DeKALB | Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to watch a few college soccer matches is not something expected of the average fan. But when the goalkeeper on one of the teams is your daughter, traveling any distance to watch her play is worth every mile.

That is the opinion of the Carr family, whose daughter Amy is a freshman on the NIU women’s soccer team. Father David, mother Daryl and sister Hannah arrived in DeKalb on Sept. 23 and departed two weeks later.

After traveling nearly 4,000 miles from their home in Hemel Hempstead, England, the Carrs had time to do some sightseeing while Amy is in class. David has been to the United States several times, but Daryl and Hannah made their first trip.

“It’s been great,” Hannah said a few days after arriving. “The weather’s been changing so Thursday [Sept. 23] we spent on the beach at Lake Michigan, swimming in the lake. Sunday [Sept. 26] it’s woolly hats and coats. But we’re used to the cold from England, so it’s great. We’re enjoying it.”

Amy said the trip was arranged so that the family would have several opportunities to see her play. The Huskies completed a three-game home stand that the Carrs were in attendance for. Though they have been watching Amy play the entire season via the Internet, in person is much better.

“We’ve been watching the games on the Internet, with one camera [angle],” David said. “It’s difficult for us because we’ve watched her for eight or nine years. We’ve been to virtually every game playing for different teams in England. For us not to see her is a bit odd.”

Amy is appreciative that after having her family see the team in-person as they will fully understand what she has been trying to tell them about the team’s performance.

“I’m sitting there on Skype trying to explain how we’re playing, what we’re doing wrong, what we’re doing right,” Amy said. “For them to see it and get their own perspective, it makes me feel better about what I’m saying, and it agrees with what they’re saying. It’s good to agree with someone.”

Amy’s family has been watching her play since she was 10 years old and could tell early on that she had talent in the sport.

“I think after a few years when she’d been playing from 10, 11, 12, it was obvious she could play,” David said. “At that time she also played golf quite well, so she had to make a choice between one sport and the other. She chose soccer.”

When Amy initially decided to join the sport at the age of 10, her position as goalkeeper came about not through desire, but necessity. The boys’ team she joined needed a goalkeeper, not a striker like she had been practicing for.

“I went along, had all my shin pads, nice boots and was ready to smash some goals, but then the manager told me I’d be in goal,” Amy said. “I thought, OK, I can’t really argue against it, I’m the only girl. So from that point me and my dad went over to the local field so I didn’t look too bad for the first year. I didn’t do too bad, had a few compliments here and there, so I pushed on from there.”

Amy has been working on improving her skills ever since. Now that she is on the other side of the ocean, she has had to adjust to the style of play in the United States and combine it with the life of a college student.

“Amy has a great vision for the game, and she’s done very well to adapt to the college game here in America,” NIU head coach Carrie Barker said. “The game is very different in England. She’s done a great job just adapting not only soccer, but school, the team, weather. There’s so much change.”

Having her family around for two weeks reminded Amy of home, but it may be the last time she will get that feeling if her dad has anything to say. When asked if the family will come back to see Amy again, he joked, “once is enough.”