “bring a different style and flair to the game” while contributing to a lively, multicultural locker room.
Junior midfielder and co-captain Liam Heard has made these contributions to the men’s soccer team as an international recruit from New Zealand. Heard’s journey to Otterbein started when his coach, who played soccer at Butler University in Indianapolis, reached out to Griffiths with film of his players. In watching that film, Griffiths and his staff loved Heard for his technique with both feet and high soccer IQ. The latter, a term for soccer tactical knowledge and situational awareness, is the signature of the European-style soccer both Heard and Griffiths played before coming to the United States. To adapt to the more physical American style of soccer, Heard has worked hard in the weight room and adopted a different mentality.
Off the field, Heard’s leadership, growth and caring approach to younger players has made Griffiths hope he can be his graduate assistant after earning a bachelor’s degree in sport management. Other international teammates say Heard has greatly helped them in their short time at Otterbein by always making himself available to them, just as Griffiths helped Heard with insight from his college soccer experience.
The other adaptation Heard has had to make in his time stateside is to the greater focus on self in American culture. Despite the culture difference, Heard credits all the kind people he has met here as unlike those “in stereotypical American movies.”
Tord Heskestad, a freshman forward from Norway majoring in environmental science, was recruited by Griffiths because his European soccer IQ and ability to hold the ball bring something different to the Cardinals’ athletic front line. Heskestad is confident in his mental toughness and Griffiths’ soccer ideology.
A Norwegian agency helped him connect with American coaches and choose the right school, which is a process that is becoming more popular in Norway. Heskestad wants to return home for graduate school and says he is wrapping his head around the education differences, most notably that Norwegian universities do not have general education requirements.
Heard began helping Heskestad adjust to college life from across the Atlantic by reaching out to him months before he arrived on campus, and the whole team immediately welcomed him into the fold. “The second day I was here, I was watching soccer games with the seniors and felt at home,” Heskestad says.
Griffiths’ college coach now works at IMG Academy, an elite athletic preparatory boarding school in Florida. A fruit of that connection is Pablo Mesa, a freshman defender majoring in business administration & management who filled the Cardinals’ need at center back after receiving positive reviews from his IMG coaches. His Colombian roots give him the technical skill seen in players from his home country and Brazil. Mesa said Otterbein is his first experience playing on turf but knows he can adapt.
Like almost every college freshman, Mesa says time management has been the hardest part of his transition. Although finding time for school, soccer, meals and sleep can be hard, he knows not to go against what makes American college different. In fact, he enjoys opening his mind and interacting with more people in general education courses.
Heard has reminded him to keep working hard and not worry about mistakes. The support Mesa is receiving has made him confident in his decision to attend Otterbein. “When you know something is right, it is right,” Mesa says. “When I am here, I know I am in the right place.”
Men’s soccer is not the only Cardinals roster with international student-athletes. Haruki Tada, a sophomore baseball infielder from Japan studying sport management, is another IMG Academy product representing Otterbein. He chose Otterbein, without visiting campus due to COVID-19, from the options his IMG sports adviser presented to him because it was both an academic and athletic fit. Although Tada only knew the head coach, the baseball team took him in when he arrived on campus.
Japanese baseball differs from how America plays its pastime in that it focuses more on defense than hitting, has a stricter coach-player relationship, demands much more respect and often lacks the expression seen in American sports. “[Compared to being in Japanese baseball culture,] I feel more freedom here,” says Tada, “I feel more comfortable [speaking to coaches] in the U.S.”
Tada has a reason for his comfort, which is that Otterbein baseball head coach George Powell could not speak more highly of him. “How he makes everybody feel is incredible. It’s a total testament to his culture, who he is as a person, his family, everything he would ever associate with,” Powell says. “He is a special, special person.” The two hit it off when Powell visited Tada three times during the Cardinals’ 2020 spring break trip to Florida. Otterbein learned of Tada from a college roommate of Powell who had a connection to IMG.
When the Japanese recruit did not respond to the coach on WhatsApp from May to August 2020 due to internet issues, Powell was unsure he would coach Tada until he received a message from the infielder saying he would be in Westerville the next day. Since then, Powell has praised Tada’s versatility on the diamond as a switch hitter who is efficient, well-coached, can “do the little things” and lift the team with his understanding of American culture.
The coach has completed a Japanese lesson on the Duolingo app for more than 150 consecutive days and says he will sponsor Tada for dual citizenship. The language barrier is improving for Tada, who has benefited from his coach’s Japanese study and use of gestures. While Powell is learning the Japanese language from the app, he has learned Japanese culture by watching Tada teach his teammates by example to be selfless, respectful and not blame others when things do not go their way. With his experience with Tada, the coach wants to travel to Japan and learn from the country’s baseball culture.
Gabriel Atteh, a 25-year-old freshman from Ghana, is returning to school after five years to study computer science and compete on the men’s tennis team. From ages 12 to 18, Atteh represented his country in tournaments across Africa. When he first moved to the United States at age 20 in 2016, he played tennis for one season at New Mexico Military Institute, a military junior college.
The Olympic Indoor Tennis Club, where he has played since he arrived in Columbus in 2017, was Atteh’s bridge to Otterbein. His coach there knows Otterbein tennis head coach Tyler Stephen. Now that Atteh is a Cardinal, he dreams of going undefeated this season and breaking records. To reach those goals, Atteh needs to use his experience from clinics in his return to matches. “He has seen a ton of different types of players over his years playing,” says Stephen. “[With] every single type of game you play against, you are going to improve.”
Off the courts, Atteh is being transformed by the experience of traveling to matches, meeting new people and being on a passionate team. Going back to college and organized tennis competition after a half-decade hiatus can be tough, but “[it] has helped me to be more focused on what I am doing and have to do to achieve the goals I have set for myself,” Atteh says.
Like Griffiths’ experience years ago at the University of Kentucky, the chance to continue a passion for sport while earning a degree is what international student-athletes are looking for when they come to the United States.
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