Costa Rican imports are stars in the making for women’s soccer

Sanchez was deemed a junior by the NCAA, which means she and Carden each have two years of eligibility at VCU. Photo by Chris Conway.

Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor

Granados was granted true freshman status, giving her a full four years on VCU's front line. Photo by Chris Conway.

A trip to Costa Rica is an ideal vacation for most Americans, but for VCU head coaches Tim and Tiffany Sahaydak, it was the ultimate business trip.

The Sahaydaks traveled to the Central American nation last year on a recruiting trip and would later receive commitments from two members of the country’s national team.

Cristin Granados is already one of the team’s most talented offensive players, and she is only a freshman. The other import is Carol Sanchez, a brilliantly smooth center back, who plays the position with a combination of speed and grace foreign to the American game.

“They definitely bring something new to our team,” Tiffany said. “Cris (Granados) is very comfortable on the ball, and (Sanchez) is so fast and aggressive in the back. We’re very happy with both of them.”

Sanchez was deemed a junior by the NCAA, which means she and Carden each have two years of eligibility at VCU. Photo by Chris Conway.

Sanchez is from the city of Palmares, just 70 miles from Cartago, which Granados calls home. Cartago is a city not much smaller than Richmond, with a population close to 150,000; it’s an affluent area just minutes away from the nation’s capital.

Palmares, on the other hand, has a population of just 4,000. But despite its small size, every January Palmares plays host to “Fiestas,” a festival which annually consumes more beer than any festival in the world besides Oktoberfest.

Being so far away from home has been a difficult transition for the Costa Rican tandem, which is why they stick together for the most part.

Neither Granados nor Sanchez speak English, which has made the transition that much harder. In order to communicate, Sahaydak and the rest of the players rely a lot on Azania Barbosa, a senior forward from Brazil, to translate. But some things remain lost in translation even then because Barbosa speaks Portuguese, not Spanish. She is still able to get by because the languages are so similar.

“Communicating with the team is difficult but not that complicated because the game is the same,” said Sanchez, as translated by Barbosa. “We are able to communicate through the game and through gestures when we’re on the field.”

As a center back, Sanchez is the last line of defense which means she has to be constantly communicating with the goalie. And as much of a challenge as that has been, her chemistry with starting goalie Kristin Carden has been fantastic as of late.

“It’s been interesting trying to incorporate Carol,” Carden, a transfer from Virginia Tech, said. “We’ve had to work with her some, with English and everything, but she’s very quick and she helps our back out a lot.”

“I already learned the basic things so I am able to communicate in English with (Carden),” said Sanchez through Barbosa. “And for the things I don’t know, I learn by watching my teammates. So the other defenders, I’ll copy them.”

Balancing VCU soccer with the Costa Rica national team’s schedule is yet another challenge the two have to face. So for now, Sahaydak has asked them to take a leave from the national team so they can focus on academics as well as VCU’s upcoming conference slate. Granados said she hopes to return to the national team at some point next year, or whenever the opportunity arises.

Sanchez and Granados are using their time in the U.S. the same way an American student would if they were to study abroad. It’s a chance to be immersed in another culture and to experience the American lifestyle. But as much as they are enjoying their time here, they plan on returning home once their collegiate careers are over.

However, until that time comes, there is still a lot to look forward to from these two.

Both have started all of VCU’s eight games this season, and they will be major factors in the team’s overall success over the next few years.

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