During the past couple of months, international students at Loyola have gone from playing pickup matches to organizing competitions against Tulane’s soccer club.
Karim Fares, a French study abroad student studying international business said it was difficult to meet new friends in a foreign country. However, as he started to attend parties, he met other international students.
“Usually when you meet a European guy and you don’t know him, we always talk about futbol, because everyone knows a little bit about it,” Fares said.
As the students talked about their love of soccer, they decided to organize games.
“And step by step, everything started,” Fares said.
The students quickly put everything into place and began to meet twice a week, he said.
At first, they played the matches in the Res Quad. However, due to weather changes, the students were forced to play on the basketball court inside the rec plex.
Desperate to play on a field, the students asked Tulane if they would allow them to play on the artificial ground and turn on the lights for their games.
Berat Gider, a German marketing and entrepreneurship major, wasted no time. He contacted Tulane and asked if the university could make an exception to allow them to play on the field and thankfully, Gider said, “They did it, and gave me the address of Teddy that I should speak to him.” Gider spoke to the captain of the Tulane soccer club and organized a friendly game.The team of about 15 international students purchased Loyola T-shirts to use as jerseys when they played against the Tulane team.
“We won the game actually, 4-3. They got mad in the end a little bit because they were losing. I’m very proud of the team,” Gider said. The team has been invited by the Tulane club to play every Wednesday once a week since their first match.
“We just have to recognize that we shouldn’t wait for everything, but try to do stuff on our own and talk to people,” Gider said.
Not willing to simply wait for things to form, he said he is now planning and seeking support in order to start a soccer club at Loyola. Although he will be back in Germany soon, Gider says that he wants to leave a soccer club for his fellow students.
Leslie Gamboni can be reached at
(The Maroon)
Members of Loyola’s club futbol team practice in the rec plex. The team meets Wednesdays to play Tulane’s club team. (Chika John/Staff Photographer)
