Hardin-Simmons' trio gets chance to play soccer in Brazil
Women soccer players come to Hardin-Simmons with the opportunity to experience playing for one of the top NCAA Division III programs in the country. Additionally, the university adds an international travel experience every four years.
Sarah Krisa and Josey Meyer got that and more when they were named along with HSU's Preston Hillis to represent the USA D-3 teams that will travel to Brazil for an all-star tour. Coaching the men’s team will be HSU graduate Brad Bankhead, the Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s coach who guided the Crusaders into the 2017 NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
The USA D-3 Soccer Tour begins May 28 with an orientation in Orlando, Florida. The 15 women and 17 men will fly to Sao Paolo, Brazil, later that evening. Practice is the next day followed by games May 30-31. On June 1, the teams will fly to Rio de Janeiro, home of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The teams will play two more games with the trip ending June 6. Thus, there will be time for the players to be tourists as well.
It’s a diverse group with 15 women representing 10 different colleges in eight different states and 16 men from eight different colleges and eight different states. The teams will compete against top U-22 club teams from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
“I am very excited,” said Krisa, a junior defensive midfielder who scored the decisive goal in the Cowgirls’ Division III quarterfinal win this past season. “My first reaction when getting the invitation was, ‘Wow! What a great experience.’”
The experience is enhanced because her best friend and college roommate, Meyer, will be along as well. So, too, will be Hillis, a midfielder whose 12 starts tied for the men’s team high.
Krisa is one of many Cowgirls capable of playing at a level higher than D-III. However, HSU is not a typical D-III program, which is why it has been able to attract such high-level talent. The Cowgirls have virtually owned the American Southwest Conference for the past two decades. They have been a dominant presence in the region and have advanced to the national tournament 14 straight years.
“It really is a special place to play,” said Krisa, 20, an economics major with a grade-point average better than 3.9. “You get to be part of something bigger than yourself. There is so much tradition here. It’s fun and it’s exciting.”
Krisa was happy to be part of the team that traveled to Italy two years ago. She wasn’t expecting an extra trip.
“I am psyched to go on my second international trip,” she said, “especially Brazil which is somewhere I probably wouldn’t go (on my own).”
In addition to four international games, the D-III soccer players will visit such tourist spots as Copacabana Beach, Christ the Redeemer Statue and Sugar Loaf Mountain.
“It’s been an awesome year, one I will always remember,” Krisa said. “It was a lot of fun. To get to go to Brazil was something unexpected.”
Bankhead is making his second international trip in one year – this one doesn’t qualify as a school trip since he will be coaching players from other schools. That includes coaching a player (Hillis) who is from his alma mater.
“I’m excited any time I get to travel beyond the big state of Texas,” Bankhead said. “Experiencing a new culture is always exciting. You learn so much about how others live.
“The trip is fun in the fact that players from other schools who may be bitter rivals for three months now have to play together on a team to represent Texas and the U.S. This is a new experience for me with a lot of appeal.”