For senior captain Iwan Roberts, soccer has never been just a game; it has always been part of life. Roberts, a midfielder from Wrexham, Wales, has been playing soccer since he was 5 years old. Growing up in the United Kingdom, the sport was impossible to avoid.
“It’s kind of like a religion back home,” Roberts said. “Everybody plays it. I was sort of just indoctrinated by my dad, and I went with my dad to watch the Liverpool games since I was five years old.”
That lifelong connection to the sport eventually led him across an ocean to Baldwin City, where he spent the past four years developing both as a player and a leader. When Roberts reflects on his time with Baker University Men’s Soccer, it is not just the games themselves that stand out, some of his favorite memories came afterwards.
“I think the bus journeys on the way back were my favorites,” Roberts said. “The most recent one, we had just won 2-1 away at CMU, and it was kind of the game where we thought, ‘Oh, we could win this thing.’ That was a crazy bus journey.”
Over the course of his college experience, Roberts said his growth went beyond improving his skills on the soccer field.
“Obviously, over time, you get better at your sport,” Roberts said. “But you develop leadership skills. With the soccer team, there are so many internationals that you learn other people’s cultures and how to lead different types of people.”
That diversity has been one of the more impactful aspects of his experience with the team, and being part of the program helped shape his outlook on life.
“I came here as a 19-year-old with no real idea about life,” Roberts said. “Just learning so many different cultures and having friends all around the world- it changes you as a person.”
The team culture of Baker Men’s Soccer is built on a simple mentality: you work for each other.
“We always say we’re blue collar,” Roberts said. “You do the work for each other. If somebody makes a mistake, you run and fix it. There’s no real standout; everybody just puts their work in.”
Throughout his four seasons, Roberts saw the program grow significantly. After a pair of difficult seasons early in his career, the team found greater success in recent years under head coach Nick Aguilar.
“My first two years weren’t very successful,” Roberts said. “But these past two years, we’ve improved so much. Our senior class had a big influence, and I think we definitely left the team in a better place than we found it.”
As he prepares to graduate and step away from competitive soccer, Roberts hopes younger players focus less on statistics and more on the moment.
“Don’t get too obsessed with minutes played or stats,” Roberts said. “Just be where your feet are. If you’re practicing, focus on practice. If you’re in class, focus on class.”
Roberts plans to pursue a career in data analytics after graduation, ideally in the energy sector with a focus on environmental economics. Whether that opportunity takes him back to Wales or keeps him in the United States remains to be seen.
