The UW-Whitewater men’s soccer team currently holds four international players on its roster. The team’s head coach Tony Guinn explained how he thinks more international enrollment across the board at the university could significantly bolster athletics and provide financial relief for UW-Whitewater as well as its surrounding community. 

Guinn was born in Northern Ireland, where he lived for the first 10 years of his life before his family immigrated to the United States. His international history provides him with a broader perspective on potential Warhawk prospects. 

“Obviously because of my own background I want to recruit kids from different countries,” he said. “I do think that Whitewater has an enormous potential to expand its international student base, and it could bring a tremendous amount of money – to the local economy, to the school – but at the same time it could bring a different perspective from the students.”

A UW-Whitewater classroom with students from two to three different countries, Guinn said, makes the world appear much smaller and brings perspective, value and culture to the learning environment. It would, “change the whole culture of the community in a positive way,” he said.

Guinn also explained that when international students come to the university, they want to work. Due to restrictions on international student visas the only place for them to do that is on campus, which makes those students beneficial assets to the university. Most of the places those students are allowed to work, Guinn said, are places most in need of employees.

“Everyone wins,” he said. “[With international students] the campus has a student base that’s outside the box of 30 miles within our campus … you’re bringing kids from all around the world, they’re going to school, they’re getting a quality education, they’re participating in groups and teams with a different perspective, because it is from a different culture.”

The soccer team’s international athletes include freshman midfielder Beau Baines from Peterborough, England; sophomore defender Kristinn Thorrson from Hafnarfjarðar, Iceland; freshman forward Luka Breslin from Dublin, Ireland and sophomore defender Matt White from Bangor, Northern Ireland. 

Each of the four international athletes expressed their enjoyment of playing at UW-Whitewater. Breslin said it has been a very easy transition for him.

Everyone has been very welcoming to him and the other international students, Breslin said. This has been an important piece of the transition since everyday stressors of a student-athlete are heightened when being so far from your family.

“Whitewater has a much more personal approach, other schools you just get a broad email that is probably sent to four, five or ten other students just saying ‘hey we watched some footage we’d like you to come out,’” he said. “Coach Guinn is the first coach that actually called me … When I had a look at Whitewater, I just felt like it was a great fit for me.” 

One of the unique experiences had by international student-athletes is the opportunity to travel to different states within the country. While many of the other members of the team have been to several states outside of Wisconsin, Thorrson said, it is a new experience for the international students.

“I had never been to Iowa, I had never been to Michigan or Minnesota,” he said. “I’ve never seen that stuff.”

For Thorrson, the idea of driving seven hours to a game was very odd.

“Where I’m from it takes four or five hours to drive across the whole country,” he said.

A challenge that they face as international students is the distance between them and their loved ones. While some of their other teammates are within just a short drive to see their family on the weekends, the international members of the team have to save enough money to book a six-hour flight. 

Luckily, their teammates, coaches and other friends within the campus community understand that challenge and often offer to host the international students for breaks and holidays, which allows the international students to experience a taste of American culture and share their own with their family away from home.