Junior Malin Broberg hopes to make this season her best yet. The soccer forward is a quick start and a faster shooter.
Broberg, an international student from Stockholm, Sweden loves the game of soccer. Since she was a little girl her passion has been on the soccer pitch, where she practiced and grew up to be a leading collegiate player.
Broberg comes from a family of athletes. Her father is a retired coach of several Swedish football teams and her brother, Robin, is a professional player. Growing up around soccer has fueled her passion for the game.
Before coming to NSU, Broberg played for the Bonollstanas SK club soccer team and won the soccer Harlem Cup in 2004 and she also won the All-Tournament team award.
Lasted year Broberg was named Sunshine State Conference player of the week for the first time in her collegiate career. During the last two seasons, Broberg has had 32 starts. In her freshmen year, she totaled a high of 10 points and collected two game winning goals.
Her sophomore year was even more spectacular with a team high seven goals — becoming the leading goal scorer and racking up four assists that season. At the end of the season, Broberg was named to the All-Region Team in the SSC. The NSU vs. Tusculum game last season would be her best performance to date; Broberg assisted on the first score of the match and notched her first and second goals in the back and forth double overtime game against Tusculum. Broberg assisted or scored on three of the four Sharks (3-0) goals, in the 4-3 (2OT) win.
I sat down with Broberg and asked her a few questions:
What does soccer mean to you?
Soccer means everything to me. It always has since I was a little kid. It makes me happy. It is my passion. If I’m having a bad day, I can go on the pitch and let all my feelings out. It’s my escape you can say.
When did you start playing soccer?
I started playing when I was five. But it wasn’t my only sport. I was also a gymnast. Around the age of 10, I began to really get into soccer as my main sport and train daily with girls’ teams back home.
What are the differences between playing soccer in Sweden and playing soccer in the United States?
Playing soccer in Sweden, the game is more tactical, more technical and advanced at younger stages then in the U.S. Over here it’s a lot more athletic and fitness ordinated; also in the U.S. the sport is more open to female players than in Europe.
Do you think that professional women’s soccer will ever be on the same level as men’s professional soccer?
It really comes down to sponsorships and the support of fans. A lot of people think women’s soccer isn’t as exciting or as physical as men’s soccer, but that’s not right. If you ever watched games, the women’s teams put on better matches than the men do.
What are your favorite soccer teams and players?
Barcelona is my number one favorite team. I love them and the best player on Barca is Lionel Messi who I can’t get enough of.
