'The world's game': There's a dozen nationalities on this high school girls soccer roster

Apalachee girls soccer boasts a diverse atmosphere.

On its roster of 19, coach Omeed Behzadi said there's up to a dozen different nationalities represented. This includes Ghanaian, Salvadoran, Mexican, Iranian, Colombian, Guatemalan, Dominican, Honduran, Laotian, Puerto Rican and American. Each are represented by flags hung up on the sidelines at their stadium.

"This is not a very soccer heavy area," Behdazi, who is of Iranian decent, said. "Most of the athletes here either play baseball, softball, track, volleyball. Most of, especially for girls, this is one of those sports they have the ability to play regardless of where they come from. And for most of them, they come from cultures where soccer is the main sport. Even if they have never played before, they get the opportunity to play. Most of my girls, the first time they play on an actual team is high school.

"It's the world's game for a reason."

The flags at the stadium are a new addition, something Behdazi incorporated last year after having a bit of a revelation — he said he actually got the idea from Atlanta United FC, which does the same at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

"I realized, wow, when we play other teams, we are playing a copy of one type of player," he said. "There's very few mixed teams in this area, especially from Barrow [County] to Athens-wise. There's very few of these teams. Now, when you go into Gwinnett, of course you're going to have those more, but in a semi-rural, suburban setting that's starting to become more suburban? In our school, we are the most diverse team. Most of our teams are this group, this group, this group, so that's my favorite thing about us."

Vote: Athens-area high school athlete of the week for March 18-24

More soccer: North Oconee senior remains thankful in unique living situation, finds solace in soccer

In addition to putting up the flags, Behdazi plays warm-up music in several different languages and does his best to speak Spanish with the girls on the team.

Freshman Dania Vega Garcia said, when she entered high school, no one spoke Spanish.

Well, except her.

She embraced her culture wholeheartedly and began to use her native language with those on the team who could also speak it, or even understand it.

Now, everyone's doing it.

"I'm bringing that out," she said. "I've noticed even my teammates that aren't Hispanic, the ones that don't know Spanish, they're trying. They try to communicate in Spanish, they try to understand it. And I encourage that, because I love speaking it. It gives me the practice, too. ... My first language was Spanish, I learned English when I got into like pre-K/kindergarten maybe. So, I know it's my first language and I make of that."

Vega Garcia said she loves being Mexican, and she's proud of where her family comes from. She encourages diversity, encouraging everyone to embrace their cultures like she does her own. The world is a melting pot, the States especially, she explained, and we need to embrace it, uplift it, cherish it, celebrate it.

"We celebrate them, because they are different and we love that," Behdazi said.

Junior Alina Tello is another Hispanic player on the team, born of both Mexican and Salvadoran descent. She plays on a club team in Jefferson and with her high school. The stark difference in diversity between the programs didn't go unnoticed by her, she said — she was one of maybe three Hispanic players on the former's roster. But that isn't overwhelming... she said she's used to it.

"I grew up in Lawrenceville, which is like 20 minutes from here and it's a very different environment," she said. "The part where I grew up, I was surrounded by loud Hispanic people basically. When I moved over here, it's very quiet. Right now, (in Lawrenceville) you'd be hearing people in their yards, music everywhere. Here, it's just very calm and it's smaller. I got used to that environment, and this one. Being around different people and learning how to act around different people, it's all something I grew into."

Senior Akosua Opoku was born in Ghana. Her parents immigrated to the States when she was an infant and she picked up her love of soccer from her dad. She's carrying a legacy that's crossed oceans.

"It's a lot more than myself," Opoku said. "It's a lot of people. There's a lot of history behind fútbol and all the people who go into it. It's very diverse, it keeps a lot of cultures alive. ... It keeps me (feeling) alive."

She said it's important to recognize the gray between the black and white that society has strongly polarized itself on in recent years. She said you can't just look at someone, or hear about someone, and assume you know them or blatantly stereotype them. You have to learn their lore, the five W's that made them who they are today.

"Soccer is the international language," Behdazi said. "You don't have to know what the other person is saying. It's just a ball and that ball can speak any language at once, as long as you're doing it together."

Sara Tidwell covers Athens-area high school sports and University of Georgia athletics for The Athens Banner-Herald. Contact her at stidwell@gannett.com and follow her @saramtidwell on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Apalachee girls soccer one of the more diverse rosters in Athens-area