Moving on to a higher level in competitive sports will always offer a challenge. From little league or youth athletics to high school, high school to college and college to pro, all of these transitions for athletes are accompanied by a rigorous attitude to adapt to the speed of the game that comes with the new territory.  
Freshman soccer forward Annebel ten Broeke has added moving to another country on that list.
 Born and raised in Amsterdam, she has only been used to her style of European soccer, which uses more brain than brawn and speed. 
“Soccer in Amsterdam might be more tactical and technical but less quick,” ten Broeke said. “We normally don’t push; we wait until they get in our zone. That is what we did back home.” 
Mississippi State University’s head soccer coach Aaron Gordon, who recruited ten Broeke through Skype sessions, said he believes she already has the experience to compete at the collegiate level. 
“Annebel comes from a soccer culture anyway,” Gordon said. “She lives it, breathes it every day. She lives in Amsterdam, and Ajax is one of the most famous clubs in the world. Her knowledge and game savvy-ness is beyond her years relative to the domestic players.”
Ten Broeke should have the knowledge of soccer, given her past. She has been selected to numerous Netherlands youth national team camps, and she even has played in a pair of games for the Netherlands national team when she was 15. 
Her experience gained by playing with the best young soccer players in Europe has flown over with her to the United States. She has accounted for two goals so far in the young season and leads the team with three assists.
Senior defender and co-captain Morganne Grimmes shared praise for ten Broeke’s passing skills. 
“She brings a different aspect to this team, and it has definitely increased everyone’s level of play because her touch is always amazing,” Grimmes said. “She finds these passes on the field that seem impossible, but with her it’s kind of like, ‘Well, you know it’s going to get through,’ so we don’t even worry about it.”
Off of the field, Annebel had to face another obstacle — moving from her native home of the Netherlands to the U.S. — and not just the U.S., but to Starkville.There is one thing every Mississippian knows about Mississippi summers — they are hot.
“I’m still not used to the heat,” ten Broeke said. “That’s going to take a while.”
She is not the only one who thinks the heat is brutal. To help ten Broeke, Grimmes recalled summers when every girl was struggling with the heat. 
“I think it was mentally hard (on ten Broeke) because of this heat and humidity she’s never experienced before, but she’s very strong,” said Grimmes. “She definitely pushed through and I think us supporting her saying, ‘We’re all dying, we’ve all been here,’ helped. I think she saw that she wasn’t the only one.”
Overall, ten Broeke said she likes the progress she has shown so far at MSU. 
“I still need to get used to the quickness of the game and the different culture,” ten Broeke said. “I’m used to the language now better than I was. That was a big aspect.”
Ten Broeke’s teammates were quick on trying to get the Netherlands native acquainted to the bustling lifestyle of living in Starkville.  However, even with good friends and soccer to lean on, ten Broeke said she still gets homesick.
“I think it’s just hard not to be around your family, good friends at home and just your own food and your own culture,” said ten Broeke. “It differs from moment to moment.”
She lives it, breathes it every day. She lives in Amsterdam, and Ajax is one of the most famous clubs in the world. Her knowledge and game savvy-ness is beyond her years relative to the domestic players.”
– Aaron Gordon, Mississippi State University’s head soccer coach