Swaby Leading The Way

As the world's most popular sport, soccer players know a unique pride. Built on tradition and honor, colors and logos have a soulful foundation built on centuries. It's an identity extending well beyond the club level and deep into the international spirit of everyone's country.

For Boston College women's soccer captain Allyson Swaby, it's a feeling she's been fortunate enough to tap into. This past summer, she participated as a coach in the Gothia Cup, a nine-day tournament uniting youth soccer players from across the world.

"This was my third year on the trip," she said. "The first year I was a player and the second year I was brought back as a coach. This year, I was brought back as a coach again. Each year has been its own experience, but it's a similar itinerary each time."

The Gothia Cup features nearly 2,000 soccer clubs from over 80 different nations. Clubs are broken up into different age groups, ranging from U-11 through U-18 for boys and U-12 through U-18 for girls. They all play a minimum of four games in a World Cup-style event celebrating the world and soccer's place on the international stage.

"There are a couple of days in Denmark before going over to Sweden," Swaby said. "The tournament is massive with all of those countries represented. And with the age groups, we got to see teams from all over the world playing the game (their own way). It's something that doesn't happen every day."

Swaby served as a coach for a U-13 team from the United States that competed in a group with two teams from Sweden and a team from Germany. Each club brought their own interpretation to the game built from their own home, allowing the Americans to see how the game is played by other countries.

"The Swedish players are really technical but aren't as physical," Swaby said. "They're not going to come in and slam into a tackle. That's contrasted with the way our girls are taught to play in America. The American style plays with a lot of physicality even at a young age. And the German team was much more like us, with more physicality as a bigger part of their game. It was really cool to see that, how different cultures stress different areas of the game. Everyone has different upbringings within the same game of soccer."

The individual uniqueness separates everyone, but it all comes under the umbrella of the international togetherness. The opening ceremonies is done in the style of the Olympics, where each country marches in behind their own flag, then sit in the crowd among all of the other nations.

"In some countries, some kids have never seen anyone that looks different from them," she said. "So they come to this tournament and they're amazed by other cultures. It's the first time they've ever seen people from smaller countries throughout the world. I've never seen anything like it, and after the opening ceremonies, everyone is trading things from their country, trying to get souvenirs. The kids are so excited to meet different people, and it creates a great experience."

For Swaby, it reinforced feelings that occur every time she steps on a soccer field. Soccer offers very different kinds of pride; nationalistic pride stems from where a player comes from but the sport blends it into the honor of wearing a club jersey. Seeing the different styles reminded her of how different players come together for success at the NCAA level.

"With the ACC, there's an even mix of incredibly gifted athletes who are also gifted technically," she said. "They're the type of players who can beat off the dribble and in a foot race. When we play out of conference, we see how other leagues play and notice different things - how they're inclined to stay away from a physical battle, for example. None of our players are afraid to throw their bodies around and be physical, so in the ACC, it's similar in composition."

It's an idea helping the captain become a coach on the field. As one of the Eagles' top players, Swaby represents a player who can influence her teammates, the exact type of leader head coach Alison Foley can look at in-game. It's also something the senior says she's not quite thinking about, even as it offers a fun possibility.

"Sometimes I don't know if I have the patience to coach full time," she said. "But it was really cool to be thrown into a different atmosphere. The year before, I coached older girls. And it was cool in its own right to coach girls who have a technical foundation. I could focus on the tactical side of things. I didn't have to correct things like fundamental passes, which is fine (to coach up). So who knows if that's something I could later in life?"

Swaby and her teammates return to the pitch on Thursday when the Eagles (5-3-0) host St. John's (7 p.m.).

Players Mentioned

Allyson Swaby

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