USD fifth year athletes Mason Tunbridge and Sacchitt Sharrma shared their experiences as international athletes. Both athletes expressed how rewarding it has been to take advantage of opportunities to play their favorite sport, live in a new country, earn a college degree and all of the experiences that come along with it. The two bring their athletic accomplishments to the school as well as their perspectives from a different part of the world. USD houses many international athletes allowing for this to take place across Torero teams.

     Mason Tunbridge is a USD soccer player and Communication major from London, England. The midfielder shared how he views his current situation.

     “It’s the best of both worlds for us to get the degree and to pursue a career in soccer at the same time,” Tunbridge said.

     When Tunbridge was 16, one of his sisters who was studying abroad at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) sent him a video at one of the UCSB soccer games. Tunbridge knew that he wanted to make it to the U.S. and play soccer in college. He originally attended Jacksonville University in Florida for two years, before transferring to USD. However, his soccer career began long before his college journey started. Tunbridge began playing the sport as a toddler.

     “Soccer was the national sport of England. So one of my

first toys would have been a ball. From the minute you can walk, you’re just kicking a ball or kicking whatever you can find on the floor. So that was probably my main introduction, and my dad just threw me a soccer ball,” Tunbridge said.

     After seeing the picture of soccer in the U.S. that his sister showed him, Tunbridge explained how he came here somewhat ready, hoping that it would be easier to adapt to a new life. However, he was faced with a much faster paced and physical game. Tunbridge described the shift in his mindset throughout his time playing soccer in a different environment.

     “As you get older, it becomes more of a job. But it’s a job that you enjoy doing…It’s tough, draining, but — at the end of the day — there’s nothing that compares with the highs you can feel in soccer,” Tunbridge said.

     Tunbridge shared how Europeans are considered to be more experienced with soccer and therefore expected to be the “pinnacle” of the team, which has added some pressure throughout the years. Despite all the fields that Tunbridge has played soccer on, he shared that Torero stadium is his all-time favorite. He also shared that the team is very diverse, and while there is pressure, it has become a family of people connecting from all over the world.

     “I can’t comment on other teams, but I think it makes our team’s bond a lot stronger,” Tunbridge said. “We have guys from all over the world, different life experiences, different languages. They come into our locker room and

you’re all focused on one goal. So everything else sort of gets put into the background and the forefront becomes a team… I think it helps us as a team.”

     Tunbridge hopes to stay in America and play professionally or move back to Europe, in hopes that his soccer career will come full circle.

     “I’d like to coach college soccer. Coaching at USD would probably be a dream job as an older man,” Tunbridge said.

     Sacchitt Sharrma is a tennis player from Dehli, India, studying Communication with an International Relations minor.

     Sharrma began his tennis career at a young age which he randomly stumbled upon due to his excited personality as a child.

     “I was very restless and naughty as a kid, doing random stuff, you know? As a kid, four or five, six. So one day, I think my school teacher said to my mom to put me into something to get my energy out and tennis was an academy that was like five minutes from my home, so she put me there for the evenings, and I picked it up really quick. So I just stuck with it,” Sharrma said.

     Sharrma’s mom could not have foreseen the effects the decision would have on Sharrma’s future. When Sharrma was deciding if he would play in college, he received a text from USD coach Ryan Keckley that read, “I’m gonna text you tomorrow, this is my wedding day,” implying Keckley’s eagerness to start him soon. This made Sharrma feel even more welcomed and valuable to the team.

     Prior to deciding to play tennis in college, Sharrma had hopes of going pro. However he reflected on his circumstances and decided otherwise, in part because money is such a big part of success in the tennis industry.

     “You need a lot of money… A lot of money to travel, because our sport takes up a lot of physical travel. You’ve got to buy stuff, you’ve got to buy clothes and all, you’ve got to buy your equipment, you’ve got to pay for hotels and pay for flights. Unless you have a sponsor or you’re already rich, it’s very tough,” Sharrma said.

     Sharrma took this information into consideration and discovered how the college atmosphere would set him up for success in his sport as well as life, providing all of the resources that he would need.

     “Here, in college, you can get everything, because you have a coach, you have a trainer. You have a gym… You have everything here, so you don’t have to go anywhere else,” Sharrma said.

      Sharrma also explained how it was nice to come to USD and have all of these amenities but also how different USD is from his home.

    “I come from a city of [around] 20 million. So San Diego is very quiet,

very relaxed and chill. Compared to Delhi, everything is going and everywhere at once,” Sharrma said.

     This was all exciting for Sharrma as he was the first of his immediate family to leave India.

     “I felt like I’ve done everything I could in tennis in India. I didn’t think I could achieve anything more or that I could follow my tennis anymore there,” Sharrma explained.

     Sharrma is focused on getting a degree and playing the sport he loves in a way that makes his mother proud, motivated by winning and his love of the game. He described the feeling that he is chasing and what keeps him motivated.

     “When you lift the trophy, it’s a pretty good feeling,” Sharrma said as his face lit up.

     USD has many sports teams, each one attracting different athletes. USD soccer and tennis are just some of the diverse teams, pulling athletes from all over the world. Mason Tunbridge and Sacchitt Sharrma are two of the athletes proud to represent USD and their families, honor the sacrifices that others have made for them and play the sports that they love.