The path to college athletics can take multiple forms, and St. Edward's men's and women's soccer international student-athletes are proof that once passion, opportunity, and determination align, there's nothing that can stop you from getting there.
 
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for soccer," ELENA RAMOS BANET, senior biology major from Barcelona, Spain, said. "It made me realize how special and awesome it is to be a student-athlete, and I'm glad I had the chance to experience it. The women's soccer team means a lot to me; they're the reason I fly across the whole world to be here."
 
Despite coming from different parts of the world, there seems to be a consensus among the student-athletes that the passion for the sport and the unique chance to further both their academic and athletic careers are the reasons that have brought Banet, NEMANJA PAVICEVIC, SHUNJI WATANABE, FILIP ADAMSKI, and DARIA SCHLUMBOHM to the United States, and are the common thread that unites them.
 
"That (being able to go to college while playing soccer) is one of the main reasons why I came here," Adamski, redshirt freshman and finance major, said. "After I finished high school, I took a gap year, and during that time, it was tough for me to play soccer and try to study; it's almost impossible."
 
Adamski was born in Austria and raised in Poland, but moved around Europe a lot–including France and Germany – since his father played at the professional level. Even though a lot of his formative years were spent moving from place to place, he now sees how that helped him move to the U.S. on his own and adapt to a different lifestyle more easily.
 
Despite his dad's background as a professional player, Adamski recalls that there was never any pressure coming from his father; the passion and the desire to pursue that path came strictly from his own volition. After playing in the third division at the national level, Adamski was ready for a change and was introduced to the possibility of attending college here through his older brother, who plays soccer at the University of Montevallo in Alabama.
 
"I never really took it seriously until he came here," Adamski recalls. "I think it was after I finished high school when I started taking it more seriously, and my brother helped me throughout the whole process, and I'm really grateful for that."
 
Although going through a recruiting process where you get connected with schools by sending packages with highlight reels and having several meetings with coaches through agencies – a process that Pavicevic, Schlumbohm, and Banet used – is widespread, Watanabe took a very unique route when coming to St. Edward's and joining the men's soccer team. 
 
Watanabe, who was born in Tokyo and grew up between Japan and England, came to St. Edward's as an exchange student through a dual degree program in partnership with Asia Pacific University in 2022. Having played soccer all his life, Watanabe decided to join the men's club soccer team to continue to play the sport at a more recreational level. 
 
Once St. Edward's reinstated its NCAA men's soccer program in 2023, head coach Brian Young invited Watanabe to join an ID camp after watching him play a club game, which later led to him becoming a starter for the brand-new team.
 
"In high school, I tried to stop playing soccer," Watanabe said. "But when I was playing club soccer here, I realized that it was my actual passion. Once I realized that, it made me want to stay here once I finished my exchange program."
 
Once he was called to the team, Watanabe officially transferred to St. Edward's and gained four years of NCAA eligibility, allowing him to play for two of the three years of his undergraduate career. Now, Watanabe is pursuing a Master's degree in accounting in hopes of becoming a CPA in the future, and has become a foundational member of the fast-growing men's soccer program. 
 
Watanabe sees an opportunity to combine his degree with his passion for soccer to develop skills that will be helpful throughout his life, emphasizing community, collaboration, and communication. Even though Watanabe is now confident and comfortable regarding those aspects, he also describes them as some of the hardest things he had to adapt to when he first moved to Austin.
 
Cultural aspects are among the toughest to get used to, but environmental changes come with their own set of specific challenges, especially for people who have never been to the United States before. Pavicevic remembers feeling extremely welcomed by how kind Texans are, but is also still struggling to adapt to day-to-day things, such as Americans' habit of putting an exorbitant amount of ice with every drink. Schlumbohm recalls knowing certain things before moving by herself, but experiencing them for the first time was something she will never forget. 
 
"I think my first thought, when Jonas (Hunt) – the assistant coach from last year – picked me up from the airport was 'oh, it's really hot,'" Schlumbohm, junior goalkeeper and environmental science and climate change major, said while laughing. "I was a little shocked about the highways: they are so high in the air and there are so many of them. It was also just really dry. But then I met all of the other players on the team, so that definitely made it easier to feel welcomed here."
 
Schlumbohm grew up in Bremen, Germany, and remembers that it wasn't as common for girls to play soccer when she was young. Having the opportunity to do so came with its challenges, such as playing for a boys' team, but, most of all, it was always fun and lighthearted. After participating in a tournament in third grade, she realized it was time for her to take it more seriously by joining a club. Still, she never lost sight of what mattered most: having fun and making meaningful memories and friendships.
 
As she grew older and things changed within her former team, she had the opportunity to play for SV Werder Bremen's under-17 team, her hometown team, and her last stop before coming to St. Edward's. After finding out about the possibility of getting scholarships to play in the U.S. through social media, the hardest part of the process was convincing her parents that it was a good idea. After receiving several offers and contacting coaches, she recalls having a "really good feeling about Nick (Cowell) and the school in general," which showed her this was the right choice.
 
"It was nice that the coaches were so trusting, and I always just tried to give my best," Schlumbohm said as she reflected on her first year, when she started 11 out of 13 games in the season. "But something that I had to learn a lot here was how goalkeepers talk a lot to the players in front of them. It's definitely gotten better, but sometimes I'm still like, 'Oh no, I'm yelling this and everyone knows I'm not American,' but it doesn't matter, I still have to do it. I always just try to make the most out of the experience and try my best to adapt."
 
Similar to Schlumbohm, Banet spent her whole life surrounded by her hometown team — FC Barcelona, which she describes as part of her personality – and the liveliness of that environment, frequently experiencing games at Camp Nou next to her dad. Playing soccer, however, also started as something unexpected and just for fun, but as she grew older, her passion for soccer grew with her. 
 
"I want to try to go as far as I can," Banet said. "I want to try to go professional and I know that it's hard, but I know the amount of opportunities that soccer could give me."
 
Despite the several differences that she has observed during her years in the U.S. – from style and tactical differences, since soccer tends to be more technical in other places whereas college soccer demands more athleticism, factors that are a common denominator for most students who have played elsewhere before coming here – the experience of playing college soccer has taught her lessons she wouldn't have learned otherwise.
 
"It helped me understand the sport as to how unpredictable it can be," Banet said. "It made me stronger, and since the season is very different and it's just very compact, you experience a lot of things in a short period of time. Dealing with that mentally made me more mature and showed me how to manage a lot of stress. It also made me understand how I play and how I see soccer, and how to interact with people who have different visions."
 
The different versions of soccer played around the world have translated well into both men's and women's soccer programs at St. Edward's. Despite having to adapt to the American style of play, they recognize that the different perspectives they bring from their international experience add depth and diversity to the teams they are part of, and players with similar backgrounds can bond over how they approach the sport.  
 
"The first month I got here, he (Adamski) was laughing, talking to me and saying 'I see how you play and you think that you have a man on your back, but here you don't, you can turn the ball,'" Pavicevic, a freshman business administration major from Serbia, said. "He told me that I'd have to adapt to it because here they defend differently, they play differently. I've been playing soccer for my whole life at a really high level in Europe, but I have to adapt my style of play to college soccer."
 
Pavicevic grew up in a multicultural environment, as he was born in Serbia but grew up in Austria due to his father's career as a professional soccer player, which tied him to the sport. Growing up around it constantly, Pavicevic always knew he wanted to follow his father's footsteps.
 
His father's mentorship and his obsession with the sport took him very far early in his life, leading him to play at a competitive level at the age of 13. Despite the great opportunity, Pavicevic recalls that it often took the fun away from the sport and put an intense amount of pressure on someone so young. Dealing with severe injuries for a large portion of his teenage years, he realized that going to the professional level was probably not as realistic anymore, which led him to find his way to college soccer. 
 
"I'm not regretting anything, and everything happens for a reason," Pavicevic said. "With every injury I had, it had to have happened this way. God is keeping me from something worse. This mindset kept me positive."
 
The players have also expressed their gratitude towards the community that their teams have brought them. Moving so far away from home without any family around is difficult, but the welcoming environment and friendships they have made are among the reasons the journey is worth it. From roommates' families who help them get settled in, to friends who invite them to spend the holidays with them, teammates who share similar backgrounds and approaches to soccer, and coaches who take them under their wing when it comes to adjustments and legal matters, one thing is clear: the gratitude for the support system that they have found along the way.
 
"They (friends and teammates) are like my family here," Banet said. "When you're not home, you have to find your own home, and that's basically them."