Lea Moessinger, from Bielefeld, Germany, is an example of foreign influence bettering local athletics. (Photo by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – The landscape of athletics has been ever-changing, including those in the United States coming to acceptance that other countries can be good, or even better, at non-Olympic sports. Athletes often find themselves jumping to other countries to find an athletic start, or maybe to resurrect a career.

Major League Baseball and baseball in general has long since experienced internationals coming to America looking for fame and fortune. Hockey, basketball and soccer are also largely foreign imports in the professional ranks of the NHL and MLS. Many of the all-time players in the three leagues are of foreign descent, names like Mario Lemieux, Pele and Ichiro Suzuki are all household names.

NorthWood’s Isabel Franceschetti has found comfort in both cheerleading and swimming thousands of miles from home in Italy. (Photo by Mike Deak)

Closer to home and with stakes much, much less, international flavor is also being felt. Take the varsity programs at Grace College. Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams, men’s tennis and track are loaded with talent from abroad that have helped make Grace a national power. Both soccer programs advanced deep into their national tournaments, and not coincidentally, both were knocked out by teams loaded with internationals.

The opportunity to play in the United States is a dream come true.

“It was always my dream to come to the U.S. and not necessarily just study here, but to later live here,” said Grace freshman Lea Moessinger, who helped the Lady Lancers to a NAIA Sweet 16 tournament appearance. Moessinger hails from Bielefeld, Germany. “(Grace women’s soccer head coach Michael) Voss is a huge Manchester City fan, so he tries to adapt more of the European football style, which is good for me. What grew on me more, though, is the team environment. We really feel like a family here.”

Another German national, Marten Kant, is a foreign exchange student at Wawasee High School. Choosing to play basketball, he’s noticed the game’s environment is much different.

“This is really different from what I have in Germany,” said Kant after a recent practice. “The level is way higher than what is back home. The biggest difference is in the games. Our games, it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t really matter. Here, we push, we train and we really work hard to win. We do everything for that. It’s pretty cool.”

“It was amazing,” recalled Alba Rollan Gomez, another Wawasee exchange student from Madrid, Spain, about cheerleading at high school basketball games. “When they turn the lights off and the green lights come on, I wanted to cry. I was just so happy. My best friend back in Madrid plays basketball, so I knew what basketball was, and I went to her games. But we don’t have cheerleading.”

Wawasee exchange student Alba Rollan Gomez, of Madrid, Spain, has cherished the opportunity to try a totally new activity, cheerleading. (Photo provided)

Wawasee cheer coach Chelsea Coy, who has had other exchange students on the squad in recent years, feels the exchange programs aren’t always just new faces trying new things. Those who come to the United States have plenty to teach to the American students, as well.

“Alba is so kind and she is so bubbly and fun,” Coy said. “Just her personality when you think of the stereotypical cheerleader comes off as mean and not accepting. Alba is the complete opposite of that stereotype. She brings such a good feeling and light to the room. For someone who has never been exposed to this before, she really caught on. You see it through their eyes. It’s like watching someone go down a slide or swing for the first time. It’s an experience seeing them catch on. It’s really rewarding.”

Another Wawasee exchange student from Madrid, Bea Victoria, echoed what all of those coming here from Europe said about American sports.

“America takes their sports very serious,” Victoria said, who also noted, as did others, they had heard of the NFL and some other basketball superstars like Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but didn’t know much about the sports themselves. “A lot of the crowds here are huge. They all go to the games. The students come see you. In Madrid, they don’t. The game is different here on how it’s played. We play seven-minute periods in Madrid. We play eight here. So you have to be in better shape. It took some getting used to.”

Isabel Franceschetti just got her first taste of prime time American competition. Coming from Rome, Italy, Franceschetti, a NorthWood exchange student, had swam some club and was a lifeguard, but had not competed in a meet like the Northern Lakes Conference Championships until this past weekend. And certainly not in a facility like what is the Northridge Natatorium or what is to come in a couple weeks at the Elkhart Aquatics Center. Already seeing life on the stage being a cheerleader in the fall for NorthWood’s crown jewel, football, Franceschetti has been front and center to high stakes high school athletics.

“We don’t have a swim team in my school in Italy, and there we only swim our age,” noted Franceschetti. “Here you swim against different ages. We have to swim clubs and in private schools. I was impressed with some of the pools we swim at. There is an Olympic pool in Rome we swam at, but when I went to IUPUI (site for the IHSAA State Finals), it was really impressive with all the hand prints on the wall from the Olympic swimmers. There is a lot of emotion looking at that.”

German-born Marten Kant has found his niche with Wawasee basketball. (Photo by Mike Deak)