International students form the international soccer team

Kelsey Pipes
TNE Writer
For the international students at NSU who love soccer but do not play on either of the soccer
teams it can be hard to get to participate in such a popular sport.
The international soccer team formed from the many international students that would get
together and kick around a soccer ball in their free time. However, they soon wanted competition
and play against new international students.
The international team was formed out of just international student who played socially together
for a couple of semesters and wanted to compete because we got tired of playing each other,
said Madalitso Mwale, Zambia senior. So we sought to get other schools international students
to play against us and they agreed on the idea.
There are no tryouts involved with participating in the international soccer team, the main
purpose for this team is to get to know one another and have a good time.
We do not have tryout to become a member of the team, said Mingyu Shin, South Korea
freshman. International students who attend NSU are welcomed to join the team. We truly
would like them to come and spend time with us especially to have fun, which is our main
purpose.
Though there are no tryouts to join the team, there are a few practices a week so the international
students can hang out and keep in shape at the same time.

The team has practices but these are not that serious and just includes scrimmages among each
other and trying to keep in shape, said Mwale. We usually hold each other responsible for our
fitness by having a workout partner and taking full advantage of the fitness facilities we have at
NSU.
The international soccer team plans on playing several soccer games against several different
schools around Oklahoma and the surrounding states with the first game to occur on March 8.
This semester we are playing a knockout tournament with Oral Roberts, Tulsa Community
College, and Northwestern Arkansas Community College, said Mwale.
Playing with and against other international students is rewarding for the international soccer
team because it allows each player to communicate and share their talents with other students
they may not otherwise.
I love playing with international players where you can communicate and relate with each other
out on the soccer field, said Kamal Jalal, Dubai freshman.
For the international students who are not sure they want to play the game they are encouraged to
take the leap of faith and join to the team for fun times and a great experience.
Even if they are nervous about playing on the team we would attempt to encourage and remind
them the purpose of playing is to have fun and relieve stress, said Shin. All we want to see is
their smiles during and after practices and matches.
Published 2/26/15

Cutline: Mingya Shin holds up the international soccer trophy that was awarded to the team last
April when competing in one of the many tournaments. This year the team is expected to be even
better than the last and have many new players.