Duluth Vaxjo Soccer Exchange Looking for Players

The program sends local soccer players to Sweden to learn about the sport and the culture.

DULUTH, Minn. – A special program in Duluth gives local high school soccer players a chance to learn about the sport, as well as the culture of Duluth’s sister city: Vaxjo, Sweden.

The Duluth Vaxjo Soccer Exchange currently has openings for local boys and girls who will travel to Sweden for a special soccer tournament, and the following year will host a Swedish team player in Duluth. Participants from the past and present attended Monday’s meeting to share their experiences in attempt to drum up support for the program.

“As a 16-year-old, getting out of the country, my parents weren’t with me. I was with a group of girls that, basically we didn’t know each other. You get that experience of independence of seeing a new culture and a life experience of getting to know people when you’re not familiar with them or not even speaking the same language,” Megan Behrends said.

“To see it across the world where it’s super big and have it here as it’s growing, it’s fun to compare it to each other. If we get more people to go internationally and see what soccer is like over there, soccer over here will continue to grow as it does right now,” Duluth East senior Max Peterson said.

“When we were over there, it wasn’t about winning. We want to win, obviously. But we just wanted to have fun and it made it more fun because we got to play against girls that were speaking different languages and we couldn’t understand them. It was super cool to have that experience,” said Duluth East junior Hailey Coda.

The organization is confident they will fill their spots by the December 31st soft deadline. One reason for that is the increased popularity of the sport locally in the past few months.

For more information on DVSE, click here.