Looking out onto the soccer pitch at Baujan Field and seeing Batoul patrolling their net ― Monday she was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week after shutting out Illinois on Sunday and holding Louisville to one goal three days prior — gives the Flyers a sense of belief and confidence.
But seeing Saada come in from Dearborn, Michigan, carrying platters and bowls of food brings a sense of mouth-watering anticipation.
Both of Batoul’s parents came to America from Lebanon. While many now know Saada as a longtime special education teacher in Dearborn, the Flyers know her best for her food.
“My mom brings homemade food every time she comes for a game,” Batoul said.
Even though school just opened and she’s back teaching sixth, seventh and eighth graders, Saada had time before her three-hour drive Sunday to make a big tray of hummus for the team and bring baklawa (the Lebanese version of baklava).
“Everyone loves it,” Batoul said.
For a team banquet a while back, Saada brought a large platter of rice and meat — lamb she’d cooked for 10 hours — along with Fattoush, and spinach and meat pies.
“And I made this vegetable kamouneh, a big batch of it, and I swear to God, there was nothing left,” Saada said with a hint of pride in her voice. “They ate it all.”
Along with giving the Flyers some super goalkeeping — she made the A-10 All-Rookie team last season and currently leads the league’s goalkeepers in saves — the 18-year-old Batoul is also quietly introducing the team to some of her Lebanese traditions and culture.
“I embrace my Lebanese roots 100 percent,” she said. “I’m proud of where I come from. Dearborn is the most highly-populated Arab city in the nation and I definitely lean back on that — on my family and my community — for their support.”
She speaks Arabic and is a practicing Muslim, which meant during Ramadan last spring, she adhered to the month of fasting (no food or drink) during daylight hours. During that time, the Flyers played four spring games.
“I might get up at 4 a.m., before sunrise, and have a small meal,” she said. “But over time my body has gotten used to it and at the end of the day, you feel really good. It’s not like you’re suffering. You’re cleansing your body and doing something for a bigger purpose. God gives you the strength you need.”
Saada said she’s stressed to each of her four daughters that while it’s good to embrace “your heritage,” she’s also told them how this country gave her an identity and opportunity
“I came here when I was 16 years old,” she said. At the time, she spoke Arabic and French. “I learned English in two months, got an education and have been a teaching a long time since.”
Batoul recounted a story her mother often has told her:
“When she came from Lebanon, she went to Fortson High School in Dearborn, the same school I graduated from.
“She said the first day she went to school, she walked into math class and they were taking a test. Her professor said, ‘No you don’t have to take it. You just got here!’
‘But she said, ‘No, I’d like to take it.’ And she ended up scoring higher than all the other students. The academics in Lebanon were very good and she just used what she learned there. And I think when she experienced that, she felt more comfortable here.”
That dedication to academics is something Saada has stressed to all her daughters.
The two older ones are both accomplished in their fields.
Nesreen, who has a Doctor of Education degree, is an assistant principal of a Dearborn elementary school. Zeinab, a former newspaper reporter, is a digital media specialist for the city of Dearborn. And the youngest daughter, Hiba, is a freshman at Henry Ford College.
Batoul, who was named to A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (which salutes academic excellence) last season, is majoring in political science and plans on becoming a lawyer.
‘I loved the pressure’
Family is a big thing to her, Batoul said:
“I grew up playing every sport you can think of with my cousins in the backyard of my grandma’s house. That’s where I developed my competitive edge, trying to be better than the boys.”
Her mom said Batoul began playing organized sports at age 6 or 7 and while she excelled in soccer, she showed a real talent in basketball, too.
“The way she moves on the court, you would love it,” Saada said. In high school she scored 41 points on one game and broke the school record. By the time she was done, she’d broken two or three records.
Batoul’s real passion, though, was in soccer and although she started out as a forward, she moved to goalkeeper when her rec league team’s regular netminder didn’t make a game.
Her coach asked her to fill in, but at first, she said she hesitated:
“I was afraid. The ball comes at you. I didn’t want to get hit in the face.”
But as that first game progressed, she said fervor replaced the fear:
“I loved the pressure. I liked that it all lay on me. And I loved being able to direct my teammates.”
She said her first scholarship offer came from Indiana University when she was a freshman.
“I decided to reject it because I was just so young and I wanted to go through more of the recruiting process,” she said.
But the COVID pandemic hit at the end of her sophomore season and everything shut down. Games were cancelled. She couldn’t visit schools and college coaches couldn’t come see her.
“I didn’t have any offers going into my junior year,” she said.
Dayton knew of her and stayed in contact via Zoom calls. She took a virtual tour of campus and then drew on the insights of Kyra Karfonta and Marin Wessner, who played with her on the Michigan Jaguars club team and had previously visited the UD campus and taken part in Flyers soccer camps.
Karfonta and Wessner became Flyers and so did Batoul, who committed without ever setting foot on the campus.
When she finally was able to visit, she went to a basketball game at UD Arena, experienced the roar of over 13,000 Flyer Faithful and said she was further sold:
“I made the right decision.”
Saada said while she knew Dayton was a private, Catholic college, she believed her daughter would fit in.
“I was raised in Lebanon, where there was a mix of Christians and Muslims. We were open to each other. They celebrated our holidays and we celebrated there’s. My Christian friends used to come to the mosque and I would go to their church on Easter. We celebrated Christmas.
“We appreciated each other.”
‘Playing beyond her years’
Batoul took the field for the Illinois game dressed in her black goalkeeper’s uniform, above-the-knee black socks and had her long black hair twisted into a lone braid that hung down to the small of her back.
She wears her hair the same way every game, just as she believes she must put on her cleats and shin guards in the same sequence — right one always first — before taking the field.
“If I forget, I take a mental break, take them off and start over the right way,” she said with a shrug and a laugh “If I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll play bad.”
Whatever she’s doing, it works.
“She’s playing beyond her years,” said UD head coach Eric Golz.
She gave up just one goal in each of the Flyers’ first three games — victories over Loyola Maryland, Cincinnati, and Louisville, where she had a career-high nine saves.
Sunday afternoon against Illinois, she made six saves, including a leaping deflection of a free kick by the Illini’s Makena Silber in the first half.
She said she feels this year’s team, which is 3-0-1 and plays at Akron Thursday night and at Wright State on Sunday, is “special.”
“We were a good team last year, but this year, I feel a different connection. Last year we were one goal shy of making the NCAA Tournament. This year we plan to make it. We’re all bought in.”
Saada agrees with her daughter when it comes to UD.
“She loves it, I love it. Absolutely. From every aspect — from the teachers, the coaches, her teammates, the people she lives with in her apartment — she loves every aspect of UD, yes.
“I’m glad she’s here.”
And Batoul’s teammates feel the same about her when she shows up bearing hummus, Fattoush and her heartfelt, cross-culture embrace.
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