CMU international students to compete in soccer tournament
Central Michigan University international students will travel to the Grand Rapids area to compete with international students from other Michigan universities in the International Students of Michigan State Soccer Cup on Oct. 4.
The International Student Advisory Board coordinated CMU’s teams for the completion by hosting a try-out tournament last weekend.
Six teams registered for the try-out tournament and three were selected to participate in the actual tournament.
Dhaka senior Shaminul Shakib said ISAB chose to do a try-out tournament to be fair to students, and had students try out in teams to get a sense of how well they worked together.
He said he has high expectations for the tournament and looks forward to meeting people from other universities.
“It’s one thing when you get to meet international students on campus, but it’s a whole different thing when you get to meet international students at different universities,” he said.
Tracy Nakajima, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said Office of International Affairs staff met with advisers at Grand Valley this summer and Grand Valley offered to take the lead on the tournament because of the available field space in Grand Rapids.
“This is something we haven’t done a lot of, contact with other international student groups (from other universities),” Nakajima said.
CMU international students went on a joint ski trip with international students from Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan-Flint last spring, but there haven’t been a lot of other opportunities for CMU students to interact with international students from other universities.
Shakib said the students participating love soccer and he thinks most of them play almost every day.
“We want to give students opportunities to meet other international students too and we know our international students are active at the SAC and with outdoor activities,” Nakajima said.
Each game will last 45 minutes, beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
