Lorenzo Bacchetta '19 Recruiting Profile

Both my parents are scientists and their jobs have made me move around the world. First by being born in the US and afterwards by living in Italy and France. I’ve been in different schools in the US, Italy, France and Switzerland before I was eight years old.  This means I am lucky enough to be able to speak Italian, English and French. But these weren’t the only different cultures I have discovered and have lived with over the years. Playing soccer in a region on the border between two countries meant that I would be in teams made of international players such as Albanians, Italians and Portuguese in Switzerland but Moroccan, Congolese and Turkish in nearby France. Through all this I realized how easy it is for me to adapt to different people and what a great interest I have in different cultures. Being exposed to so many situations out of my comfort zone because of a language or culture barrier shaped the person I am today.

My love for soccer has always been present, more so because I lived the summer of 2006 in Italy after the victory in the World cup, going anywhere in town and seeing posters and flags made me feel so proud and made me find an even greater love to be part of the game. My first memory of playing soccer was at my  pre-school in Geneva, there was a soccer field and I remember every occasion I had I would go out there and play with my friends. Quickly I joined a local team in Switzerland. Looking back I see that I have played basically in all positions throughout my career; I started as goalkeeper (largely because my idol was Buffon, and I was quite good) then moving outwards as a central midfielder, full back, winger, offensive midfielder and striker. I do believe now that the variation of positions I played helped me gain a greater knowledge for the game.