Another semester has come and gone, ending just as quickly as it began. Each semester, we are lucky enough to meet students from all over the world that want to participate in JCU varsity sports, either studying abroad or seeking a degree, and represent JCU pride – ultimately becoming true JCU Gladiators!

Our new segment on the Athletics blog is called, “#BeingAGladiator”, where we will interview a study abroad student and a degree-seeking student from each varsity team to find out all about them and their experiences as JCU Gladiators

For our first segment of #BeingaGladiator, we interviewed two players from our Men’s 11v11 soccer team, Guglielmo Donnini and Andrew Ringel, both playing for the first time during this past Fall 17′ semester!

Donnini is a 20-year old freshman from Rome, studying International Business as a degree seeker at JCU, and plays as a defender on the team. When asked about being part of the men’s soccer team Donnini said,

“I think that being part of the team since the first semester of my first year made me start my university life experience in a really positive way… The coaches of the team are all amazing and always push us to do our best”

As a degree-seeker, when asked about how he thinks students that study abroad make an impact on the team he said,

“Even though some of the teammates stayed and will stay just for a few months, this doesn’t prevent us from being focused and training in a good and productive way. Plus, new players will always add something to our team.”

Andrew Ringel, an 18-year old study abroad from Warren, New Jersey in the U.S., played on the men’s soccer team this semester as a defender. Commenting on his time playing as a Gladiator at JCU he said,

“It was a great experience. I got to meet a lot of people from outside my program that were degree seeking JCU students. Most of them were from different countries which made the experience that much more interesting. Having semester abroad players on the team I think allows the team to get the highest quality players possible. It was awesome because some of the veteran players and the coaches welcomed us so quickly, that we were all able to play super well together.”

Stayed tuned right here on the official JCU Athletics blog for more installments of #BeingAGladiator, as well as the official season standings, trip recaps, fitness class information, and much more all throughout the Spring 2018 semester!

#GoGladiators #BeingAGladiator #JCURome