190SPRING ATHLETICS Five members of the men’s golf team travel across the globe to compete for the Bisons. THE HARDING MEN’S GOLF TEAM consisted of 12 athletes during the fall 2021 season. Eight of those athletes traveled over 5,000 miles across the globe to compete for the Bisons. Including the United States of America, five different countries were represented on the team. The team included freshmen Finlay Cummings and Alex Spencer, sophomore Wilf Rush and senior Jake Croshaw from England, sophomore Leo Maciejek and junior Quentin Malik from Germany, freshman Wilmer Haakansson from Sweden, and sophomore Tommaso Facchini from Italy. The international players pursued golf in the United States due to the sport’s lack of popularity in their home countries. For English athletes, cricket and rugby drew more attention. Spencer said that golf in England was viewed as more of a leisure sport rather than a competitive sport, and English people did not understand why young athletes dedicated significant amounts of time to perfecting the craft of golf. Therefore, it was difficult for the student-athletes to find a university in their home countries that had a golf team. “In the U.S., college golf is viewed as a competitive sport,” Spencer said. “You get treated like an athlete. Being at a college with a lot of sports helped me realize that all athletes with a passion and dedication are quite alike. We all eat, sleep and live our sport.” For the students from Germany, playing golf in the United States offered an opportunity to experience golf associated with a different public perception. Maciejek said that golf possessed a bad public image in Germany, and described it as a “posh and old people’s sport.” The widely held public perception of golf in Germany inhibited many from partaking in the sport, impacting the competitiveness of the sport for amateur athletes back home. “In Germany, golf is for old and rich people,” Maciejek said. “Here it is a sport for each and everyone. The competitiveness of golf is insanely high in the U.S. I was surprised at how many good young golfers there are here.” The international students expressed feelings of gratitude for the opportunity to play collegiate golf in the United States. They looked forward to having the chance to share their experiences with their families and friends back home. Maciejek said that having a multinational team brought in many different cultural aspects and perspectives. For the players on the team, the cross-cultural diversity created a fun environment. “With our multinational team, it is a funny experience every time,” Maciejek said. “The Englishmen are a special kind for themselves, and we got the crazy Swede, an Italian guy and two Germans. I feel free to say that we all, also with the Americans of course, get along well. Bigger challenges mostly appear when arguing about whether it’s called ‘soccer’ or ‘football,’ or the pronunciation of other words.” Senior Trevor Mellott said that the different nationalities and backgrounds helped build the culture of the golf team. “Regardless of all of the cultural differences, we all find a way to bond and become better teammates during the process,” Mellott said. Sophomore Sam Tandy said the international players brought diverse ideas and perspectives that strengthened the program. “It is really good to be around people from different backgrounds and stories,” Tandy said. “I have learned so much from the internationals that I wouldn’t have if the team was American only.” WRITTEN BY HAYLEY KATE WEBB Putting the Pieces Together
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