This week we talk to American Kaelyn Korte, who is in her second season with BIIK in Kazakhstan. We also profile the Arizona State University women's football program, which has a strong international vision under English native Graham Winkworth, with two English youth internationals and two other imports (Mexico/Netherlands) who played at this summer's Women's World Cup in France.
TribalFootball.com talked to defender Kaelyn Korte just after she returned from Spain where BIIK-Kazygurt failed to hold onto its shock 3-1 aggregate lead from the first leg against Barcelona and fell 4-3 in the Round of 32. Korte said that the Barcelona tie: "was a great story and we stepped up to put away our chances in the first leg." She played at Central Michigan University and then for the Chicago Red Star Reserves in the WPSL in 2016. After the WPSL season ended at the end of the summer (the amateur leagues finish in August so their college players can return for pre-season for the main fall season), she practiced with the NWSL Red Stars side at the end of the season. She had an opportunity to again trial with the Red Stars in 2017 but her agent told her about the opportunity to play in Kazakhstan. She knew they had done well recently in the UEFA Women's Champions League. Initially when she told her family, they were concerned: "It was so far way and the uncertainty of it." The more she learned about the country, she found that: "It's safer than most places in the world." For both soccer and non-soccer reasons, it was such a good experience to learn about other cultures and to step outside her comfort zone and grow as a person. She explained: "In addition, BIIK has so many foreigners (three from Africa, 3 from Eastern Europe, along with 3 Americans) it is like you are traveling around the world by communicating with the girls."
Korte was a journalism and photography major at Central Michigan and has been utilizing those skills on a very impressive website (https://www.alongtheway.today). As a journalist, she is continuing talking to people and learning their stories while living in Kazakhstan and during her travels abroad with the team: "Playing with BIIK has allowed me to find my own identify as a writer and journalist." Her photos and short stories on her website have allowed her to hone her skills and tell the stories of her travels across Europe. It also has a practical purpose for her family and friends: "Most of them have never had an opportunity to explore some of the countries I have been to [Kazakhstan, Turkey for preseason training, Latvia, etc.] so the website allows me to put this on a platform so they can see all aspects for my life here—scenery and soccer."
BIIK will finish their league season in mid-October and will have a break in November and December, resuming training towards the end of January for intensive two-a-day sessions. Korte has shown that continuing a soccer career abroad can be done in tandem with future career goals, showing that a soccer career does not mean suspending other career aspirations.
Arizona State University implements an International Vision to compete in the Pac-12 Conference
Arizona State University's women's football program is undergoing a revolution under second year head coach Graham Winkworth. Winkworth, a native of England, is laying the seeds for ASU—long a competitive team but well off from the elite of the Pac-12 Conference, which saw two sides (Stanford and UCLA ) contest the College Cup final at the conclusion of the 2017 season—to make that leap to be a top 10-15 national level program. Winkworth arrived last season from the University of South Alabama where he successfully led the side to four NCAA tournaments in his four seasons at the school, after previous coaching for a decade at the University of North Alabama. In the southern U.S., a number of universities utilize a heavy rotation of players from abroad because there are a limited number of local players in many of these states, particularly when the university is based in a primarily rural area. That is definitely not the case in the talent rich Pac-12, particularly in California and Washington. Winkworth is now applying the same strategy of a reliance on imported talent to his Pac-12 conference Sun Devils. He told Tribal Football.com: "With UCLA, USC (which won the Soccer Cup in 2016), Stanford and California all in your conference, top caliber Californian players want to play at one of those schools, so typically ASU and others [Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Utah, the University of Colorado and the University of Arizona] have had to scramble for second and third choice Californians who, though still high quality players, are not at the level to consistently compete against those elite-level teams." Winkworth's vision is to build around top level international players along with keeping a growing base of high quality Arizona high school products, which in recent years has included Ashley Hatch, the 2016 NWSL Rookie of the Year who went to BYU in Utah and 2015 Women's World Cup winner Julie Ertz (Johnston) who played at Santa Clara. This philosophy begins with his coaching staff; his assistants include fellow England native Jo Chubb, who played with Reading FC before playing for Winkworth at North Alabama and then joining him on the sidelines. Fellow assistant coach and key recruiter Shug Shinohara is a native of Japan and was the head coach at Division II Brevard College in North Carolina, spending seven years directing the women's side and one in charge of the men's side.
At South Alabama, Winkworth utilized fellow England native Jemma Purfield (Cottingham) and she accompanied her coach across the country to Arizona State. Purfield led ASU in points last season with 6 goals and 3 assists; this year she was called into an England national U-23 team camp during the summer. Purfield played at home with Doncaster Rovers Belles in the WSL. This year she has slotted into a more defensive position to help a young ASU defense, while still adding attacking width on the wing. Winkworth brought in another England youth international for 2018 in 18-year-old freshman Nicole Douglas, who played in the Chelsea club system and recently was called into England's U-19 National Team camp. She leads the Sun Devils so far this season with 6 goals and 1 assist.
Other new internationals include two who were playing in the U-20 Women's World Cup in August in France: Dutch midfielder Eva Van Deursen and Mexican forward Alexia Delgado. TribalFootball.com talked to the two freshmen about their U-20 WWC experiences and why they came to ASU. Van Deursen said: "It was one of the best experiences in my life. It's the best to represent your country in such a big completion. I was so proud to be there with my team. It's the highest level we can play at our age." Delgado added: "It's a tournament you train for the entire season and it is so nice to represent your country with so many fans. It's a really nice experience." For the decision to come to the middle of the desert southwest for school, Delgado explained: "I was not sure about coming to the States; first of all I had offers in Mexico with the new league [Liga MX] and I was deciding with my family. It was best for me to come and study and keep playing soccer."
Delgado played last year at Club America for long-time Mexican Women's National Team Head Coach Leo Cuellar, who son's Christopher was her U-20 coach in France. Van Duersen played in PSV Eindhoven's club on a team for U-16 to U-20 females. She said that the 4-3-3 system that ASU uses was common in the Netherlands, so the style of play was not that much of a transition, whereas Delgado said: "I have played 4-4-2 all my life—it is a new style for me." Delgado has 3 goals and Van Duersen has contributed 1 goal in 9 games and both are very impactful additions to ASU's side.
Nikki Panos is a Canadian second year goalkeeper who has played for the Polish U-15 and U-17 national teams, since she is a dual citizen. The Canadian national team has expressed interest in her and she was asked to play in camps ahead of the U-17 Women's World Cup side in Jordan in 2016. Regarding playing with Poland she said: "I was glad I was able to represent my parents' country Poland and thankful for the opportunity. But the country of my birth and where you grew up almost your whole life has such a sentimental value, to have a coach take me from another national team is just a huge opportunity for me and I was thrilled.Long story short, the paperwork was not adequate not only for that camp but a continuing camp for Canada. My focus now is what I can do for ASU now and the players." One suspects that Poland could be playing a delaying tactic with her FIFA paperwork to register to play for Canada and one hopes that this is resolved soon. Panos is a very talented keeper that ASU should be pleased to have again for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
On a 33 player roster, ASU also has sophomore Lara Barbieri from Brazil, freshman Hiaru Minami from Japan and freshman forward Marleen Schimmer from Germany. Fifteen of the squad are from Arizona and only four from California, three of whom are freshmen, which is another indicator of Winkworth's strategy to concentrate recruiting efforts outside of California.
Winkworth had to consolidate in year only (2017 season) and had only a 5-3-11 (W-D-L) and 2-2-7 Pac-12 record, but this year his side has won 6 after only 8 games and started Pac-12 play with a 2-1 come from behind victory in California on September 22 and a 1-1 hard fought overtime tie against Colorado in Tempe on September 27 in blistering afternoon conditions (typically dictated by conference televisions requirements). Arizona State University's women's football team has attracted attention with Graham Winkworth's international talent gathering and the Sun Devils are poised to make the leap into the Pac-12 elite over the next few years.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.
Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey
