One Au Pair’s Full-Circle Soccer Moment
When Jelena, “Lena” was ten, she didn’t tell her mother she was playing soccer. Every afternoon she slipped out to join the boys in her neighborhood, and every afternoon she came home and said nothing. When Red Star Youth Clubs came calling to recruit her, her mother assumed no professional club would want a 10-year-old girl on its roster, and nearly let the deadline to join pass by. It wasn’t until the coach called and asked, “Where was she?” that her mom understood she had a uniquely talented soccer-playing daughter.
That secret set the course for the next 15 years. Lena represented her country across Europe, including a month-long tournament in Sweden, and built a professional career with the storied clubs Red Star Belgrade and Rad. She even earned a scholarship to play college soccer in the United States, but a broken leg and more than a year of recovery put that path out of reach. She finished her studies in Serbia instead, earning a degree in education. The injury ended her competitive career, but not her hope of coming to the U.S.
At 26, she finally found a way to make it here, not as a player, but as an au pair with Au Pair USA by InterExchange on Long Island, now helping to care for four kids between the ages of 7 and 12. As an au pair, Lena also gets the chance to take part in American cultural experiences. This year, InterExchange sponsored free tickets to the historic July 15th Gotham FC match, the first-ever women’s soccer game at Citi Field in New York. To the people around her, she was just another fan. But Lena was experiencing the game from a whole new perspective, as a former professional herself.
“It was an incredible experience,” Lena said. “As someone who used to be a professional soccer player in my home country, I can honestly say that this feeling can’t really be explained, it can only be experienced. Watching the biggest stars of women’s football live, players who are role models for younger generations, was truly unforgettable.”
Lena has watched women’s soccer grow on both sides of the Atlantic, but she’s quick to point out the gap that remains. In Serbia, women’s soccer doesn’t come close to the popularity it has in the United States. In a summer when men’s soccer dominated headlines, thanks to the World Cup, seeing a stadium show up for the women’s game felt like a marker of how far the sport has come, and how far it still has to go elsewhere.
The Gotham FC match became one of the highlights of Lena’s Au Pair USA program year so far. “The match between Gotham and Washington that I attended was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had since coming here,” she said. “It was something I dreamed about as a little girl, and now that dream has finally come true. I definitely plan to go to another match again.”
Her life in soccer did not end when her playing career did. Lena is channeling what she learned as a professional into coaching the next generation, and her host family has noticed. They say she has been “a natural from day one,” and that “our kids were especially excited to have a professional soccer player living with us. She’s often out in the backyard playing 3v1 with the younger two, and she comes to their practices and games to give pointers.” That sense of belonging is a big part of why Lena is considering extending her placement for another year. As she puts it: “It’s been a dream come true.”
Discovering the magic of American sports culture is just one of the many benefits of joining Au Pair USA by InterExchange, one of the U.S. Department of State’s BridgeUSA programs dedicated to life-changing cultural exchange. Every month, au pairs and Local Coordinators join events in their host communities, often centered around baseball games or other local sporting events, giving them a built-in circle of friends and support system, while experiencing American culture.