Beyond the Horizon: Romain Lopez
Kobe Mosley
At 18 years old,
Romain Lopez came to America with one dream: to play soccer at the Division I level. However, his inability to understand English made it difficult for him to pass the necessary marks it takes for international student-athletes to play at that level.
Fast-forward to present day, Lopez not only accomplished that goal by playing soccer for Purdue Fort Wayne, but he now serves as a color commentator for the university’s soccer programs and has leveraged what he learned during his time there to jumpstart his career in the professional world.
Since Lopez was initially unable to reach the Division I level when he came to the United States, he began his collegiate career at Lenoir-Rhyne University, a small Division II school in North Carolina. Lopez made the best of his time there, but it did not come without struggles.
“At first, just being able to talk and express myself was a bit difficult,” Lopez said. “But then as soon as it clicked, I was able to pick it up, and I said, ‘now I'm gonna to get the best grades, I'm gonna try to build a life here [in the U.S.]’”
After two years under his belt at Lenoir-Rhyne, Lopez decided he wanted to take another shot at his dream of playing Division I level. Once he successfully received a release from his current program prior to the 2017 season – back before the transfer portal became what it is today – the first call he received was from former Purdue Fort Wayne men’s soccer coaches Mike Harper and Bronn Pfeiffer.
Choosing to be a Mastodon was quite literally a no-brainer for Lopez. Literal in the sense that it took him less than a few minutes to commit.
“After a minute of being on the phone call, I said yes…it was the perfect opportunity, I couldn’t say no,” Lopez said.
Lopez played midfielder for the Mastodons during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
It wasn’t just the soccer that drew him in either. The opportunity to explore a larger campus and city, travel to major cities for games, and earn a high-level education were all factors that aided in making what Lopez still considers “the best decision I have made.”
Reminiscing on what his time as a student-athlete was like, Lopez relishes “being a part of a team, a group, representing something bigger than you, representing Purdue Fort Wayne.” These skills and experiences continue to stick with him, as Lopez credits his time as a student-athlete for preparing him for life in the professional world, drawing comparison between the two.
“At the end of the day, you’re still trying to win,” Lopez said. “You have some opponents against you, you know…you have some pressure, some deadlines, and you have to make sure you do the right thing and be ready when those times happen so you can get everything done. If you play sports, you’re used to it and you’re ready for when you enter your professional life.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management in 2019, Lopez decided to continue his education, pursuing his MBA in business analytics at Purdue Fort Wayne. To supplement his time as a student, Lopez worked as a graduate assistant for the School of Business and an assistant coach on the men’s soccer team.
As a member of the coaching staff during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Lopez was able to use a skill that he discovered and honed while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic: sports analytics. Combining his love for sports and expertise in acquiring analytics, Lopez spent his free time watching YouTube videos and signing up for different webinars that showed him the best tools and methods for collecting and presenting data. This came in handy when pitching his services to current head coach Stephen Gorton, who was entering his first season as the program’s leader.
“You understand it as a coach, what you see on the field, training in the games, but you don't see everything,” Lopez remembers saying to Gorton. “You can't see everything because you're in charge of so much, but with the data, you can have a different approach.”
This opportunity turned out to pay dividends for Lopez on and off the pitch. Following his time in graduate school, Lopez was able to show off his skills in sports analytics during an interview for his current position – a robotics process automation developer at Franklin Electric.
“I took my laptop and showed them everything I did, even though it's unrelated,” Lopez said. “They were like, ‘oh, okay, we love that.’ And that's how I got the job. So what I did for sports, and at Purdue Fort Wayne, helped me land the job in the end.”
Lopez continues to keep his hand in the sports world with his previously mentioned role as a color commentator for Mastodons soccer. His analytics background provides him with a different viewpoint, allowing him to “see the bigger picture” behind certain decisions that coaches make. As he continues to call more games, Lopez also finds new appreciation for everything that goes behind the scenes.
Lopez calls a Purdue Fort Wayne women's soccer match with fellow broadcaster John Nolan.
“The thing I didn't know when I was a player is so many people are involved in the background,” Lopez said. “The production crew commentating, the people who work day to day, the game day people, it's huge, so many people are involved. And as a player, you don't know that. You're just focused on your game and kind of forget what's going on around you. So I didn't know that, and I'm so impressed.”
Going forward, Lopez plans to keep learning new ways to leverage his skills in sports analytics. As he keeps learning and growing in his current career, one day, he hopes to put more focus to his interest in sports analytics and share the tools he has created with sports teams who don’t have the resources to invest in analytical databases. The professional career that Lopez has created may be different than what his 18-year-old self envisioned, but it’s one he would be proud of.