By Jay Ahuja

Football is probably the most popular sport in the United States, but it turns out Italians like it too.

Senior Marco Montani is a foreign exchange student from Italy, just outside of Rome. As soon as Marco registered at NNHS, he signed up for the football team.

“Football is the most beautiful sport in America, and I figured it is the best way to make friends too,” Montani said.

In an assembly of 3,500 students, he received a warm welcome from the crowd when his name was announced as one of four foreign exchange students in NNHS. The head coach of the huskies football team, Sean Drendel, also had good things to say about Montani.

“It’s great to have a kid from a different country on the team,” Drendel said. “Sometimes he doesn’t understand the plays and we have to slow it down, but it’s a great coaching experience and it’s great to have him here.”

Football is not common in Italy.  In fact, most people would think you were talking about soccer if you said anything about football. Montani didn’t even know the rules of football, much less any of the plays, but that was not going to stop him from learning everything there is to know about the game.

He only caught one pass for eight yards this season before injuring his shoulder in practice.

“I didn’t have any expectations for the season, and I didn’t know if I would even do very well. I just wanted to have the experience,” Montani said.

Football is a game of strength and competitiveness, but Montani also sees the other aspect of it.

“The football team is like a family; it teaches you to respect your opponents, share your emotions, and learn how to catch a ball.  Also, it keeps me from missing my own family so much.”

Apart from football, Montani also noticed that almost everything is better in America than it is in Italy.

“The school system there is horrible, while here it’s well organized. My old school in Italy had no school spirit at all, but here everyone participates and it’s just awesome,” Montani said.  “There is a lot of creativeness here, and no one really cares about all that in Italy. But the food here is terrible compared to Italy’s food, but otherwise America is just amazing.”

Italy is quite different than America, but according to Montani, the average family there is just like any family here.

“I live with my parents and my sister. They were all very supportive of my coming here,” he said.  “They knew this was my dream and a chance I might never get again in my life.”