While the Garmisch trio of Tyler Brown, Kevin Durr and Jimmy Reed will be testing their skills at the top rung of college athletics, opportunities exist at all levels for DODDS-Europe athletes.
Just recently, for example, Justin Battley of Hohenfels signed to play NCAA Division III basketball at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, this coming season, and Aubree Reichel of Wiesbaden agreed to play soccer for Indiana Tech of the NAIA.
But by far the destination of choice for DODDS athletes is the University of Dubuque in Iowa, a Division III school that recruits heavily among the military communities in Europe and the Pacific.
“Since the fall 2001 semester, nearly 200 DODDS graduates have attended the University of Dubuque,” UD associate admissions director Bob Broshous e-mailed recently. “There are an average of 80 DODDS graduates attending UD each year. Many have participated in sports.”
DODDS-Europe athletes who signed UD letters of intent for the upcoming school year, according to Broshous, included football players Zachary Cooney of AFNORTH, Christopher Ellis of Mannheim, Ryan England of SHAPE, Timothy Marshall of Kaiserslautern and Brandon Vigil of Brussels. Marshall also plans to run track for UD.
Those trying out for soccer this season include Jeremy Carrico of AFNORTH, Loisann DeLass of Hohenfels, Jeff Hartke of Mannheim, Alex Herb of Sigonella, Dominik Jones of Bamberg, Pamela O’Brien of Mannheim, Samantha Oberlin of Hohenfels, Lucas Salerno of Hohenfels and Jaime Strobel of AFNORTH.
Cornellia Notarianni of SHAPE and Jessica Serd of Lakenheath have signed for volleyball, with Serd also opting to play softball, Broshous reported.
In addition, he said, Aviano’s Kareem Williams signed to play basketball and Bamberg’s Trevor Callahan will be playing tennis, while Jonathan Klinner and Christopher Williams, both of Heidelberg, will try to earn spots on the UD baseball team.
For a list of prominent past and present University of Dubuque athletes who are DODDS-Europe grads, see the Europe Sports Blog here.
