Less than seven percent of American high school athletes move on to play college sports, and an even less percentage of international athletes get that opportunity.
According to the NCAA there are more than “25,000 international student-athletes” across all three divisions that participate in the NCAA. Ferris State is no different as they have managed to bring student-athletes from 9 different countries playing in 5 sports across Ferris athletics.
One of those athletes is senior forward Stepan Pokorny. The forward for the Bulldog Hockey team is from the Czech Republic where he lived for a majority of his life.
“I moved away from the Czech Republic when I was 16 years old, then I played hockey in Florida, South Dakota and Wisconsin,” Pokorny said. “Once they recruited me, I knew Ferris would be a great fit. I loved the coaching staff, the campus, and the facilities.”
Since joining the Bulldogs, Pokorny has accumulated 12 goals, 39 assists, and 200 shots. In his junior year, he led Ferris State in assists (16), points (22), and shots on goal (79). Despite all his success, he never forgot where he came and the people who helped him get here.
“I try to go home as much as possible and see my family,” Pokorny said. “I believe I am the only student-athlete from the Czech Republic [to play at Ferris] ever, so it obviously means a lot to me to represent my home country here at Ferris.”
Another athlete is women’s tennis sophomore Ana Sofia Hernandez Ferrer. She is one of the 198 DII collegiate athletes from Mexico. By the time she was 16, Hernandez Ferrer started sending videos of her play to tennis head coach Mark Doren.
Those videos wound up getting her a scholarship which gave her the opportunity to play with her sister Maria Fernanda Hernandez Ferrer. The Mazatlan, Mexico native always dreamed of coming to the United States despite it meaning she would be coming to a place completely different from her home country.
“I always looked for the opportunity to study in the US and my only possibility was by getting an athletic scholarship, so I started playing tennis,” Hernandez Ferrer said. “At first it was kind of scary to start a life somewhere different from what I was used to, different culture and different people. But I met some amazing people that made me feel comfortable and let me be who I am.”
Hernandez Ferrer feels “so happy” to share her culture with the rest of the world and make Mexico proud. Still acclimating herself into America wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.
“The culture is completely different from home, also the way people make connection with others,” Hernandez Ferrer said. “Food is made completely different and there are some dishes I never ate before coming here. For me the most challenging aspect was getting used to the weather, where I’m from the weather is really warm and humid, so it was difficult at the beginning to the used to the cold and the snow.”
So far this season Ana Sofia is 5-3 in matches.
Out of all the programs Tennis has the most diversity and Ferris State Athletic Director Steve Brockelbank feels that the tennis team as well as the other programs can contribute some of their success to the mesh of cultures in Ferris athletics.
“They add so much to the diversity of our teams and they bring unique experiences that help contribute to the success of our programs,” Brockelbank said. “Our American student-athletes get exposed to different cultures, and I know our coaches appreciate their enthusiasm for collegiate athletics.”
Pokorny and Hernandez Ferrer are just some of the many international athletes at Ferris who have found a home in Big Rapids.