Ohio, New York, Canada, and The Czech Republic all have something in common. Student athletes at Bowling Green University hail from each of these places.

University athletes have come from other states and other countries to compete in the various athletic programs, although many of them could have gone to higher profile schools like Ohio State or Penn State.

Vitek Wild, a native of the Czech Republic, began his college career in Pennsylvania. The tennis player said he was competing at a tournament in Columbus when tennis coach, Jay Harris noticed him.

According to Wild, he could have gone to Ohio State or Penn State, but ruled it out after visiting Bowling Green.

“They were too big for me, being from another country,” he said. “Here it’s good, you can talk to the teacher because there aren’t too many students in the classes.”

The size of the University was a determining factor for Wild’s teammate Mike Kossoff, from Syosset, New York.

“I like that it’s a big school, but it’s not super big,”he said. “I can walk around and meet someone new everyday.”

Before coming to the University, Kossoff attended San Diego State. There, he said, he didn’t enjoy being on the team as much he does here.

“At San Diego, there was no team unity. Here, we’re practically like family, we do everything together,” he said. “When I’m on the court, by myself, I know the rest of the guys are behind me.”

Before looking into colleges to transfer to, Kossoff said, he had never before heard of the University. He said his dad encouraged him to consider the University based on the strength of the tennis team.

“When I first came here, I was like woh! this is the flattest place I’ve ever seen,” he said. “But I like it so much, and had so much fun, that I decided to come here.”

While a number of students were originally from other countries or states and may never have heard of the University, volleyball player, Laura Twyman, was originally from Ohio.

After living in Findlay for 15 years, her family moved to Texas. She said, she wanted to come back to Ohio, and Bowling Green because of the size of the school and for the business program.

“I like it up here a lot,” she said. “I like the weather here more than in the south.”

While the students who have ventured far from home to play sports at the University have adjusted to life away from home, some said it is tough to get used to.

“It’s really hard, I can only go home during Christmas break and spring break,” Twyman said. “I can’t go home to pick things up or drop things off.”

Kossoff agreed that it was tough getting used to Bowling Green after living in New York.

“I’m used to the big city,” he said. “The people around here are a lot friendlier. If you talk to someone here, you get smiles. You talk to someone on the subway in New York, they look at you like your weird.”