LA JOLLA, Calif. – If you've attended any UC San Diego men's soccer games this season, you couldn't have missed the scholar athlete defending nearly every goal.
Dominic Peters, a Wake Forest University graduate, decided to continue his academic career here in La Jolla. Peters was accepted and admitted into the International Affairs master's program at the School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS) with one goal in mind: determining the role sports play in the political sphere within Latin America. I had the pleasure of speaking with Peters one-on-one to learn more about his goals and experiences as a newly welcomed Triton.
Peters has played soccer his entire life. As one of the only white teammates on his first soccer team as a child, he felt it necessary to learn Spanish. He wished to communicate clearly with his Latino and Latina peers, and mutually enjoy the environment and experience of playing soccer. After attaining a level of fluency in Spanish, he realized how important his conversations with his Latino teammates were in discovering and pursuing his passion. Peters expressed that his experience as a soccer player has provided him a "unique rapport" among others considering pursuing the same field of research. His insider perspective on the soccer playing community allows him to take a personal approach to his work, and while he admitted he has an unchanging outsider role as a white male interested in studying the Latin American population, his experience in the world of soccer will give him the ability to relate in many ways others won't be able to.
Much of Latin America connects strongly to the sport of soccer, but Peters has a narrowed attraction to research the connection between sports in politics within Argentina. "When I was younger, in 2016, there was something called the 'Copa Americas' in California," Peters recalled. "All these teams from South America—from Argentina to Colombia, from Chile to Bolivia—came up and had these games. I, at the time, was training with, or playing for, a team called the San Jose Earthquakes, and Argentina, the national team, called up my technical director and said, 'Hey. We need a goalkeeper to train. One of our goalies is injured.' So, I was able to have the unique opportunity to be able to train with that national team for about a week with all the big names like Messi, Aguero, and Di Maria."
During his once-in-a-lifetime experience training with professionals who are idolized and respected in soccer, more conversations arose, feeding his pre-existing hunger to explore the soccer-political relationship in Argentina.
Now, in a completely new setting from his east coast alma mater, he continues to learn and grow as a Triton among his teammates and coaches. "I almost feel like I've been here for more [time] than I have been, just by the quality and quantity of relationships at UCSD," Peters said. "From my teammates to the coaching staff, even the media personnel, it's all been super, super positive. In a couple short months, I feel like I've found my new home."
Peters described his favorite aspect of participating on the Triton soccer team as the feeling of being a part of something bigger. After speaking with Peters, it became clear that he holds a strong love for the sport and has settled comfortably into Triton territory with fun and supportive teammates, as well as outstanding facilities and coaches to train with. During his time here at UC San Diego, Peters hopes to utilize his first-hand soccer background in becoming a good listener and empathetic learner in his aspiration to discover a relationship between soccer, politics, and Argentinian culture in his master's program.
So, if you have plans to attend men's soccer games as they wrap up their 2021 season, keep your eyes out for number thirty by the goal post as Peters continues to defend the Triton name while diving deeper into the integration of soccer in Argentina.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
