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Vance soccer coach David Smith said this is the best thing about having players from eight countries on his high school team:
"I'm a social studies teacher," he said, "and I've always had an appreciation for other cultures. You get to know these families who have come here, and all you hear from them is how they want a better life.
"It made me appreciate what we have here a lot more. Some of these African kids on our team tell some pretty interesting stories about various civil wars going on in their countries. It shows how much we take for granted on this side."
Vance, which plays at Porter Ridge at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, has 15 foreign-born players on varsity and another on junior varsity. A second junior varsity player, from Peru, had to quit the team because of conflicts with his after-school job. Most of the athletes are in Vance's English as a Second Language program, and Smith said many live along the North Tryon Street corridor near the University area, which is how they ended up in his school and on his team.
All of the players speak English and Smith speaks a little Spanish, but when Smith starts talking too fast in practice, he said some of the players will give him "that look" to let him know to slow things down.
Smith, who graduated from West Charlotte in 1988, has had most of these players for three years. They won 14 games the first two years, but Vance is 13-7 this season and will play in the N.C. 4A playoffs this week.
"Those guys have been torch bearers for spreading the word around campus about how much fun it is to play," Smith said. "We're like a family, like a bunch of brothers."
Jeremy Dennis (USA) is the team's leading scorer. Vance has scored 60 goals this season. Dennis has 22 goals and 10 assists, responsible for more than half of them. His younger brother Cory is second on the team with 7 goals. Edem Tchegnon, from Togo, is next with six goals.
Tchegnon is also tied for second on the team with nine assists, along with Mexico's Rodrigo Vazquez.
Jeremy Dennis said it's been a wonderful experience being part of such an international team.
"You get to hang out with kids you wouldn't normally hang out with," he said. "You learn about other cultures. And I guess we've kind of combined all our cultures into one big one. It's like our own little thing. It's just been so much fun."
Dennis said when he looks back on his high school days, the first thing he'll think about are his teammates.
"I'll always be friends with all the kids," he said. "This has taught me so much, to be able to embrace all the cultures around you. It's an experience I'll never forget."
