Karoline Haugland: Finding a home at CUW

Concordia Wisconsin student-athletes come from all walks of life, but very few travel across the globe and even fewer have represented their country at the national level. That is the path of Karoline Haugland, a freshman on the women's soccer team from Bergen, Norway.

"My favorite thing about Concordia is all of the nice people," said Haugland. "That is what helped me decide to come here."

The CUW freshman started playing soccer at a young age. Her parents were soccer players and Karoline grew up playing the game she loves with her siblings Andreas (16), Mathilde (18), Sebastian (23) and Kristine (25).

 "My whole family played soccer and that is what got me interested," said Haugland. "We are a soccer family, my parents played and so did my siblings."

Growing up in a house full of soccer players, there was always strong competition, but when asked who was the best player in her family there was not a doubt in her mind, "Me!"

Haugland ventured into other sports while growing up, like handball. However, her passion for other sports never grew as much as they did for her love of soccer.

"Soccer is pretty big in Norway," Haugland stated. "I feel that it is the biggest sport there. I began playing when I was five years old, playing with my older brother's team and when people started playing at my age, I started playing with them."

Haugland comes to Concordia Wisconsin from competing on the Norweigan national team, where she played for the Girls-15, Girls-16, Girls-17, Girls-19 and Women's-23 teams. Haugland has played 61 games for the national team and in several European Championships with the national team.

"It was really fun playing for Norway," said Haugland. "It is always really fun to play for your country. Soccer is really big in Norway, so to be able to play on the team is a big honor."

After finding success on the soccer fields in Norway with her team, Arna-Bjørnar, Haugland was drawn to the shores of Lake Michigan. Joining her boyfriend, Lars Hansen, a kicker on the CUW football team.

"My boyfriend goes here, so I visited and liked it," stated Haugland. "I met with the coaches and I talked with the players and I really liked it here."

The Norwegian found herself at home in the women's soccer program.

"I really like playing here with coach Ryan," Haugland says. "He knows what he is doing here. It is fun to play here. We have a connection here where we know where to go or where to pass the ball because we know each other. So it is really easy to play with them."

For only being here a few months, Haugland has already made a big impact on her team.

"Obviously Karoline brings a tremendous skill set to our team," said head coach Ryan Middendorf. "What has impressed me, even more, is her incredible competitive spirit and unrelenting work rate. Moreover, she's such a great teammate to all of those around her."

Moving across the globe to a country that speaks a different language is always difficult, but Haugland was able to find a family here at Concordia to help with the transition.

"It was hard at the start when I was trying to get to know everybody, but now I am really happy," said Haugland. "Now I know the team and it is really fun to play with them and get to know them. It was also helpful to have Lars here. It makes it easier when you have people around you when things get hard and you can talk to them. "

Haugland hopes to use her Concordia education to become a teacher someday. She currently leads NCAA Division III in scoring with 20 goals on the season.