ing away to college is a difficult transition for most college freshmen. But leaving home and heading off to college in a foreign country at the age of 18 is not only difficult, it’s a very gutsy thing to do.
Adriana Lucar grew up in Lima, Peru. When she was 6 years old she began playing soccer with her older brother and his friends. She became heavily involved in the game as she got older and played in high school and for the national U-17 and U-20 teams of Peru.
In Peru, women’s soccer is not offered at the college level. Lucar wanted to continue playing so during her senior year of high school she began looking into going to college here in the Unites States. She said one of her friend’s mothers had a website that hosted various sports videos, so she recorded herself in a few games and posted the videos on the website.
Harding University’s women’s soccer coach Greg Harris heard about Lucar through a friend and watched the videos of her playing.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Harris said. “I said, ‘You know, let’s see what we can do about bringing her in.'”
Harris began recruiting Lucar in October 2009. By the end of November she was committed to playing for Harding, and two weeks later she had finished her visa paper work. Lucar arrived at Harding in spring 2010.
“I think God has a way of working it out to where he brings people here that need to be here,” Harris said.
Moving to Harding was a big step for Lucar. She left her family and friends in Peru so she could continue playing soccer. Adriana left her home country in December during summer and traded her swimsuit for a snowsuit as it was snowing when she arrived in Arkansas. She didn’t know anyone or speak the language.
“It was just difficult,” Lucar said. “I thought it would be so easy to just come here and play, but the first two weeks here I just wanted to go home. I didn’t want to stay here.”
Harris said the girls on the team did a good job of getting Lucar involved and becoming a part of the team. He said Lauren Scharf took Lucar in and roomed with her.
“That was huge for us,” Harris said. “Lauren taking her in and deciding to room with Adriana was a big deal of us keeping Adriana here. She’s fun to have around, she’s very open, very honest and she’s a hard worker.”
Lucar said she is good with being at Harding now. She is able to talk with her family and friends through Skype and Facebook.
“I love soccer; I can’t live without it,” Lucar said. “That’s why I’m here, I’m here in the USA, you know, far away from my family and friends just because I really want to play soccer.”
