Defiance College Women’s Soccer International Experience

DEFIANCE, OHIO – In June of 2019 members of the Defiance College Women's soccer team took an international trip to France. The trip just so happened to coincide with the Women's World Cup. The team members that went on the trip were able to visit cultural sites in France, as well as, attend five different games in the World Cup. 

The team members are back in the States they have agreed to share a little bit more in-depth about the trip, how it affected them, ways it related to their major, and some personal highlights.

Six student-athletes made the trip, and within this segment, two more women's soccer players will share their experiences about their journey to France.   

Kat Wicher – Senior, Psychology 

Going to France has related to my major of psychology in multiple ways. One way being the different culture that exists in France. The language, the way people greet others, the food, the driving, all of it. Having a different culture than in the United States and experiencing that can be overwhelming at times, but sometimes influence your personality by pulling you out of your comfort zone. Having to adapt to an environment that you may not be familiar with and interacting with others from a different country who mainly spoke another language brought on some challenges at times, but we all were able to adapt along the way with a little help from our tour guide too. This social side to psychology was very present every day and each one of us were affected in different ways by these interactions. 

Being from America, there were probably stereotypes about us, as well as what we would expect about the French, but over the course of our trip I believe we were able to learn a lot and the assumptions we may have had lessened. As for soccer, going to France as only strengthened my love for the game. Being in an environment and surrounded by others at the world cup games who also love soccer is an amazing experience. You may be next to someone who is very different from you, being from another country, a different state, or simply not speaking the same language, but in the end you all share a love for the same game and that brings everyone together. 

I hope to translate this more into my last season at Defiance. I may be different from my teammates, all having our own personalities and backgrounds, but knowing we are all here with the same goal to play soccer can only make me and the rest of us stronger as a team. Lastly, just seeing the fight and passion from all the national players on and off the field has encouraged me to do even better, not only for me, but most importantly the others on my team and my school. 

This photo was taken in front of the Eiffel Tower at night in Paris by our tour guide Levin. I like this picture because we all got to finally see one of the most well-known monuments in France together and at this time it was all lit up making it look so pretty.

This picture was taken in front of the Sacré-Cœur on a huge staircase leading up to the Cathedral. From this location you could see the whole city of Paris. This is one of my favorite pictures because the view was breathtaking and something I had never seen before. You could see everything from this spot and at this time of day, the city looked beautiful with the sun shining down on it.

Katie Settich – Senior, Exercise Science 

Being a senior at Defiance College  and taking a trip to France was probably one of the best experiences I could've had with some of my teammates in the last 4 years. 

Sitting front row for the USA v. Chile game taught me more about being a coach and being part of the athletic training team than any class could. I mean come on sitting front row, in person, that's the best hands-on experience anyone could hope for. Especially since I am an Exercise Science major focusing on coaching along with strength and conditioning. Seeing all of the games close up taught me a lot, especially on how the coaches would react after a bad call or even the players on the field. Everyone acted so professionally even when VAR (video assistant referee) would call a PK that clearly was all ball. It's just a totally different atmosphere than the one I have ever been in, and for that, I am completely grateful for the opportunity to go to Defiance College.

Visiting the Palace of Versailles and learning all about the history and how the garden had to be big/long enough so you couldn't see anything else along the horizon.

And the last is sitting front row for the USWNT game, literally FRONT ROW!!!

The Yellow Jackets are set to open their season with the annual Purple and Gold Tournament on Friday, August 30 as they host Heildberg.