Men's soccer sports international cast
By Marcela Beltrao Teixeira
[email protected]
They come from all over the world – United States, Brazil, Japan, Venezuela, Italy, Denmark, Trinidad & Tobago –the men’s soccer team from Madonna University is showing to everyone an amazing example of how diversity and teamwork can take you a long way.
For the first time in Madonna’s history, the men’s soccer program reached the semifinals in the NAIA in 2018. However, this is not the only record broken by this team, especially the internationals.
Yuri Farkas Guglielmi, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, broke a few records of his own. He is the player in Madonna’s soccer history with the individual game record of most goals and points. In his 2018 season, Farkas, as he is known in the soccer community, scored 25 goals also reaching the season record for most goals.
“I cannot wait to play my senior season. Madonna opened so many doors for me, I would not be able to put into words how thankful I am for the chance I was given by coach Mark Zathey and Madonna,” said Farkas, a Sports Management major.
The change of pace not only happened for the internationals, who moved from their home countries and learned a new language, culture and a different style of play. In the same way, the American players learned a lot from their teammates from different parts of the world.
“One thing that I have learned from the internationals players, besides how to speak new languages, is that, no matter where you are from or how you were raised, everyone treats each other like family no matter what. Once we hit that field we are one regardless of where we were born,” said Michael Lubonja, a Criminal Justice major.
Head coach Zathey declares how much the program changed with the arrival of the international kids and how much he was able to learn from them.
“They changed the program dramatically, because the players offer variety, there is also variety in the personalities, the way players were raised, but there are more pronounced differences when they are from different cultures and speak different languages and have different value systems. Just the way they approach speech and interact is very different. We have a lot of differences and it is a challenge that way, but I think it brings greater benefits,” said Zathey.
Consequently, working with so many players from different countries and soccer backgrounds can be very demanding.
“It is hard,” said Zathey. “In the sense that when we are working with a similar demographic or similar group it is easy to act one way and everybody understands. In this situation, different people interpret the same message different ways because of their previous experiences, so I have to be more aware of how our staff interacts and really more aware of how they interact with each other.”
The soccer program may have changed a lot with the arrival of the international players, nevertheless these same students changed and learned with Madonna.
“I learned a lot from Madonna’s program. Here they have a different way to manage soccer. You have the opportunity to study and play, which is very rare in my home country. Also, the transition from freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior is all very new and interesting to me,” said Breno Stapcinskas, a Business Administration major from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
They first came to the United States unsure of what the future held for them. In the 2018 season they ended as the 4th-seeded team in the country. As they started the new season in 2019 they are, so far, the only unbeaten team in the WHAC Conference.
“Madonna University is a great experience that changes your life. However, you have to be ready: life here is not easy and you have to work hard in soccer and school,” said Gian Marco Bevitori a Psychology major from Ravenna, Italy.
In the end, the team grew with them as they grew with the experience. They opened the doors for future international kids to come to Madonna and make their difference and create their own history.
“If I could give one advice to the future international student who wants to come and play at Madonna, I would say: you need to be in good shape, both physically and mentally. If you come here prepared to do your best, you will do just fine,” said Frederik Bernbom, a ESL student and Business Administration major from Middlefart, Denmark.
[email protected]
They come from all over the world – United States, Brazil, Japan, Venezuela, Italy, Denmark, Trinidad & Tobago –the men’s soccer team from Madonna University is showing to everyone an amazing example of how diversity and teamwork can take you a long way.
For the first time in Madonna’s history, the men’s soccer program reached the semifinals in the NAIA in 2018. However, this is not the only record broken by this team, especially the internationals.
Yuri Farkas Guglielmi, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, broke a few records of his own. He is the player in Madonna’s soccer history with the individual game record of most goals and points. In his 2018 season, Farkas, as he is known in the soccer community, scored 25 goals also reaching the season record for most goals.
“I cannot wait to play my senior season. Madonna opened so many doors for me, I would not be able to put into words how thankful I am for the chance I was given by coach Mark Zathey and Madonna,” said Farkas, a Sports Management major.
The change of pace not only happened for the internationals, who moved from their home countries and learned a new language, culture and a different style of play. In the same way, the American players learned a lot from their teammates from different parts of the world.
“One thing that I have learned from the internationals players, besides how to speak new languages, is that, no matter where you are from or how you were raised, everyone treats each other like family no matter what. Once we hit that field we are one regardless of where we were born,” said Michael Lubonja, a Criminal Justice major.
Head coach Zathey declares how much the program changed with the arrival of the international kids and how much he was able to learn from them.
“They changed the program dramatically, because the players offer variety, there is also variety in the personalities, the way players were raised, but there are more pronounced differences when they are from different cultures and speak different languages and have different value systems. Just the way they approach speech and interact is very different. We have a lot of differences and it is a challenge that way, but I think it brings greater benefits,” said Zathey.
Consequently, working with so many players from different countries and soccer backgrounds can be very demanding.
“It is hard,” said Zathey. “In the sense that when we are working with a similar demographic or similar group it is easy to act one way and everybody understands. In this situation, different people interpret the same message different ways because of their previous experiences, so I have to be more aware of how our staff interacts and really more aware of how they interact with each other.”
The soccer program may have changed a lot with the arrival of the international players, nevertheless these same students changed and learned with Madonna.
“I learned a lot from Madonna’s program. Here they have a different way to manage soccer. You have the opportunity to study and play, which is very rare in my home country. Also, the transition from freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior is all very new and interesting to me,” said Breno Stapcinskas, a Business Administration major from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
They first came to the United States unsure of what the future held for them. In the 2018 season they ended as the 4th-seeded team in the country. As they started the new season in 2019 they are, so far, the only unbeaten team in the WHAC Conference.
“Madonna University is a great experience that changes your life. However, you have to be ready: life here is not easy and you have to work hard in soccer and school,” said Gian Marco Bevitori a Psychology major from Ravenna, Italy.
In the end, the team grew with them as they grew with the experience. They opened the doors for future international kids to come to Madonna and make their difference and create their own history.
“If I could give one advice to the future international student who wants to come and play at Madonna, I would say: you need to be in good shape, both physically and mentally. If you come here prepared to do your best, you will do just fine,” said Frederik Bernbom, a ESL student and Business Administration major from Middlefart, Denmark.