AIB'S irresistible soccer guys go viral

Without question, I love the AIB soccer guys. They’re good for AIB athletics, they’re good for AIB and they’re good for Des Moines.

Let me emphasize that I’m also a huge fan of the AIB women’s soccer team – and the volleyball team, the golf teams, the basketball teams, the bowling teams, the softball team, the baseball team, the dance team and the cheerleading team. But these soccer guys just make me smile.

As I walked to my office one morning last week, I encountered several of them leaving the City View Diner on campus. Before I even had a chance to offer a greeting, one of them smiled broadly and said, “Good morning! How are you today?” Not all young men bother to acknowledge people they don’t know, and it brightened my day.

Last year, the men’s team – led by head coach Brandon Ermels – made it to the semi-finals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference tournament. That’s not a bad feat for their first season of play.

They also led the MCC in number of men’s soccer student-athletes named to the Academic All-Conference Teams for the 2012-2013 year.

Last year’s squad included players from 15 countries:  the United States, Australia, Brazil, Bosnia, El Salvador, England, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Liberia, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. For most of those kids, there were no quick weekend trips home. So they made the AIB campus their home, entertaining themselves (and the crowds) by cheering wildly at home basketball games, being named Homecoming king or being elected members of the Homecoming court and “Mr. Irresistible” court.

On their game days, the soccer guys arrived at classes smartly dressed in shirts and ties – demonstrating that they’ll look good as business professionals someday.

Currently, they’re making a splash on YouTube.

Coach Ermels broke his teams into small groups to produce videos inspired by the Nike Joga Bonita commercials that were produced in conjunction with the 2006 World Cup. Joga Bonita is Portugese for “Play Beautiful,” so the AIB student-athletes filmed themselves doing their best tricks, stunts and juggling while passing a soccer ball around campus and past Des Moines landmarks.

“The videos showcase the school, the city and the program. The players all did a phenomenal job,” Ermels says.

This season, Justin Vorster, head coach of AIB's women’s soccer team, welcomes players from Brazil, Australia and South Africa, in addition to local talent from central-Iowa schools, including Bondurant-Farrar High School, Norwalk, Des Moines, Waukee and Perry. If they’re half as engaging as their male counterparts, they’ll represent AIB well, too.

The AIB men’s and women’s soccer teams kick off their 2013 schedule Aug. 24. Home games are played at James W. Cownie Soccer Park, 2600 Hartford Ave. in Des Moines.

Click on these links to view the AIB men’s soccer team’s Joga Bonita videos on YouTube: AIB soccer video No. 1; AIB soccer video No. 2; AIB soccer video No. 3; AIB soccer video No. 4.