Finlandia students participate in MTU's indoor soccer tournament

By Toshi Mita

HOUGHTON, MI -- Daniel and I participated for a month in the Spring 2008 Michigan Tech University indoor soccer tournament, which included a variety of teams. At first the program started with a group league; after that, more great teams competed in the group league. Finally, only good grade teams matched in the semi-final and final games of the tournament.

Toshi, back row, left, poses with his soccer teammates in the MTU gym: back row, from left, Ankha (Mongolia), Annie (U.S.A.), Diego (Argentina) and front row, from left, a friend from China, Brian (U.S.A.), Juan (Colombia), and Daniel (Panama).

They had Divisions A, B, and C. I was a member of the international team in Division A, which was the best of the three divisions. A lot of teams participated in the tournament. My team had players from a variety of countries. For example, there were Chinese, Mongolian, Colombian, Argentine, American, Panamanian and Japanese players.

Some of Toshi's Finlandia friends came to the MTU gym to cheer for the team. Pictured with him here are, from left, Brittany, Sami, and Samantha. (Photos courtesy Toshi Mita)

At first it was very hard for me to play soccer with them, because their languages were different. Moreover, I couldn’t speak English very well. So I tried to talk to them with only soccer terms. The biggest problem was that everyone’s thinking was different. I thought that play didn’t go the way I wanted it to; however, time solved the problem. As we continued to play soccer together, our play went more smoothly. I thought that it was especially good in the semi-finals and finals, because we wanted seriously to be a champion team.

Finally, we became a champion of the Division-A!! It was a very good opportunity to see everybody, to speak English, and to make many friends. I won’t forget the memory. I’m happy still now!!