As Yoshiki Kitadai sat in the stands in Barcelona, Spain, watching international soccer star Lionel Messi compete for FC Barcelona against Real Madrid in one of the most iconic matches in world soccer, she realized that soccer was her passion, and she resolved to take her game to the next level. A graduate student hailing from Tosashimizu, a city located in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, Kitadai began playing soccer at a young age. But living in the countryside meant facing unique challenges—the only teams to compete with were predominantly male. Kitadai, often the only girl on the team, refused to let that challenge hold her back and began looking for opportunities after high school to play soccer in the United States.
After two years at Iowa Western Community College, Kitadai transferred to Indiana University for one semester before finishing her degree at Marshall University. From there, she came to The Citadel, where she is pursuing a graduate certificate in student affairs as well as a master’s degree in health and human performance.
As part of an educational practicum for her graduate certificate program, Kitadai began working as an athletics advisor in the Student Success Center, where she could put her unique combination of athletic experience and higher education leadership to good use. She helps student-athletes manage their academic coursework, often working with freshmen and sophomores who are still adjusting to the structured demands of the military lifestyle and college athletics.
Kitadai, as a student-athlete herself, knows how difficult it can be to balance sports and academic demands. “When I was an undergraduate, I went to classes, but I didn’t plan well for assignments. It’s easy to fall behind,” said Kitadai. “I feel that because of my own experience, I can understand the individual students. I was there, I was them.” Kitadai helps students develop academic and time-management strategies to stay on track.
Intent on continuing to play soccer for The Citadel while advancing her education, Kitadai is balancing graduate coursework with athletic commitments. For this student-athlete, both athletic performance and educational development continue to take center stage.