Three different people, three different sports, three different stories. But what they all have in common is that they are international student athletes at City College.
Maximilian Dollhopf is a German football player, and second-year student at City College.
First year student Mara Affolter recently joined the women’s soccer team, coming here from Switzerland, with 10 years of experience playing soccer.
Track and Field athlete Anja Baur also ventured to City College from Switzerland where she competed in the sport, with dreams of making it to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Maximilian Dollhopf
Dollhopf is a 21-year-old engineering major who decided to come and study in the U.S. to pursue his football career at the collegiate level.
Dollhopf chose City College because of it being highly ranked academically, and having a good football program that won the Beach Bowl the year prior to his arrival.
He teamed up with an organization called “ASM sports”. ASM sports is an organization that works internationally to help athletes connect with American universities and institutions.
Dollhopfs’ process of studying in the U.S differs from most international students at City College. He was born in the U.S and has an American passport as well as a European one.
Back home in the Oberstufe he woke up at 4:30 a.m. every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to go to the gym before school, which started at 7:30 a.m..
Before Dollhopf found football to be his sport, he played soccer. When he lost his passion for soccer and quit, Dollhopf discovered his love for football was influenced after his friend that played for the “Red Knights Tübigen” convinced him to come to one of his practices.
After playing football on different levels in Germany, during an highschool exchange year and even for the U-19 German national team, Dollhopf´s goal is to attend a division one university, and eventually play professionally.
Dollhopf explained that currently football is his first priority. Although he has a busy schedule, he manages his time sufficiently.
What makes the student athlete experience in the U.S different from back home is that sports and school aren’t separated. In many countries around the world sports aren’t as big in schools and kids just join a sports club that isn’t attached to a school. This causes clubs and schools to be independent from each other.
That’s what 18-year-old City College soccer player Affolter noticed significantly.
Mara Affolter
One of her responsibilities as a student athlete aside from the games and practices is going to the Achievement Zone three hours a week.
“We have to study in school so we can prove to everyone that we can handle the student and the athletic life,” Affolter said.
She added that the opening hours aren’t always ideal for her with practice and school sometimes conflicting.
Affolter explained that with sports and school being completely separated back home it was difficult to handle on her own.
After playing soccer for about ten and a half years in Switzerland, she draws differences between soccer in both countries. Even though Affolter was scouted for soccer when she was younger, her plans never included playing professionally.
“What I realized is that here, every girl really can play and all of them know how to play,” Affolter said. “The game is so much faster compared to when I play with my team [back home].”
As an international student, Affolter explained how she had difficulties getting involved with the team because groups were already formed and she felt left out at times. She was also battling a little language barrier because she had to learn all of the soccer terminology in english.
Affolter lives in a student home for international students along with 11 other students, including track and field athlete Baur.
Anja Baur
The 20-year-old sprinter from Bern, Switzerland, specializes in 100m sprints and started participating in track and field at 12-years-old with her mom being a former track athlete herself.
Originally she was supposed to only attend City College for one semester but she’s currently thinking about extending her time for another semester.
“I just really enjoy being here,” Baur said.
She decided to attend City College because she thought it was the best option her organization offered.
Even though she likes the team here, she misses her team back home, the competitions, and especially her coach.
“I miss my coach, I think that one is the one I miss the most, because he’s a very important person for me,” Baur said. “He’s always there for me, and we have a really good relationship.”
In Switzerland, Baur competed in multiple competitions with her next big goal being to attend the European U-23 championships and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Comparing her life as an athlete here to back home, she noticed differences in the amount of practice and the way the practices are structured. Baur used to practice six or more times a week with specific practices. At City College, during their off season she only practices three times a week with many different techniques.
Baur doesn’t feel like she’s being treated differently because she’s an international student, but she finds herself in situations where she doesn’t know how to express herself, similar to Affolter.
“There’s always some language barriers when I want to say something, and I just can’t express myself the way I want to.”
After her time at City College, Baur wants to pursue furthering her education, studying in Switzerland. However her passion for track is unwavering.
Although there’s two other international students on the track team, she feels like the school should advertise international students to join sports more.
She feels inspired by her favorite athlete Sha’carri Richardson and a quote she always says, “The win is coming, don’t let the when fear you.”
All international student athletes have completely different stories and goals in life but what Dollhopf, Affolter and Baur have in common is that they chose City College to provide them with the student athlete experience.
