By Catherine Laroche

The University of Louisville is home to thousands of students from a variety of backgrounds –– but that diversity is even more noticeable in the athletics department, where 61 athletes from 28 countries are active members of the school’s sports teams.

 “I think it’s great that we have so many athletes from different countries,” said athletic director Tom Jurich. “I’m very appreciative of how hard the international students work and perform in the classroom. In my eyes, once they get to Louisville and have ‘Louisville’ on their jersey, they are from Louisville.”

And to help athletes feel even more at home at U of L, the athletic department goes the extra mile to create an enjoyable athletic and educational experience for each of its student athletes. If an athlete needs help with academics or athletics, the athletic department is there to help. Tutoring and other academic services are available in the Olga S. Peers Academic Center for Student Athletes in the SAC to help athletes stay ahead in their classes, since it can be easy to fall behind amidst road games and intense practice schedules.

“Every situation is different,” Jurich said. “We want to make [the athletes’] stay as warm and embracing as we can.”

But before an international athlete can don the Cardinal red, he or she must work through the international recruiting process. And according to Marvin Mitchell, U of L associate athletic director for Academic Services, the international recruitment process is a bit different from the process of recruiting an athlete from within the U.S. “The biggest differences are the distance and tests,” he said.

“It’s easier dealing with an athlete from Indiana than getting an athlete from Russia. With Russia, we have to deal with the different culture, translations and plane ride. With Indiana, all we have to do is get in the car and drive.

“The staff has to understand the different cultures.  We try to make sure that time here is time well spent. We want to make sure that when they go back to their country, they take something they learned here back,” Mitchell said.

Although the majority of the international athletes hail from many different countries around the globe, 19 are from Canada. 

“Canada does not have nearly as much college support for athletics as the U.S. does, and U.S. coaches are not only looking in Canada for great athletes, but also giving us Canadians great opportunities to pursue our athletic dreams,” said freshman rower Kathryn Hagglund.

At the same time that these international students are broadening their academic and athletic skills, U of L is able to take advantage of talent from outside the United States. The 11-player men’s tennis team, for example, which has the most international athletes on its team roster, plays with eight international students.

“When I recruit, I look for four things,” said coach Rex Ecarma.

“One, have they had a history of past success? Two, do they meet the needs for the team? Three, are they athletic? Good athletes get better in college. And four, are they the type of person the university will be proud of? It doesn’t make a difference if they are foreign or domestic. I just use the four-question grid and then select.”

The system worked for Ecarma in 1997. “I picked my two toughest from Spain and Croatia, plus two other international athletes and two Kentuckians. With that team, we made it to our first NCAA tournament,” he said.

 Although the tennis team and other teams like it with a mix of international and domestic players are very diverse, the tennis team’s chemistry brings players together.

“We are very close,” Jamaican sophomore Damar Johnson said. “We hang out together a lot. When a couple of us are doing something, we call everyone to see if they can make it. We look out for each other and care about each other.”

“It’s great! I’ve been here four years and watched the transformation. There have always been more foreigners. It’s hard with eight players from eight different countries, but the only way to have success is to work as a team,” said Romanian senior Octavian Nicodim.

International players still face the same problems as American college athletes, though.

“Time management –– we’re on the road a  lot,” junior Swede Jakob Gustafsson said.

“Keeping up tennis with school is hard,” Nicodim added. “You have to go to class, study on the road, and just try to keep up with it.”

But many athletes agree that it’s a good learning experience.

“I believe that this helps everyone in the long run,” Hagglund said. “It enriches the lives of the individuals coming from other countries and also enriches the ones from the U.S.”