Where do crazy fans like that come from? The same place as Oklahoma State soccer player Joanne Edwards.
Where Edwards comes from, the national pastime is football. Not football like we know it. In these parts it’s called soccer. In England, it’s life and death.
Edwards, a 5′ 7" freshman from Liverpool, England, found her way to OSU through assistant coach Colin Carmichael.
Carmichael was invited by Edwards’ club coach in England to watch the striker play. After seeing her, he decided she could make an impact on the team."He liked the way I played," Edwards said. "He thought that I might improve the team."
Edwards’ impact was felt immediately. She opened the scoring in the Cowgirls’ first game against Arkansas-Little Rock. In the second game she notched OSU’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Oral Roberts.
Edwards, who is majoring in physical education, feels it won’t be easy to dominate the American game."The American game is quicker," Edwards said. "In England it isn’t really at this high of a level."
Edwards feels the biggest differences are in the amount of training and the attention the athletes get."People (at home) train just twice a week, because they’re doing it outside of regular jobs," she said.
Her training schedule has been hectic since she arrived in Oklahoma. She has been in Stillwater for just under a month, the longest period of time she has spent away from home.
Edwards has two brothers back home. The threesome remain close, having grown up playing soccer together. She feels her brothers might not miss her that much, however.
"They’re probably happy to get my room and my television," she said.
Was it a hard to decision for Edwards to cross the Atlantic, trading the moderate temperatures of Liverpool for the scorching Stillwater summer?
"I was a bit hesitant, being away from my family," she said. "My parents were very supportive. They said, ‘you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.’
"I always wanted to try to get to the highest level in soccer and I always wanted to play abroad," she said.Edwards believes her main contribution to the team will be her physical play and her strength on the ball. Coach Karen Hancock feels the same way.
"She brings to our team an attitude that not many of our girls have," Hancock said. "She’s watched the game a lot more than others, and she understands that you have to be fairly physical out there."
Anyone who has seen Edwards play knows she is not afraid to bowl her way through enemy defenders. She has some big game experience as well, as a member of the England under-18 national squad. Just how much this experience pays off remains to be seen. For now Edwards would just like a chance to relax and settle in to her new surroundings. What would she do if she had some free time?
"Just sit and watch television," she said.
Loading ...
All Articles