International Student-Athletes Enrich Campus Life at Molloy

Soccer is an international game that’s popular the world over. At Molloy University, that popularity can translate into more than one language being spoken among teammates energetically running up and down the field of play. 

Men’s soccer isn’t the only sport where international student-athletes have found a home at Molloy. The women’s soccer team and the men’s basketball squad also feature players from outside the United States.

In the just-completed academic year, Molloy teams had seven international players from these countries: England (2), Germany, Belgium, Venezuela, Norway and Australia.

Incoming international student-athletes will be joining the women’s basketball and volleyball teams. 

The Lions compete in NCAA Division II play. The University is a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC), with local schools including Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry; St. Thomas Aquinas College, Sparkill; the College of Staten Island; and Queens College.

The Best Players

For men’s soccer and women’s tennis, international representation isn’t a novelty or a rare occurrence. It’s more a matter of fielding the best players, who happen to hail from other countries.

“You can’t compete at this level unless you have an international presence,” said Kelly Sacco, Molloy’s assistant director of athletics for communications.

“All the schools that we’re competing against have a high international presence in their athletic department,” she said. 

Most international student-athletes enter Molloy as transfer students, often as juniors or seniors. There is a practical reason for this, as those who come this way “are cleared to be in this country,” which makes their transfers the same as any other student’s, Sacco said. 

International athletes tend to be a little older and more mature, because of educational standards in their home countries.

The men’s soccer team had four international players—two from England and one each from Germany and Norway—in the fall 2022 season.