Across the globe

JMUcoachessharethe highs and lows of internationalrecruiting

By WILL MORAN The Breeze

Yes. It’s an art.

At least, according to JMU men’s soccer head coach Paul Zazenski. He’s been recruiting student-athletes internationally for 13 years in multiple positions at different universities, and over this time, he said, he’s enjoyed his experience doing so.

Each sport has different rules and styles. As such, coaches have to take different steps to recruit players. Each coach has their own twist on recruiting.

A factor consistent across these sports is that players typically want to come to the U.S. in search of a combination of athletics and academics, which Zazenski said isn’t always an option for players from different countries. Zazenski said the athletes are looking for the “next chapter of their life” and are searching for a place where they can progress.

“Most of the players that end up coming to America already have their hearts set on coming and combining education with athletics,” Zazenski said, “which is something that isn’t always done in a lot of other countries around the world.”

The bulk of convincing comes from persuading the player to attend JMU over other institutions in the U.S. that are also recruiting them, Zazenski said. The men’s soccer coach pointed out what a place like JMU can do for these players academically, highlighting the facilities JMU has to help the players progess on the field.

The presence of international recruits helps JMU sports by bringing in new talent that isn’t available in the U.S. and combines different cultures together, leading to an increase in diversity in the program — something that JMU men’s golf head coach Carter Cheves said has been a good experience for him and the team.

“I think we say ‘It’s a small world’ a lot just in our daily lives, and I think when it comes to our sport it’s even more the case,” Cheves said. “It brings culture and diversity to our program, and I think it’s been a good experience.”

Compared to other schools in the state, Old Dominion, U.Va. and Virginia Tech, JMU has the second most out of the four schools with rostered international players at approximately 9%. Old Dominion had the most with approximately 17.8%, and U.Va. and Virginia Tech were third and fourth with 8.29% and 7.69%, respectively.

Of the three JMU head coaches who spoke to The Breeze — Zazenski, men’s golf’s Carter Cheves and field hockey’s Christy Morgan — there are similarities in their approaches to international recruiting, but they each have a unique approach to recruiting the international players onto their respective rosters.

Men’s Soccer

Zazenski said he’s been recruiting

GraphicbyBen Moulse /TheBreeze

throughout his entire 13-year career, using a variety of methods, including watching highlights and full-game footage, with the main method being traveling to see the players live.

“There are showcases where you go over to a specific country through connections and through word of mouth and through relationships you’ve built,” Zazenski said, “and you go over to watch a number of different players play.”

The connections are what are really important to Zazenski and the staff during the recruiting process. Through his time as a coach, he’s built those relationships overseas to aid his recruiting process. Zazenski said a lot of the players he visits are recommended to him by connections he’s made during his career.

Something else that goes into these relationships is making sure they’re strong and honest with what Zazenski calls “showcase handlers”. A handler is basically an advocate for the international players, whose goal is to get the recruits to the U.S. to play college soccer, so naturally, they have a bias toward their international players. Zazenski said it’s important to know what you’re looking for in order to properly sift through everything the handlers’ recommendations and find the real gems.

“What is hard as a coach in Division I, and at every other level for that matter, is knowing exactly what these people are telling you to be truth,” Zazenski said. “They think everybody is the best player they have ever seen because they are trying to help them get to America, so you have to really know the people and trust the people in order to make a good, educated decision on who you decide to recruit.”

However, they don’t always travel strictly for showcases, Zazenski said. Sometimes they travel just to see a certain few players. Zazenski said these recommendations can come from many places: connections made overseas, to

Alumni Or Even Current Players On

The recruiting process can present many difficulties, namely time and money. Zazenski said while he believes he has a healthy budget, it’s

This, coupled with the fact Zazenski and the staff are so far away, makes it vital for them to use the time in other countries as effectively as possible because they might not ever have another chance to see the prospects in person.

“A player from Virginia, we might be able to watch five or six times play live,” Zazenski said. “Whereas an international player, you really only get one opportunity, maybe two, if you are at a weekend event.”

Beside these, other issues that the program faces are language and cultural differences. Besides the communication barrier that this can present, it also can be difficult for the players with respect to JMU’s academic standards, Zazenski said. Along with this, players from other countries often come over to the U.S. 1-2 years older than a typical 18-year-old U.S. college freshman.

Another thing that comes into play in soccer is the different play styles of each country around the world. Zazenski said that each country has different philosophies and different characteristics to how they approach the sport, and this influences the way they teach young players. Understanding this and adapting to it is where Zazenski says the art comes into play.

Zazenski describes his style of recruiting as an art in that it takes a lot of time, research and knowledge to be successful recruiting on the international stage. Zazenski said the art comes from knowing exactly what style of player you want in each position on your roster, and then knowing what area of the world you need to go to find that player.

“There is a lot of variance country to country, and I think that is where the art comes into international recruiting,” Zazenski said. “Formulating your roster and knowing what each player can bring to the table based on how they were brought up playing.”

Field Hockey

Christy Morgan has coached JMU field hockey for 18 seasons in two stints, from 1991-

99 and 2014-present. Her international recruits excelled this season, namely senior forward Eveline Zwager and senior midfielder Diede Remijnse who received first and second team All-South region honors, respectively.

The 2022 roster featured seven international recruits, all from Europe, including five from the Netherlands, which is a major hub for field hockey, having won four of the last five field hockey World Cups. Morgan said she likes to recruit from Europe because of the experience the players have when they’re ready to come play in the U.S.

“We go international because … they start playing hockey when they’re really, really young,” Morgan said. “When we are thinking about a skill, they are more instinctive.”

Morgan compares this to American players and how the disparity in experience affects them. American players typically begin playing field hockey in late elementary school or middle school, whereas European players begin playing at around 4-6 years old. Since they have less experience, in the same situation Morgan said American players have to “think the skill,” their international teammates “feel the skill.”

There could be a boom in the number of international players on the JMU field hockey roster in the near future. Morgan said the program has a trip planned for this summer to watch a number of European tournaments to identify potential key players and watch them play live.

A change that the international players experience when they come to the U.S. is the rigorous training schedule, Morgan said. While the international players play year-round, they don’t practice every day. So when they come to JMU, which Morgan described as “one of the most competitive programs in the nation,” she said they aren’t used to the intensity of the training.

Morgan’s recruiting process begins by finding the player through a number of different avenues, whether through an agency who recommends the player, their own research or Morgan’s connections.

Morgan played on the U.S. national team and made a multitude of connections during her time as a player from 1982-90. Morgan said some of the great players she competed against now have daughters ,and she’s recruited some of them to come play for the Dukes.

For example, Taryn Mayer. Morgan had a relationship with the Mayer family through Taryn’s sister, Corey (2015-18), who was a player for JMU.

After finding the player, Morgan and her staff check to make sure she’s talented enough to represent JMU on the field — but it doesn’t stop there. Buying into the culture is the most important trait Morgan looks for on the recruiting trail.