Many nations come together on the field for Brookland-Cayce

3/26/08

Many nations come together on the field for Brookland-Cayce
Akilah Nelson, The State - MidlandsPreps.com

The face of Brookland-Cayce soccer is an international one.

“We have maybe eight kids on our roster that you probably think of as the typical American soccer player, but then we’ve also got this very diverse group,” coach Kevin Heise said.

The Bearcats roster boasts four foreign exchange students this year.

Tyll Weyer and Christoph Holzwarth are from Germany. Miljan Kaludjerovic is from Montenegro. Eduardo Adam is from Brazil. All four have started for the Bearcats (5-1).

“We usually get four or five transfer students at Brookland-Cayce every year, but this year they just happened to be four guys and all of them wanted to play soccer,” Heise said. “It’s never happened like that before that I can remember.”

Heise wasn’t worried about the exchange students forming a team within the team. The Bearcats were already a diverse group, with junior Kwabena Nkansah-Amankra, from Ghana, and another athlete from South America.

“I knew our guys would make these players feel comfortable,” he said. “They’ve just kind of fit right in.”

Adam said the Bearcats have been family to the exchange students and that all the athletes have eagerly shared their various cultures.

Having the common ground of soccer to start on made relating to one another much easier, he said. Then, the young men quickly found out they shared other interests.

“I’ve always liked hip hop, and a lot of my teammates listen to hip hop, too,” Adam said.