Spring months for students are often filled with stress due to final grades and assignments as well as anticipation for the end of the semester and beginning of summer vacation. However, Andrews University students and students from other Berrien County schools may have more reason for anticipation and excitement with the area receiving a celebrity visitor soon. Soccer (Football) superstar Lionel Messi, who many regard as the greatest professional player at the striker position ever, has plans to visit the St. Joseph High School in Berrien County with his current team, Inter Miami CF, on April 5. It is anticipated that Messi and the Inter Miami players will be able to greet some students and fans, as well as give away some merchandise at Dickinson Stadium, the football field behind St. Joseph High School.
Inter Miami CF is coming off a loss on March 25 during their Major League Soccer (MLS) season to the Chicago Fire FC 3-2. Although the team’s next MLS game is at their home facility of Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the team has scheduled a friendly exhibition match with CF Montréal, an MLS team from Canada that will be playing at a neutral site in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 6. The match is intended to drum up support from Indianapolis soccer fans, which will gauge the area’s compatibility for an MLS expansion team since league management has listed the city as one of their preferred destinations.
So, with such a filled schedule for Messi and his team coming up, what are they doing coming to Berrien County, Michigan, of all places? Well, this question can be partially answered by an intriguing connection that one of Messi’s teammates, striker Luis Suàrez, has to a member of the St. Joseph High School faculty. Girls Soccer Head Coach Stuart Jansen met and worked with Suàrez while they were both a part of the Dutch soccer team, AFC Ajax. Jansen, whose family is Dutch, was a scout and assistant analyst for the team from 2006-2010 before pursuing a teaching career in his wife’s hometown of St. Joseph, Michigan. Although not directly coaching Suàrez during the striker’s time after he transferred to the team in 2007, Jansen developed a mutual respect with the blossoming superstar.
Although leaving work in professional soccer, Jansen continues to be active in the games he coaches and follows MLS, Eredivisie (the Dutch pro soccer league), and other soccer leagues and tournaments. Upon realizing that Suàrez and Inter Miami would be in the Midwest region of the country soon, a few weeks before their Inter Miami game, Jansen reached out to both Suàrez and the team about coming to visit the school during their road trip. Surprisingly, Suàrez answered and expressed excitement to visit the school and its students. Additionally, according to Jansen and a statement put out by St. Joseph High School, Suàrez promised that he and Messi could run a few drills with students if time allowed and that he would demonstrate some of his infamous offensive maneuvers on students that help to chomp down on the momentum of opposing teams.
Principal John Kennedy, the great-nephew of United States President John F. Kennedy, who was also an avid soccer fan, shared the news of Messi, Suàrez, and Inter Miami’s travel plans with the athletic directors of Benton Harbor High School, Berrien Springs High School, Andrews Academy, and Andrews University. Andrews University Athletic Director Kevin Wooldridge shared with The Student Movement that Principal Kennedy’s invitation to come see Inter Miami was for only the students in each school’s soccer program in hopes of not developing too big of a crowd at the Dickinson Stadium. In the email, Kennedy states, “This is a big moment for our school and athletic department. It is rare for a school in a small area like Berrien County to have such globally known celebrities and stars visiting the area and offering to share some of their knowledge and wisdom with our students. It felt paramount to me that this opportunity was not limited to the students of our school but also shared with some of the other soccer programs that make up our vibrant soccer community.”
The Andrews Cardinals players from both the men’s and women’s teams have largely expressed great excitement and intrigue about seeing some of the players who are at the top of their sport of interest. Women’s player Reneé Wisdom (sophomore, photography) stated, “I hope to learn what makes them so successful on the field and how they bring in so much money.” Men’s player Callan Lewis-Balfour (junior, music and English) hopes to not only see the pros perform and talk but also to “collect as many signatures on as many items as possible” so that he can auction off the items on online platforms like eBay. “It's cool to see some of your heroes and all of that, but in reality, I’m not gonna get to the MLS. I gotta focus on paying for another one of Andrews’ insane bills before Dean Fitting kicks me out of Meier Hall, and I have to sleep on the soccer pitch.”
Other Andrews student-athletes are not as interested in the team showing up and showing off their soccer skills. Men’s player Jaquan Darrell (sophomore, finance) said that he is protesting the Inter Miami visit. He believes attending the event would “violate his code of ethics.” Darrell elaborated, stating, “This whole visit is just a ploy for Messi to try to show off his ‘charity’ and have more people believe he’s the GOAT [greatest of all time]. Real ones who know ball know that my glorious king CR7, Christiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, is the GOAT and always will be. Nothing that that fraud Messi and Miami do will change my opinion.” Darrell is the only reported soccer student-athlete from Andrews University or Andrews Academy who will not be attending the Inter Miami event at St. Joseph High School. However, Darrell still claims that there are many others amongst the Cardinal teams and the Andrews community who feel similarly to him.
According to Kennedy’s email, the players will be showing up at Dickinson Stadium at 2:30 p.m. and will leave close to 5 p.m. After their visit, Inter Miami hopes to bounce back from a slow start to build off their Leagues Cup Championship win in 2023. Similarly, the men’s Cardinals soccer team is coming off one of their best seasons in the past five years and hopes to be eligible for promotion into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) before applying to be an expansion team for MLS in 2030, where they would have a chance to compete against Messi before he retires.
Disclaimer: This piece is satire and the information included therein should not be regarded as fact, but fiction. Happy April Fools!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.