Patrick Stolze: Soccer, Success, and Global Connections

MEET Patrick Stolze ‘24

Originally from Obersulm, Germany, Patrick Stolze flew over 4,000 miles to arrive at Goldey-Beacom College. But how did he find this small College in the second-smallest state in the United States?

This longtime soccer player was finishing high school while trying to figure out what to do next. He tossed around a few ideas including the military, but as he was scrolling on Instagram, he saw a gamechanging advertisement: Do you want to combine soccer and studying in the U.S.?

“I’m very close to my parents,” said Stolze, “and I couldn’t wait to tell them about this amazing opportunity.” They were on board with pursuing a soccer team and a college education in the U.S. As an international, students often sign with an agent who helps them prepare college and sports program applications for higher education in the U.S.

“The agency created a highlight video of my best soccer plays,” said Stolze. “As soon as I received a response e-mail, I would research the college, find the location, find the division and see if they had a sports management program,” said Stolze.

“When I received an offer from GoldeyBeacom, I thought the location was good,” he said. “And my parents didn’t want me going too far, and since GBC is on the East Coast, it’s only a six-hour time difference.”

In addition to an affordable price, he quickly noticed many other international students were attending GBC. He took comfort in knowing he would be among people who shared the same challenges of being away from their families and adjusting to a new culture and a new language.

The deciding factor for Stolze was watching the GBC Men’s Soccer team documentary produced by Geoff Stone ‘19 which chronicled their record-making win at the 2017 CACC championship. “I saw how good the relationships were between teammates and how good the student life was at GBC,” said Stolze. “I like to connect and talk with people, so I was happy that GBC had a family culture. I knew it would make me feel more included than if I was going to a big school and didn’t know anybody.”

At first, it was hard to leave his family. There’s a big difference between driving for four hours or flying for six hours to get to college. He misses them, and especially birthdays – that’s the toughest obstacle.

As a rising junior, his goals are short term. “It’s important for me to be healthy. It’s important that I play soccer,” said Stolze. “I want to perform well on the field and in the classroom, and I want to get good grades.”

It’s clear the GBC soccer program is having a positive impact. Every sports program has its own nuances, and GBC focuses on the whole student. “Goldey-Beacom has helped me to become stronger – both physically and mentally,” said Stolze. “For example, back home, I never really knew how to lift weights. Here, you learn so many different things such as how to treat an injury and how your body performs. And even though it’s a small college, I have made connections all over the world. I have friends from Scotland and Australia. Now, every time I go somewhere, I know someone.”

He shared one of his best memories from the Soccer team’s first away game last year. Stolze had a slight ‘uh-oh’ look on his face as he began to tell the story and said, “We had a lot of suspensions from the coach because of a party we had the week before.”

“Mostly freshmen played, and we won that game in overtime,” he said. Then his smile grew wider as he said, “I scored the first goal! Then in overtime, we scored the goal that I assisted. That was a great feeling! When we drove back from West Virginia that night, everybody was so happy and excited.”

Stolze soon learned that Goldey-Beacom isn’t far from New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA and Delaware beaches. He was surprised to find so many places to visit, but with one little catch. “You either have to have a car or know someone with a car,” said Stolze who has enjoyed exploring the area. He continued, “Be ready to travel and explore things around here. Break out of your comfort zone, and meet people from other sports teams. Don’t judge anyone because they are different. Be ready to talk and interact with people. When you start talking to people, you’ll find out they’re cool, and you have things in common.”

Stolze took classes mostly online because of the pandemic and is on track to earn a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management with plans to pursue a master’s degree.

This article was previously featured in The Goldey-Beacom College Magazine