March 07, 2007
Senior soccer player Madison Klovstad is experiencing a unique type of Spring Break from her classes at Texas A&M. The former Aggie soccer star is playing in the Brazilian Paulista Tournament for the Santos Futebol Club.
The Paulista (or Brazil Cup) is the first official professional women's National Cup hosted the Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol (the official Brazilian Soccer Confederation). The 32-team tournament lasts just two weeks and is played in different cities around the state of Rio de Janeiro. The participating teams are the champion and second place teams of the different state leagues in Brazil.
Klovstad, who finished her playing career for the nine-time Big 12 soccer champions at Texas A&M this past fall, was invited by the famous club to represent her school and them in this prestigious event. Santos is the former of club of many famous Brazilian soccer players, including the most loved player ever ?- Pele. Santos is one of the favorites to win the competition, boasting a young and talented roster with six players currently on the Brazilian U20 National Team.
Klovstad was a key attacking player for the Aggies over her four year college career. She is very versatile, playing three different positions over her career in Aggieland ?- as a forward, outside midfielder, and creative central midfielder. Her role for Santos will be in their attack.
?We practiced with the team and noticed immediately how different their style of play is from the U.S.,? Klovstad noted. ?I tried to play simple and complete passes, while the Brazileiros emphasis is on dribbling past as many opponents as possible and holding the ball longer than I have become accustomed. Adjusting to their dribbling a lot will not be a problem
?I am really excited! The coach (Kleiton Lima) and the girls are all nice and try really hard to speak with me. I don?â„¢t speak Portuguese, but understand Spanish, and there are a few players on the team that I can communicate with in that language,? said Klovstad.
Klovstad is the third Aggie player to compete in a foreign league after her career at Texas A&M. Heather Ragsdale played in the Chinese professional league in 2003, and Amber Reynolds continues to play in Germany as part of a US armed forces team (she is currently a pilot in the United States Air Force, based in Germany). Additionally, four Aggies played in the now defunct WUSA professional league in the USA (Bryn Blalack, Melanie Wilson, Reynolds, and Nicky Thrasher). Klovstad hopes to continue her playing career into the professional ranks in Europe (and possibly in the USA when a new professional league begins in April of 2008) following her graduation from Texas A&M.
?We are all excited for Maddie,? said Texas A&M head coach G Guerrieri. ?I am real proud of her, not just because she?â„¢s such a great player, but also because she?â„¢s really grown up in college and has learned to stand on her own two feet. It?â„¢s exciting to have an opportunity to play in the Paulista. Heck, I know a lot of people who would kill for that. So, it?â„¢s especially gratifying to see a great young lady like Madison earn that experience.?