International Athletes Involved at UWS

It’s true that 2014-15 will once again see its fair share of Canadians lacing up the skates for the Yellowjackets, but this year will also feature student-athletes from other nations competing in a variety of sports at UW-Superior.

The university as a whole has 56 new international students enrolled for the fall semester, representing a 27% increase from a year ago. A total of 25 nations will have at least one new student enrolled at UW-Superior. Athletically, there will be 19 new student-athletes from 10 countries competing for the Yellowjackets on the varsity, junior varsity, or club levels. This, according to International Admissions Coordinator Mark MacLean, is an unusually high number.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the growth in international student enrollment, and collaborating with various coaches has been a critical part of that growth,” said UW-Superior International Admissions Coordinator Mark MacLean. “I feel fortunate that we have coaches who are interested in international recruitment, because it can take significant time and effort to do well.”

Among the coaches who have increased their recruiting presence internationally is men’s basketball coach Paul Eberhardt. Now in his third season, Eberhardt has increased the size of his team’s roster in 2014-15, and a portion of that increase is due to his recruiting internationally.

“Recruiting in college sports is a very competitive thing right now. Whether it is Division I, Division II, or Division III, there is a lot of competition when it comes to filling your rosters year in and year out,” Eberhardt said. “We can’t leave any stones unturned. We have to constantly be on the lookout for players and for us that means recruiting beyond the United States.”

The 2014-15 Yellowjacket men’s basketball team has players from Australia, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden.

“This is an area where the junior varsity initiative that we have at UW-Superior is very beneficial,” Eberhardt said. “In the past we probably wouldn’t have considered bringing in an international player that we didn’t know much about because we wouldn’t want to bring them here and not play them, or worse, cut them.

“Now we have an avenue where we can work with them, get them game time and help them become better players at the college level. It’s a good thing for us.”

Another Yellowjacket coach taking advantage of players from outside the United States is Yellowjacket men’s soccer coach Joe Mooney. Having just completed his 2014 season, Mooney had players on his roster from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.

“We were able to carry additional players on our rosters this year and that opened the door,” Mooney said. “One of our international players, Mitch Wilkinson, was a senior and got into 13 games with our varsity. The other two -Mateus Alves from Brazil and Sultan Almisfer from Saudi Arabia didn’t play with the varsity, but they got to practice with us every day and played on our junior varsity so it is not as if it is a lost year for them. They developed and will be better this year as a result of it.”

The Yellowjacket hockey teams continue to employ numerous international players in their respective attacks. The men have three Canadians (including the team captain) and one player from Sweden, while the women’s hockey team has 10 players from Canada.

“Even though we have had a women’s hockey program since 1998, it is still a relatively new sport in a lot of areas, so recruiting internationally is the lifeblood for us,” Yellowjacket Head Women’s Hockey Coach Dan Laughlin said. “We know that as new as the sport is to some areas, it has been around a long time in Canada and we aren’t afraid to go that route to find talent.

“We have had a lot of success over the years, and that is due in large part to the international players that we bring in.”

International students at UW-Superior aren’t limited to just the varsity and junior varsity athletic rosters. For example, the men’s club hockey team has a handful of players from Sweden and one from Croatia, so opportunities exist on several different levels for international students to compete in the sports they love at UW-Superior.

“I think it’s great that the international student population not only adds diversity to campus, but it’s a very diverse group itself. They don’t all come from one country, or study one major, or participate in one sport,” MacLean said. “And I’ve heard from many coaches that the international athletes, regardless of how much they play, add a unique international dimension to team dynamics, and that is the most gratifying thing for me to see. It’s something that goes to the core mission of our institution.”