By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

On any given afternoon in the double gym of the Gibson Health and P.E. Center, sounds bounce off the walls and slide through the lane while shots soar toward the goal.

Although the gym is equipped with four basketball goals and two regulation-size courts, for some double gym regulars, dribbling, shooting and passing with your hands is not allowed- the courts are meant for the global game of soccer.

Paul Vibulano, sophomore biology major from Sihanoukville, Cambodia, started the Diversities Soccer Group, a Facebook group meant to gather soccer lovers on campus, in November 2006 after he got tired of calling and re-calling people to play. Though the concept of Facebook was still new to the Cambodian native, he figured it was worth a shot to get people to come out and play his favorite sport.

“I said ‘Hey, since everybody has Facebook, I’m just going to start a group,” Vibulano said.

But what began as a Facebook group for pickup soccer games became a safe haven for soccer lovers from around the world at this small Christian university. And regardless of who, from where, and how many of the group’s 66 members will show up to play once a pickup game reaches the members’ inboxes, one thing is certain: all cultures are welcome.

-A bridge of a sport-

With representatives from Cambodia, South Korea, California, West Virginia, Japan, Mexico, Ecuador, Madagascar, Texas and many more places around the world, Diversities Soccer Group lives up to its name. And for the students who play, variety is a good thing.

“Most international people play soccer,” Vibulano said. “That’s what we know.”

For Aldo Raeliarijaona, senior physics major from Mahajanga, Madagascar, and many others, playing pickup soccer through the Diversities Soccer Group is a venue for exercise and community.

“I met most of my close friends through soccer,” Raeliarijaona said. “It’s kind of a catalyst if it helps you to open up to other people, like players on the other team.”

Like most of the international members of the Diversities Soccer Group, Raeliarijaona said learning in one’s second or third language to get an American education is a difficult task. Whether it is the culture shock that accompanies adjusting to Abilene, having to translate conversations in one’s head on a daily basis or looking different from the other students
at ACU, the troubles of an ACU international student can be overwhelming.

But when it comes to soccer with the Diversities Soccer Group, all you need to worry about is whether to bring cleats or sneakers.

“They play basically every day except Wednesdays and Sundays,” said group administrator Jane Anne Kennedy, sophomore English major from Hurricane, W.Va. “If it’s really nasty outside the international [students] don’t like to play outside, and they play indoor. We’ll argue about it.”

Once they pick the setting and split into teams, the goals come, but more importantly they build bridges between cultures.

“It’s kinda like a bridge,” Vibulano said. “You don’t know this person, but before you get to that person you have to build a bridge to get to know them. You have to have something in common to start that conversation with.”

And that common bond is soccer.

“Even though we are from all different countries, we can have fun in the same place with the same sport,” said Joe Byun, freshman undeclared major from Seoul, South Korea.

-International style-

Joseph Mock tried playing soccer with the ACU men’s club team when he first came to ACU. Although Mock, senior nutrition major from Imperial Beach, Calif., praises the skill level of the
men that represent ACU against other universities, it just wasn’t for him.

“They’re pretty intense,” Mock said of the ACU club team. “But when I play with them I just didn’t feel like there was enough variety. That’s why I started playing a lot with the international
guys.”

Mock began playing with the Diversities Soccer Group after McBride invited him and finally found his place to play at ACU. He said with each student that shows up to play, a different soccer style is thrown into the mix. The Malagasi students are “fearless,” the Asian students are “quick” and “team players,” the Latino students are “technical” players and the Americans are “driven.” With each player’s individual style comes a chance for Mock to better his game.

“It became fun again,” Mock said. “It became this fresh feeling of, almost like I’m a student of the game again having a lot of fun and learning a lot at the same time.”

Raeliarijaona grew up playing in Madagascar. And though soccer was not his main sport, he got used to playing with only Malagasi people.

Once Raeliarijaona began playing with students from all over the world, he said the shift was strange, but only made him better.

“It’s just amazing, it’s crazy, it’s nothing I’ve experienced before,” Raeliarijaona said. “I’m used to playing with one style and here it’s quite different. You have to adjust and kind of change your game to adapt to the other style and find that line where all your games link.”

Mock, Vibulano, Raeliarijaona and some of the other students who show up to play with the Diversities Soccer Group compete in an adult league outside of the school. But they said the pickup games with the Facebook group let them try things they wouldn’t normally do in a game situation; the purpose is to have fun.

“I make fun of everybody,” said Stephen McBride, sophomore physical therapy major from Cuenca, Ecuador and one of the group’s founders. “I’m like man, ‘You suck.’ But you could be the best person ever, and I’ll tell you that.”

Regardless of skill level or style, McBride said everyone is included somehow.

“You can be the best or the worst and still have fun, and I think that is why people do come back,” McBride said. “They notice that nobody else cares really. As long as it’s fun, nothing else really matters.”

With 66 members and counting, McBride said he hopes the Diversities Soccer Group will continue to be a venue for soccer lovers at ACU, even after the current crew graduates.

When he first came to ACU, he said he did not know where or when he could play his favorite sport. But now he doesn’t worry about it.