2008 Woodie Awards
BG sports go global
University athletic programs bring international students to the U.S.
By: Alison Kemp
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Sports
Eddie Kipchoge knew he wanted to come to the United States.
"Since I was little - like eighth grade - I developed an interest in coming to the United States," Kipchoge said. "That was a long-time dream."
He used his speed to get here. Kipchoge, who is from Kenya, is a runner on the men's cross country team.
He had different expectations for his experiences here - he thought he would be a professional runner - but he said his dream has been fulfilled, just in a different way.
Kipchoge is one of many international student-athletes at BGSU. International student-athletes get recruited not only for their talent but also for the different dynamic they will bring to the teams.
Cami Wells coached at Wichita State University before coming to BGSU to coach the cross country and track teams. While there, she said about half of the cross country and track teams were international students. She heavily recruited international students because the local athletes were lost to bigger schools.
When BGSU dropped its men's track program, Wells began recruiting international students specifically for the men's cross country team. It was hard for her to find American male runners who wanted to participate in only cross country.
"The international students aren't used to having three seasons, so no track isn't bad," she said, whose two Kenya cross country runners keep the team competitive. Kipchoge is the team's top runner, too.
Finding these student-athletes isn't always an easy task.
Everything becomes a little more complicated when trying to recruit an international student-athlete, said Ryan Squire, BGSU's assistant athletic director for compliance.
Traveling to watch an athlete play, the phone calls and their visits are more expensive when international than when national, he said. Academic calendars can be different too, especially for southern hemisphere countries.
"It's sort of like a high risk, high reward [situation]," Squire said.
"Since I was little - like eighth grade - I developed an interest in coming to the United States," Kipchoge said. "That was a long-time dream."
He used his speed to get here. Kipchoge, who is from Kenya, is a runner on the men's cross country team.
He had different expectations for his experiences here - he thought he would be a professional runner - but he said his dream has been fulfilled, just in a different way.
Kipchoge is one of many international student-athletes at BGSU. International student-athletes get recruited not only for their talent but also for the different dynamic they will bring to the teams.
Cami Wells coached at Wichita State University before coming to BGSU to coach the cross country and track teams. While there, she said about half of the cross country and track teams were international students. She heavily recruited international students because the local athletes were lost to bigger schools.
When BGSU dropped its men's track program, Wells began recruiting international students specifically for the men's cross country team. It was hard for her to find American male runners who wanted to participate in only cross country.
"The international students aren't used to having three seasons, so no track isn't bad," she said, whose two Kenya cross country runners keep the team competitive. Kipchoge is the team's top runner, too.
Finding these student-athletes isn't always an easy task.
Everything becomes a little more complicated when trying to recruit an international student-athlete, said Ryan Squire, BGSU's assistant athletic director for compliance.
Traveling to watch an athlete play, the phone calls and their visits are more expensive when international than when national, he said. Academic calendars can be different too, especially for southern hemisphere countries.
"It's sort of like a high risk, high reward [situation]," Squire said.
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