We’ve gotten better as a team since we’ve gotten to know each other.”Īustin grad Rolando Rubio, who scored a key goal in the Section 1A title game to send the Packers to their first state tournament in boys soccer in 2009, has also grown as he is in his second season with RCC. “We have fun with those guys and we get along really easily. “It’s fun learning about their culture and we adapt to them,” Ortiz said. Austin grad Dante Ortiz, who is in second year with the Blue Devils, said he’s learned plenty about life and soccer with RCC. While the Blue Devils have plenty of international talent, they also have a few local kids that are learning about other cultures first-hand. Then we have people from other places too and the team is like a family.” It’s pretty neat to have people from Brazil, they’re like my brothers. In Riverland everyone’s so open and they’re really good people. But then you just get used to it and it’s easy. “You miss your friends, your parents and you miss the food. “The first few weeks is difficult, because you’re homesick,” Ferreira said. He said it’s tough to be away from home, but it helps that a lot of Riverland’s roster is dealing with the same problem. Ferreira had a couple of partial athletic scholarship offers to play NCAA soccer last season, but he wasn’t able to afford paying the tuition that wasn’t covered, so he made his way to Riverland to get a chance to play in the United States.įerreira, a defender who is 20 years old, is hoping to eventually play pro soccer and he’s also looking to get a good education in America. The Blue Devils have six Brazilians on the team and they’ve all become pretty acquainted with Tiago Ferreira, who is from Poro, Portugal. ![]() Mendes-Luz, who said soccer is his life, will be back to take that test again in Boston and he plans on passing it this time. Our families are far away and everybody helps each other, because we’re in the same situation.” “Little by little and step by step, I adjusted. ![]() “When I came here my English was zero, I didn’t know anybody and everything was different,” Mendes-Luz, who is from Rio Di Janeiro, said. as he couldn’t quite pass the school’s English test last May, but this year he’s much more comfortable with his second language. He even missed out on a chance to play soccer for a Division II college in Boston, Mass. “My assistant coaches Mario (Garcia) and Miguel (Cisneros) help out a lot too.”īrazilian native Diego Mendes-Luz, a forward, was one of the RCC players who struggled with English while playing for the Blue Devils last year. “Sometimes I have to do a lot of gesturing or I’ll use a diagram to show them plays,” Stenga said. While some of his players speak English, there are others who are still struggling with the language. The roster gives RCC head coach Troy Stenga a lesson on the differences of not only culture, but languages. In all, they have players from six different countries on their roster. ![]() The Blue Devils, who are off to a 4-3 start this season, have brought in players from all over the globe as the program is in the midst of its fourth season. Eric you traveled around the world and gathered athletes from Brazil, Portugal, South Korea, Nigeria and Benin you might have something similar to what the Riverland Community College soccer team is. Riverland has players from six different countries on its roster. Riverland soccer players Rolando Rubio, from left, Victor Maltz, Tiaggo Ferreira, Cindy Doan, Dante Ortiz and Diego Mendes-Luz are part of a Blue Devils team that is diverse as they come.
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