From England to Bloomington

For freshman Kelly Lawrence, football was a way of life growing up.\n"I played football since I was 5 years old," Lawrence said. "As soon as I touched the ball, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I just kept on playing for the love of the game, and it's just gone from there."\nLawrence has followed her dream, and it has landed her halfway across the world in a country where football is a sport with a pigskin ball. What Lawrence knows as football, her new teammates know as soccer.\nLawrence left her home in England, where she played for the U-17 and U-19 national teams, as well as two top teams in the English Premier League. She landed in Bloomington, where she is a starting defender for the Hoosiers as a freshman.\n"You take a significant step in your life by making that kind of choice," said IU coach Mick Lyon, who, like Lawrence, left England to pursue a soccer career in the United States. "I made mine a little later at age 21, and she's made her's just as she's turned 18. I think she's more mature at 18 than I was."\nLawrence said she originally thought about coming to the United States to play at age 14, when she heard about the professional league here.\n"I started talking to coaches when I was 14," Lawrence said. "I was planning to come over here when I was 16 but decided I wasn't quite ready. I took two years away from home training every day, and when I got to 18, I realized this is the time to come over here."\nLawrence joins a starting defense that features another freshman, Jessica Boots, junior Jenna Babcock and senior Lauren Lamping. \nLamping said Lawrence has brought a lot of confidence to the Hoosiers' defensive core.\n"It's been great to have her on defense because she's so quick," Lamping said. "And one-on-one battles, it's great because I always know she's going to win them. So that's great for the confidence of the rest of the backfield, just knowing they can rely on her."\nThe Hoosiers are hoping Lawrence's experiences playing for the English national teams and the EPL teams will help them out when it comes to Big Ten play.\n"Already in games I feel like I'm starting to bring in a few things from my international experience," Lawrence said, "such as the time management -- when we need to keep the ball, when we need to lead the ball and not just kick it back to the players."\nLamping said the experiences Lawrence had should make her ready to face teams in the Big Ten, one of the elite conferences in the nation.\n"I think it's just brought a wealth of knowledge, to the back especially," Lamping said about Lawrence's experiences on the national team. "Just playing these tough opponents and ranked teams, especially going into Big Ten games with them, although she's a freshman, she's been in these high-pressure situations before."\nLawrence said she didn't know what to expect when she came to the United States to play, so nearly everything to her was a culture shock.\n"Every day is a new experience for me," Lawrence said. "I love learning about this culture and Indiana. I'm just enjoying every day."\nBut one of the things that Lawrence said has made the transition easier is knowing that Lyon, as well as IU assistant coach Ian Rickerby, both grew up in England and were able to make a soccer career for themselves in the United States.\n"It sort of helps knowing those people have been there, done the same sort of things you've done in the same country as you," Lawrence said about her two English coaches. "I sort of feel like because they're here, I feel a little bit more at home because they're from the same country. I can understand them so that helps."\nLyon joked that his biggest piece of advice to Lawrence about making the transition was to "get over here."\n"The two times I saw her play, I knew she was a heck of a player," the coach said.\nLyon said he did advise Lawrence about the many opportunities she would have playing in America.\n"But the biggest opportunity is coming over here and getting an education at Indiana University and playing Big Ten soccer and college soccer," he said.