UTRGV welcomes international athletes
Every year, students from across the world play for UTRGV Athletics.
Yuki Nishigaki, a multidisciplinary studies senior from Kobe, Japan, is a goalkeeper on the UTRGV Menโs Soccer Team.
Nishigaki moved to the Rio Grande Valley on Aug. 6 after playing for Barton Community College in Kansas. He said he was nervous to do so but is excited to play on the team.
โThe people [are] very kind,โ Nishigaki said. โA lot of people talk to me and they understand me. I cannot speak English, but they understand me.โ
He said the biggest difference from playing soccer in Japan is that the athletes in the U.S. are better-conditioned.
โIt is completely different, more physical,โ he said. โ[Soccer players here] are more strong.โ
Nishigaki said the biggest culture shock he experienced when he moved to the Valley was not being able to find Japanese food. However, he said his favorite part about UTRGV are the vegetables and chicken from the Vaquero Dining Hall on the Edinburg campus.
Nishigaki said his family was supportive of him moving to UTRGV.
โI miss my family and friends,โ he said. โ… They [are] cheering me [on].โ
Nishigaki said he looks forward to playing soccer and making foreign friends this year.
Eddie Lai, a psychology sophomore from Taoyuan City, Taiwan, plays on the golf team. He joined the team last year as a freshman.
While Lai was in high school, he visited UTRGV to learn more about the golf program and meet the coach.
โI think itโs pretty cool, he said. โAfter [the visit], I decided to commit with the UTRGV.โ
Lai said he was nervous when he first moved here because of the culture.
โItโs a different culture, different environment,โ he said. โEverything is, like, totally different. โฆ The language โฆ [mostly] here is Spanish.โ
Lai said playing golf for UTRGV is different from playing in Taiwan.
โHere [we] have, like, a better facility and a better, like, education system,โ he said. โAnd, in Taiwan, you have to play golf, but maybe you cannot put that much time in your academic. So, I think in [the] U.S. [you] have, like, a better balance between the golf and the academic.โ
Lai said he misses his home country.
โI think Iโll say [I miss] the food the most,โ he said.
Lai said he mostly looks forward to winning conferences with his teammates.
Menโs basketball forward Tommy Gankhuyag is an international business sophomore from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, who previously played at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Gankhuyag moved to the Valley on Aug. 21.
He said he was very excited to move here.
โI like the team,โ Gankhuyag said. โI like the coaches. I see the games and stuff, so everything looks so good to me. I loved to come over here.โ
He said playing basketball at UTRGV is different from Mongolia.
โEverybody is so good over here,โ Gankhuyag said. โThey, like, know what theyโre doing. They put their time and heart and soul in the game. I like to be around people like that, so itโs great to have teammates like this.โ
He said he is the second person from Mongolia to play Division I basketball, so the people of Mongolia cheered him on when he decided to move.
Gankhuyag said he looks forward to playing basketball in front of big crowds.
He said his favorite part about the Valley is the Mexican food and the liveliness of the UTRGV campus.
โI like this schoolโhow big it is, a lot of students walking in the campus, feeling alive,โ Gankhuyag said.
He said his favorite memory, so far, was walking into the UTRGV basketball facility.
โI get here, the gym was under construction, and when I walked in, the gym was super huge and so clean,โ he said.
