It took only a walk down the street for the CC women’s soccer team to realize they weren’t in Colorado Springs anymore.

South Korea provided a culture shock. It began with the food.

“There were all sorts of markets outside and vendors were showing us live squid and octopus,” said Kaeli Vandersluis ’15. “A teammate of mine saw a vendor bite a squid and pull off its tentacle and eat it.”

The Tigers had flown to Gwangju, South Korea, in late June with the daunting but honorable assignment to represent the United States in the World University Games. The United States International University Sports Federation selected CC as the first full collegiate women’s soccer team to represent the U.S. (Teams usually comprise star players from across the country.)

Jess Ayers ’15 said CC coach Geoff Bennett told the team during the 2014 preseason that it would travel to South Korea after the school year had ended.

“Geoff called us in and said he had a surprise for us,” Ayers said. “We thought we might be getting new gear or something. Nobody guessed that we were going to represent Team USA. Everybody’s jaw kind of dropped. That was a cool moment.”

Photo by Bryan Oller

Women’s collegiate soccer is played in the fall. To prepare for the summer competition in South Korea, the Tigers practiced and played against area club teams during the spring. Five of the 20 Team USA players were incoming freshmen just out of high school. Recent college graduates also were eligible to participate in the games. Sarah Haizlip ’14, who last played for CC in the fall of 2014, said she fought to regain the conditioning she’d lost.

“My calves hurt, my feet hurt, even my back,” she said. “I didn’t want to show up and be out of shape. You can be in good condition for running, but being ready to play soccer is much different.”

Haizlip said the deeper meaning of the games was driven home as Team USA prepared to play its first game. “We were lined up next to the South African team and all of a sudden they broke into song, and it was this beautiful African music. We were all crying. We had never heard anything like that and it said so much about what the competition was about. It was a striking moment.”

Sixteen teams competed in the tournament. The Tigers played six games and won two against tough competition.

“The competition was better than we had ever experienced,” said Ayers. “It was a different level of soccer but that was one of the challenges. As a team, we prepared as best we could. It was a cool and humbling experience to get to play against that caliber of players.”

The team from France beat Team USA 5-0.

Photo by Sarah Schweiss ’16

“We were shocked at how good they were,” Vandersluis said. “We couldn’t even be mad about it because they were all such beautiful soccer players. Just great feet and skills. We were amazed.”

But the University Games were about more than goals scored and winning and losing. Like the Olympics, they brought the world together. Ayers said she’ll never forget the opening ceremony.

“Walking into that stadium with 40,000 people waving their hands and yelling was amazing,” Ayers said. “It was humbling to be among so many incredible athletes. You could sense how important it was, not just for us but for the South Koreans and all the athletes.”

Haizlip said she’ll never forget the South Korean people.

“The people are the kindest people I’ve ever come across. They wanted us to experience their culture. They were so proud, but also inclusive and welcoming. Even the police and taxi drivers were nice. They made us feel safe and comfortable.”