CBC Soccer Team Brings Diversity to the Team and Campus
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Every year, the Coastal Bend College soccer recruits players from around the world to come to Beeville to represent Coastal Bend College in Region XIV, the toughest conference in the nation. These student-athletes represent 15 different countries and bring with them their own culture, style, way of life, and versatility to the team and the campus. As part of the recruitment portion, Coach Bobby Njoroge said he lets recruits “know how intimate CBC is, all your teachers know you so it’s easy to build a positive relationship with them and there are other student-athletes on campus, so their peers are going through the same journey and will be traveling. Also, CBC is not too far from 3 beaches where they can spend their free time.” Some of the countries rep-
resented include Brazil, Spain, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Serbia, Germany, Austria, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Switzerland, and Sierra Leon. Jan Gruhn, a defensive player from Schleidenn, Germany chose Coastal Bend College for the opportunity to play against top competition and the chance to move on with his soccer career to a four-year university. When asked about the best part of CBC, he replied “my teammates and the people.” With the transition from playing soccer in a country that is home to you, transitioning to another country can be difficult. Jarod Bleibdrey, Assistant Soccer Coach, stated that he believes “fully that growth is obtained through experience, and leaving your home country to travel here and undertake a rigorous season, with
coursework to follow, propels our players to reach new levels of mental, physical and emotional heights. The courage the players have to leave their homes and embark on a new adventure, knowing trials and tribulations lay ahead is not a commonly found trait, thus our team is not a commonly found group of players. They push for excellence in everything they do.” The players have the unique experience to impact their classrooms by sharing their perspective in the classroom offers a different perspective into the discussion including their different sayings, phrases, as well as, a different type of humor. Having other countries represented on campus brings more culture to the campus that is not readily found in the United States, let alone in
