US COLLEGE SURVEY: Men's soccer's foreign influence.

[E-man]

COLLEGE SURVEY: Men's soccer's foreign influence.
By: socceramerica.com.

Just how big a role do foreign players play at men's programs? Through the years, many foreigners have starred in the college ranks. Nigerian Andy Atuegbu (San Francisco, 1974-77) and Honduran Armando Betancourt (Indiana, 1979-81) were the dominant players of their generation. In the last decade, foreign players had a major role in the success of national champions Indiana (1998-99), Connecticut (2000) and North Carolina (2001).
Today the impact of foreign players at top programs is significant as Virginia, Clemson and SMU -- ranked 1, 2, 3 in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 -- all have foreign stars. That's not to say that these programs have been actively searching on foreign shores for players.
German Yannick Reyering, No. 1 Virginia's first foreigner of note since Bruce Arena developed the program into a national power in the 1980s, learned about the Cavs while searching the Internet. No. 2 Clemson's three foreign stars -- Brazilian Frederico Moojen, Jamaican Dean Richards and Irishman Alan O'Hara -- all transferred from other U.S. colleges. At No. 3 SMU, Brazilians Paulo da Silva and Bruno Guarda moved to the Dallas area to attend high school and stayed on to enroll at SMU.
There are 33 foreigners who have started more than half the games of the teams ranked in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 for an average of 1.32 per team (see below). These players represent 20 countries. Six hail from England. Three each come from Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago. Surprisingly, no Top 25 team has a Canadian who has started a majority of games. (Trinidadian Jason Devenish played for Canada's U-17s but last spring joined South Florida teammates Yohance Marshall and Kevon Neaves in playing for T&T's U-21s.)
Many of these players have significant international experience. Richards has played for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz. New Mexico's Andrew Boyens and West Virginia's Jarrod Smith play for New Zealand's All Whites. SMU's Mynor Gonzalez has represented Guatemala at the Gold Cup. Neaves tried out for Trinidad & Tobago's 2006 World Cup team. UIC's Tonci Skroce is a Croatian U-21 international.
A growing number of American-bred players represent foreign national teams (for which they qualify by birth or heritage). Not included in this list are Duke's Tomek Charowski, who has played for Canada's U-20s, and South Florida's Kareem Smith, who has represented Trinidad & Tobago at the youth level.
Perhaps the most unusual collection of foreigners are at UIC and Old Dominion. Unbeaten UIC starts players from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. ODU features three Cameroonians. Yomby William was joined this year by Nane Joseph and Ambane Emmanuel, who have been starting in recent games.

MEN'S TOP 25 FOREIGNERS
RANK/TEAM (FOREIGN STARTERS)

1. Virginia (1) Yannick Reyering-Germany.
2. Clemson (3) Frederico Moojen-Brazil, Dean Richards-Jamaica, Alan O'Hara-Ireland.
3. SMU (3) Bruno Guarda-Brazil, Paulo da Silva-Brazil, Mynor Gonzalez-Guatemala.
4. Duke (0)
5. Maryland (0)
6. Wake Forest (0)
7. Washington (0)
8. North Carolina (1) Ben Hunter-England.
9. UCLA (0)
10. UIC (4), Jovan Bubonja-Serbia, Pavle Dundjer-Serbia, Adam Ejupovic-Bosnia & Herzegovina, Tonci Skroce-Croatia.
11. Akron (2) Elliot Bradbrook-England, Ossie Michalsen-Norway.
12. West Virginia (4) Matthew Anstey-Australia, Jarrod Smith-New Zealand, Dan Stratford-England, Andrew Wright-England.
13. San Francisco (0)
14. UC Santa Barbara (2) Andy Iro-England, Bryan Byrne-Ireland.
15. Santa Clara (0)
16. Virginia Tech (1) Patrick Nyarko-Ghana.
17. South Florida (3) Yohance Marshall-Trinidad & Tobago, Jason Devenish-Trinidad & Tobago, Kevon Neaves-Trinidad & Tobago.
18. Old Dominion (1) Yomby William-Cameroon.
19. Saint Louis (1) Calum Angus-England.
20. Indiana (0)
21. Notre Dame (0)
22. New Mexico (3) Andrew Boyens-New Zealand, Simon Ejdemyr-Sweden, Lars Loeseth-Norway.
23. Northwestern (0)
24. Fordham (4) Grant Kerr-Scotland, Einar Oddsson-Iceland, Omero Rozen-Italy, Dean Stanic-South Africa.
25. Brown (0)
(Foreigners who have started a majority of their team's games.)

9/21/2006.

[Andre]

soon FIU will be ranked in the top 25 again. we have a couple of trinis on the side.

[kingman]

Big up to these guys. Superstars in the making. All the best (and also to all the Trini massive in the college league). 

Kingman

[Arimaman]

I eh understand what is the big issue?  This has been going on for years.  The only unusual thing about this article is that UVA has a foreign player.

[football king]

yeah finally UVA realise all they big recruits ain't staying 4 yrs, or some not even going college anymore, jumping early to go pro, so with that trend i expect to see more foreigners.  Interesting wake forest have none after Sealy did so well for them. 

[Arimaman]

Football King, I guess we could also ask the question why does JMU not have any after men like Ivan Sampson and Chris Simon?

Spoke to the coach, says it difficult to recruit in trini...  Some kids have a hard time making the "grade".

[football king]

That man could play ball wicked.  Maybe he was a headache off the field -i dunno, i asking.
That suprising in truth cause that jmu coach used have a long history of working with trinis since his WV wesleyan days. 
Them NCAA coaches love a British player.  Sometimes wonder if they realise it have other parts of the world.

[Arimaman]

Samo was no problem off the field.

Nah, you're correct in some regards.  The key with European citizens has something to do with scholarships.  I do believe that some Euro countries provide some sort of a scholarship or stipend to their players, thereby allowing the NCAA coaches not having to use a full scholarship.

I am not 100% sure but I think so.  Have you heard of that?

[Jahyouth]

Samo was no problem off the field.

Nah, you're correct in some regards.  The key with European citizens has something to do with scholarships.  I do believe that some Euro countries provide some sort of a scholarship or stipend to their players, thereby allowing the NCAA coaches not having to use a full scholarship.

I am not 100% sure but I think so.  Have you heard of that?

the problem is money Arimaman.  Most of the good players from Trini come from poorer families, or families that cannot afford to pay thousands of US dollars multiplied by 6 every year.  As such, if you are getting a Trini player, most times it has to be a full scholarship.

The British players maybe are better able to afford it still if they get a half scholarship.  Remember that they are dealing in pounds (or Euro) and not TT dollars!  That way the coaches can stretch the funds over more players.

[Arimaman]

I hear you Jahyouth.  Money is always an issue for us.  I am not disputing that.  However, maybe it's me, but I don't believe a lot of the english players come here unless they have to pay very little or nothing.  The question I was really asking was whether the Euro countries do assist their citizens unlike our gov't in T&T?

[MEP]

and twenty years later these guys have just realized that foreign-born players have been influential to american college soccer...there have been countless players who play for US college teams and then went on to play at the highest level.....back when Skeene played at Columbia his strike partner was from Iceland..used to light up the place.....a nigerian guy who played defence for Brooklyn college ended up in the bundesliga....not to mention guys like Savarese who holds the record for fastest goal in a game played for Venezuela...then we had gusy like Chinapoo and Derek Lewis...the list goes on

[asylumseeker]

There's another article in the same vein. Just stumbled upon it.

They feature Makan Hislop in the article ...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/print?id=387275&type=story&cc=5901

International players are a valuable part of the college game, adding not only to programs in terms of on-field success, but bringing a diversity to teams around the country.

It takes a certain kind of kid to uproot his life. Most college students are reluctant even to leave their home state, let alone trek thousands of miles away to an often obscure college town they knew almost nothing about before the recruiting process began.

AND

Approximate distance from Columbia, S.C., to Tobago: 2,048 miles (3,296 km)


Estimated cost of a ticket to go home over winter break: $1,200


Total travel time: About 14 hours (three stops)


The first question is: How does a kid from the tiny West Indian island of Tobago end up in South Carolina?

"The first big development, obviously, is the Internet," South Carolina coach Mark Berson said. "A lot of these young men now have access to the Internet, and they keep up with not only the soccer programs and the results, but also with the universities."

Players can look up how the team has done, who it plays and what has become of past players as well get an idea of the school's academics.


Another way is word of mouth.

"Generally, teams through the years develop a network of players, maybe former players that go back home and see someone from the area that they recognize as a good player and they'll contact us," Berson said. "Sometimes the contacts come from the players themselves sending an inquiry. Sometimes we learn about them."


Hislop, now a senior, fell under the last category.
"Basically, the coach came and recruited me," explained Hislop, who has been a solid starter on the team's back line for the last three years.

Hislop was recruited to play for the No. 16 Gamecocks after then-assistant coach Brian Cunningham held a training session in Trinidad and Tobago. Cunningham liked what he saw in the young defender and relayed news of the player's potential to Berson. Trusting Cunningham's opinion, Berson offered Hislop, captain of Trinidad and Tobago's Under-21 national team, a scholarship to play soccer in Columbia.

It didn't hurt that Berson was good friends with Lincoln Phillips, technical director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation.

"The soccer world in a way is not really that big," Berson explained. "There's a lot of contacts out there, and you kind of keep in touch over time."

Hislop discussed the offer with his parents and decided to come to the states.

What did he know about South Carolina? "Well, I knew where it was located," Hislop said.

He'd been away from home as a member of the youth national team, but that was for only a few weeks at a time. He knew being gone for months would be a little more of a challenge.


"I wasn't really worried," Hislop said of leaving home. "It was more, 'Who's going to pick me up?'"


There was still somewhat of a culture shock when he arrived.


"It was quite an adjustment culturally and economically," the senior said. "But, soccer is soccer."


Although even that was a little different.


"One thing, locally, back in Trinidad and Tobago, there's a certain type of football, everyone plays more slow and composed," Hislop said. "In America, the game is played faster and more aggressively."


The American style, he explained, is centered on a more rounded team where individual players are put into a system. Back home, the game tended to center around four or five top players. His time on the youth national team helped prepare him for the change.

"I was able to be exposed to that speed and that kind of difference in the game," Hislop said. "I would like to think that the Under-21 team gave me that insight into the international game and how to compete at that level."


The biggest adjustment was academic. For the first time, Hislop was responsible for picking his own courses, making sure that his studies got done and living away from his family. All typical college student issues, but compounded by distance.

"A lot of times, I'm sort of on my own," Hislop said. "If anything goes wrong, I don't really have someone easily a phone call away. ... It's not that simple for me because I'm international, but it's forced me to be more independent."


It has also made him feel more appreciated when he does get back home.

"Every time I go home, everyone gets so excited," Hislop said, laughing. "They have so many questions and are always saying, 'Tell us a story.' When I go home for Christmas, it's like a homecoming."


He appreciates home more as well. Having been raised on a tropical island, Hislop rarely thought much about going to the beach in his youth.

"Before I came to America, I never ever went to the beach," he said. "But whenever I go home, I always want to go to the beach."

[Baygo Boy]

Of all the young T&T defenders, Makan is the only one that will play in the top leagues in Europe - barring injuries.

[Tongue]

COLLEGE SURVEY: Men's soccer's foreign influence.
By: socceramerica.com.

Just how big a role do foreign players play at men's programs? Through the years, many foreigners have starred in the college ranks. Nigerian Andy Atuegbu (San Francisco, 1974-77) and Honduran Armando Betancourt (Indiana, 1979-81) were the dominant players of their generation. In the last decade, foreign players had a major role in the success of national champions Indiana (1998-99), Connecticut (2000) and North Carolina (2001).
Today the impact of foreign players at top programs is significant as Virginia, Clemson and SMU -- ranked 1, 2, 3 in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 -- all have foreign stars. That's not to say that these programs have been actively searching on foreign shores for players.
German Yannick Reyering, No. 1 Virginia's first foreigner of note since Bruce Arena developed the program into a national power in the 1980s, learned about the Cavs while searching the Internet. No. 2 Clemson's three foreign stars -- Brazilian Frederico Moojen, Jamaican Dean Richards and Irishman Alan O'Hara -- all transferred from other U.S. colleges. At No. 3 SMU, Brazilians Paulo da Silva and Bruno Guarda moved to the Dallas area to attend high school and stayed on to enroll at SMU.
There are 33 foreigners who have started more than half the games of the teams ranked in the Soccer America Men's Top 25 for an average of 1.32 per team (see below). These players represent 20 countries. Six hail from England. Three each come from Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago. Surprisingly, no Top 25 team has a Canadian who has started a majority of games. (Trinidadian Jason Devenish played for Canada's U-17s but last spring joined South Florida teammates Yohance Marshall and Kevon Neaves in playing for T&T's U-21s.)
Many of these players have significant international experience. Richards has played for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz. New Mexico's Andrew Boyens and West Virginia's Jarrod Smith play for New Zealand's All Whites. SMU's Mynor Gonzalez has represented Guatemala at the Gold Cup. Neaves tried out for Trinidad & Tobago's 2006 World Cup team. UIC's Tonci Skroce is a Croatian U-21 international.
A growing number of American-bred players represent foreign national teams (for which they qualify by birth or heritage). Not included in this list are Duke's Tomek Charowski, who has played for Canada's U-20s, and South Florida's Kareem Smith, who has represented Trinidad & Tobago at the youth level.
Perhaps the most unusual collection of foreigners are at UIC and Old Dominion. Unbeaten UIC starts players from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. ODU features three Cameroonians. Yomby William was joined this year by Nane Joseph and Ambane Emmanuel, who have been starting in recent games.

MEN'S TOP 25 FOREIGNERS
RANK/TEAM (FOREIGN STARTERS)

1. Virginia (1) Yannick Reyering-Germany.
2. Clemson (3) Frederico Moojen-Brazil, Dean Richards-Jamaica, Alan O'Hara-Ireland.
3. SMU (3) Bruno Guarda-Brazil, Paulo da Silva-Brazil, Mynor Gonzalez-Guatemala.
4. Duke (0)
5. Maryland (0)
6. Wake Forest (0)
7. Washington (0)
8. North Carolina (1) Ben Hunter-England.
9. UCLA (0)
10. UIC (4), Jovan Bubonja-Serbia, Pavle Dundjer-Serbia, Adam Ejupovic-Bosnia & Herzegovina, Tonci Skroce-Croatia.
11. Akron (2) Elliot Bradbrook-England, Ossie Michalsen-Norway.
12. West Virginia (4) Matthew Anstey-Australia, Jarrod Smith-New Zealand, Dan Stratford-England, Andrew Wright-England.
13. San Francisco (0)
14. UC Santa Barbara (2) Andy Iro-England, Bryan Byrne-Ireland.
15. Santa Clara (0)
16. Virginia Tech (1) Patrick Nyarko-Ghana.
17. South Florida (3) Yohance Marshall-Trinidad & Tobago, Jason Devenish-Trinidad & Tobago, Kevon Neaves-Trinidad & Tobago.
18. Old Dominion (1) Yomby William-Cameroon.
19. Saint Louis (1) Calum Angus-England.
20. Indiana (0)
21. Notre Dame (0)
22. New Mexico (3) Andrew Boyens-New Zealand, Simon Ejdemyr-Sweden, Lars Loeseth-Norway.
23. Northwestern (0)
24. Fordham (4) Grant Kerr-Scotland, Einar Oddsson-Iceland, Omero Rozen-Italy, Dean Stanic-South Africa.
25. Brown (0)
(Foreigners who have started a majority of their team's games.)

9/21/2006.

and after all these years they still not giving Howard their props.....Howard set the trend wit Trinibagonians, Jamaicans and African players since back in the 70's long before... Chinas and Lewis...some of the youtemen on the site may or may not have heard about them....Trevor Leiba, Ian Bain, Keith Aqui, Peter Decouteau, and others.

[Warrior30]

I am sure if they look at the other Divisions in the NCAA and they top rankings you will find more foreigners and Trinis as well