Allen Community College men’s soccer player Yuki Ikezaki enjoys the American culture most about living away from his home country of Japan.
This is Ikezaki’s second season playing as a part of the men’s soccer team at Allen and he represents one of the over 45 countries on the men’s soccer team year in and year out.
Ikezaki once tried playing baseball when he was a young buck but didn’t like the sport and was not as good at it as he was at soccer. While soccer takes a backseat to baseball in Japan and many Asian countries, Ikezaki says there’s a few reasons why he prefers playing soccer over baseball.
“I like soccer because I get to score and assist and it’s an active sport that keeps you moving. When I was young I played soccer and baseball but I wasn’t good at baseball so I played soccer,” said Ikezaki. “Here, playing soccer, it’s more physical.”
Last year as a freshman he saw action in five games while starting in one of those games. He also recorded two shots, one assist and a point on the season in his first year playing overseas. From the look of it, Ikezaki is getting much more playing time this season already starting in all three games so far.
He scored a goal in the season opener at St. Louis Community College.
One of the biggest cultural differences may be the people which are very different from those in his hometown of Amami Oshima. He first came to the United States when he was 14 years old and loved American culture and people. Even with the cultural barrier, Ikezaki seems to fit right in with his teammates.
“The culture, the people, all the people are friendly. I like English, and I can’t speak English that well so I came here to study English and culture,” said Ikezaki. “The food is good here. I like hamburgers, tortillas and tacos. But I miss the food in Japan too, ramen, sushi and rice.”
Though the style of soccer in the United States is much different than in Japan, Ikezaki prefers playing in America because he gets to play with people from all over the world and learn about their cultures. This experience is giving the footballer a new perspective on the world that he will carry with him forever.
“We have people from many countries come here. In Japan, they don’t speak speak English, Portuguese, Spanish so the experience is worth it,” Ikezaki said.
The athlete likes how big the United States is and hopes to explore it even more.
“I like the nature here. It’s a big country.”
Ikezaki has also been to Texas, which he enjoyed. He said he would like to attend a four-year college after Allen to earn a degree and also continue to play soccer.
“I want to go to a four-year school here so I have to get a good score on tests and pass. After that I would like to be a pro soccer player,” said Ikezaki.
The Allen Community College men’s soccer team will host Neosho Community College on Saturday at 4 p.m.
