01 OC Mag 01-24

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BUILDING TEAM | Internatio TEXT BY GEORGIA LODEWYK | PHOTOS SUBMITTED It was easy to spot the Northwestern College celebration after the men’s soccer team snagged the Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason title on Nov. 9. Fans rushed to flood the field, waving a unique array of flags from Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Bench players and coaches immediately joined and embraced teammates following the emotional 2-1 win against Morningside University that sent them to the NAIA national tournament. “Winning with a team is one thing, but winning with your closest friends is like another level of joy,” said senior midfielder Marco Alessio. It was a proud moment for the second-seeded team that also won the regular season title in 2021 and finished fourth in the GPAC in 2022. The Northwestern soccer program credits its success to many factors — chief among them being the way it has created a team that crosses continents and cultures. Together, the 25-player varsity team built a brotherhood by bonding over the world’s most beloved sport in an area that may first seem unlikely: Orange City. It has been an intentional move for head coach Dan Swier to recruit international students to the Red Raiders’ soccer program. Many NAIA and NCAA schools have followed a similar trend in recent years. Now, the United States hosts more international students than any other country in the world. Northwestern College soccer coach Dan Swier has intentionally recruited international students to be a significant part of his program. Colorful flags waved after a victory reflect that diversity. “It’s gotten easier to recruit internationals, and it’s gotten harder to recruit really good players from here in the states,” Swier said. Northwestern College’s soccer success built on worldwide recruiting, winning relationships Swier, who has served 16 seasons as head coach, said students from other parts of the United States are less likely to play NAIA if they go to a college farther from home. That leaves him a narrow radius — a mostly local radius — to build an entire team around. The NAIA has looser eligibility restrictions and recruiting guidelines than the NCAA, which makes it an appealing option for many international students looking to be student athletes. Two-year captain Alessio was one of these students. The midfielder joined the team from Chioggia, Italy, in 2020. “In Europe, it’s very hard to both 36 OC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2024
onal INFLUENCE study and play a sport at a good level,” he said. “Here, everything is organized for you to be able to study in the morning and in the afternoon practice with your team.” Alessio got connected with Northwestern through a recruiting agency. He said Swier impressed him, especially because of his honesty about the program and area. “I say, ‘OK, you’re not coming to Miami,” Swier said. “You’re not coming to New York, you’re not coming to L.A. You’re coming to a tiny community in the middle of the country that’s going to be cold in the winter. It’s an hour and a half from the nearest airport. How do you feel about that?’ And nine out of 10 guys say, ‘I don’t care. Really, I just want to come, and I want to study, and I want to play soccer.’” That was almost Alessio’s exact response, and not long after he was on a plane and heading toward Orange City. When he arrived, he joined a team that was almost as diverse as the game of soccer itself; made up of not one, or two, but players from nine countries, with students from Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Colombia, Chile and, of course, the United States, as well as him being from Italy. Alessio called this diversity a “treasure,” something valuable that makes the team stronger on and off the field. “Many players from different countries have different ideas of soccer and the way of playing,” Alessio said. “It’s not that one wants to say he’s right and the other ones are wrong; we just add our point of view, our ideas to this bucket, that it becomes more and more full of knowledge and insight and perspectives.” Different countries and cultures bring a unique flair to the game of soccer, from America’s fast-paced, straightforward play to Brazil’s emphasis on flair and complexity. Swier said learning to combine those styles into one can be challenging, but with healthy communication between the coaching staff and players they can create a cohesive way of play without quelling how a player expresses himself on the field. Yet the team is not all international. Swier is intentional about staying as close to a 40- 60 ratio of international students to American students as possible. “We’ve always said that students from other countries have something to offer us here. But then we also have something to offer to them. We want them to come here and experience our culture,” Swier said. This camaraderie established intercultural connection and friendships that have impacted other parts of Northwestern student life. Martha Draayer, director of intercultural development at Northwestern, said the soccer team is just one way the college is seeing an uptick in their international population. She credits Northwestern’s mission and vision, positive alumni testimony, and sports recruitment as three ways the campus is growing in diversity. SPRING 2024 | OC MAGAZINE 37
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