Nicholls soccer player Sigurdsson not your typical student-athlete

COVID and FIMA usually don’t factor into a person’s decision on which university to attend, but Sara Sigurdsson isn’t your typical college student.

“It was definitely unexpected, but I’m very happy to be here,” Sigurdsson said of her decision to attend Nicholls and play on the Lady Colonels soccer team. “COVID made me broaden my horizons in a sense. I didn’t think I would leave Florida. I was expecting Florida, Georgia, or the Carolinas. I didn’t think of going anywhere more southwest.

“I decided to reach out to more schools. I happened to get in touch with (Nicholls coach Robert Podeyn) and we talked early my senior year. I came and visited. That was actually when Hurricane Ida hit. FEMA was all tented up here (on the Nicholls campus), but I really liked it.”

She also liked the people she encountered.

“I really liked the girls that I met while I was here. The people, and just the southern hospitality. I felt like going out of state, especially here, people really take you in here. Some of my teammates, like the girls from Houma, getting invites to family dinners and stuff, doesn’t make me miss home as much,” Sigurdsson said.

Many aspects of Sigurdsson’s life are counter to the norm – starting with her last name.

Although she moved to Florida with her family when she was only three months old, Sigurdsson was born in Iceland.

Unlike much of the world where surnames are used, last names in Iceland are patronymic. With patronymic names, a child is named after the father’s first name, with “sson” added to the end of a male’s name and “dottir” to end of a female’s name.

Being female, it would generally be assumed Sara’s last name would end in “dottir,” like her Nicholls teammate Anna Thorhallsdottir, who was also born in Iceland.

“I have two passports, two citizenships,” Sigurdsson said. “On my American passport it’s Sigurdsson, were on my Icelandic passport, my legal name in Iceland is actually Asgeirdottir.

“It just comes down to it’s a lot easier to have one familial name here. Otherwise, there would be like five different last names in a family, and it would just cause questions when it comes to mail or government-issue type stuff. So, we just decided to all have Sigurdsson.”

Sigurdsson’s life has been unique in many ways.

Growing up, she would spend summers back in her Islandic hometown of Keflavik, which is approximately 30 miles from Reykjavik, the capital and largest city in Iceland.

Sigurdsson would spend so much time there in the summer, she played on a local club soccer team.

“Over the summer, I was there for six to eight weeks so I spent the majority of my summers there since I was like eight or nine years old until now. There’s a local club that they have there, and I would just play with that team. We would travel for games and tournaments. Their leagues are in the summer because they can’t do it in the winter, just because of snow and all that stuff. So, I would participate in a league in the summers,” she explained.

Snow and other factors may prevent soccer from being played in Iceland in the winter, but winter temperatures are much more moderate than most people would assume.

The coldest month is January, with an average high temperature of 38 degrees – a temperature residents of many states wish were as warm in the winter.

“It’s definitely nothing like up North or the Midwest winter at all. I think that’s because of the island and the currents and volcanos. Those are able to keep the island somewhat warm. I know their winters are not as bad as they would be in the states,” said Sigurdsson.

By contrast, the warmest month in Iceland is July, with an average high temperature of 58 degrees – a bit of a challenge for a kid from hot and humid Florida.

“It’s very cold. I went this past summer in May. I haven’t gone in May in a long time, and there’s definitely a drastic difference in going in May versus June and July. It’s even colder. It’s very windy. There’s not a lot of greenery as it would be in June and July.”

The mention of greenery brings up a subject Sigurdsson often gets asked about: Is Iceland green and Greenland ice?

“That’s the most common statement I’ve heard a lot. I would say yes and no,” Sigurdsson said.

Sigurdsson went on to expound on her answer, bringing back memories of one’s days learning World History in high school.

“The story that I have been told is that when Erik the Red discovered Iceland, he didn’t want people to move there because he wanted to colonize it himself. He named Greenland, ‘Greenland,’ so a lot of people would go there and whatever, and Iceland does have quite a few glaciers; however, it’s a lot more green than Greenland,” she explained.

Sigurdsson can field other World History-type questions, as well.

Another is whether Iceland is Scandinavian or Nordic?

“I think technically, it’s Nordic, but we all consider ourselves Scandinavian. I don’t if the other Scandinavian countries necessarily call us Scandinavian, but I know we do,” Sigurdsson laughed.

So, what’s the difference?

“I want to say just Geographic. Geographically, just since Iceland is an island and it’s further away type of thing. I went to Denmark this summer and I saw a lot of similarities between Iceland and Denmark,” said Sigurdsson said.

A question on a more personal note is does Sigurdsson speak Icelandic?

“It was actually my first language. My mom and dad were both Icelandic, I spoke it first growing up,” she revealed.

Even if she didn’t, Sigurdsson wouldn’t have much trouble communicating during her visits since a significant number of Icelanders speak English.

“It’s actually pretty common, especially now,” Sigurdsson said. “I would say my generation, especially, just with the internet, You Tube, a lot of television shows on You Tube that the kids are consuming is in English. I know the kids start learning English in the fourth grade. They do have that beginning fairly young.

“My grandparents, they struggled a little bit more with the (English) language. I don’t believe when they were in school, it was implemented so young.”

During one of her visits, Sigurdsson got a chance to experience the eruption of a volcano near her hometown.

“I was actually able to see the flowing volcano in 202,” she said. “It was really cool.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience. I wasn’t able to go where it was spouting because it was too far of a walk, but seeing it flow – the heat was amazing. You could feel it from like 20 yards away. I remember someone taking a pan and cracking an egg and just throwing it on top of the lava and just cooking the egg. It was very funny.”

Soccer runs in the family. Sigurdsson’s cousin, Samuel Fridjonsson, plays professionally. Currently, he’s playing in Greece.

“I’ve looked up to him a lot. He’s on the Icelandic national team. Went to the World Cup in 2018,” Sigurdsson said.

A defender on the Nicholls team, Sigurdsson played club soccer in Florida before making her high school team.

“I really enjoyed high school. I played for Lake Mary High School. My first two years, I was under Coach Bill Eissele, and then his son ended up taking over the last two years, so I enjoyed two very different experiences there. We were in the biggest 7-A district and were ranked one of the top teams. I enjoyed going from club to high school. It wasn’t like a drop off or anything of that sort,” she said.

She managed to see action as a freshman, playing every position on the field except goalkeeper.

“The coach tended to like me as an outside back. I actually really enjoyed that because I was able to get into the attack a lot more and help assists goals,” Sigurdsson said. “I played some forward. I didn’t enjoy that.”

“I don’t like having my back to the goal,” she said, explaining her dislike of the forward position. “I like to see the field in front of me. Even in my personal life, I like to have control of things, and I feel like if I can see everything, I have more control. I can see what’s going on. As a forward, I’m facing my own goal, and just making those runs, timing it like all top forwards are able to do that.”

Being in control of things, and highly organized, is a necessity for Sigurdsson, who along with playing college soccer, is a biology pre-medicine major.

Among her courses this semester is microbiology, a microbiology lab, organic chemistry with an organic chemistry lab, and a physics course with a physics lab.

“I will say it gets very difficult at times,” Sigurdsson readily admitted. “It’s very difficult to have that balance and prioritize. It’s just about having your priorities straight, in a sense.

“What I’ve noticed with other of my teammates is that a lot of times they will do assignments that are not necessarily due for a while because they are avoiding doing the assignment now whereas I just have to tackle that right now. I’ve honesty struggled with getting sleep just because it’s so much studying.”

Because of the on- and off-field workload, sometimes Sigurdsson’s schedule needs some accommodation. A recent example was moving around her time for lifting weights.

“I had to switch my times in order to get a study-group type of thing going on,” said Sigurdsson said. “It’s just really kind of communication with the coach, too. Obviously, it’s the student before the athlete. You want to make sure that you are still eligible to play.

“So, when I do get extra busy, I do feel comfortable talking to (Podeyn) and asking for some more time.”

As a sophomore, Sigurdsson still has a lot of time to decide on where she might like to go to medical school, practice medicine or what would be her specialty.

“I’m definitely going to keep my medical school options very broad,” she said. “I do really like the Carolinas a lot. I think I may want to apply somewhere there. It’s beautiful, and they get seasons. When it comes to where I would want to practice, just see where it takes me. Right now, I’ve been thinking a lot about pediatrics and/or sports medicine.”

On the field, Sigurdsson has been a valuable member of the Nicholls team as a defender, according to Podeyn.

“She’s one of those players you can count on in the back. She’s a smart player, a very good player. She’s good technically. She organizes things well. We are lucky to have her,” the Nicholls coach said.

A defender, said Sigurdssson, is an unsung position.

“I feel like a defender is someone, that if you put it into a work sense, is someone who works behind the scenes. It keeps the whole structure of the team together. You might not always see what they are doing and might not always get the recognition they deserve. However, I feel like, in essence, defenders do win games, or at least do their jobs to key that. The forwards tend to get more of the recognition, but obviously, it’s a team sport and you have to work together,” Sigurdsson said.

What makes a good defender?

“A good defender is someone who has everyone else’s back. Able to go in for those attacks, is able to support your teammate, cover for your other teammate, other defenders, or even midfielders. Especially being very loud and vocal from the back and directing your teammates, helped them get up the field and find the back of the net,” said Sigurdsson.

Sigurdsson’s team’s success has not matched her academic success. The Nicholls soccer team is currently 1-12 overall, including 0-4 in the Southland Conference.

The struggles of the soccer team began long before Sigurdsson’s arrival. Nicholls has not won a conference game since 2018. Stretching back to 1998, the only winning season was in 2013, when the team went 12-6-2.

For players like Sigurdsson, the challenge is to be a part of a team that turns the program around.

“I will definitely say, coming into it, I was very excited to help turn this program around. But it’s a lot of work. It can definitely get very frustrating at times,” she said. “We all want to win, obviously, but it’s just taking a step back. Even with those losses, there is always something you can learn from, and I feel like if you are able to take from the game and separate your emotions from it and say, ‘what did I learn from here, what did I do well, what can I carry on to the next game, what is something I can change to improve in the next game?’

“It’s just step by step getting better, and it will eventually come. The results will eventually come.”