Working with the opposite sex can oftentimes be complicated. But for two men involved with the Iowa soccer team, their relationships with the players couldn’t be better.

Ivan Sanchez and David Kryger both help out the Hawkeyes and fourth-year head coach Ron Rainey. Sanchez, 27, is a volunteer assistant, and Kryger, 21, is a team manager.

Besides Rainey and assistant coach Shane Meredith, Sanchez and Kryger are the only other men working with the team on a daily basis. Each has his own perspective on what being a part of a female athletic team as a male is like.

“The girls can play the game the same as the guys,” Sanchez said. “The obvious difference is speed and strength. To me, it’s not much different from working with the men. I think maybe they play a little different, but the level of competition is still the same.”

Kryger, a senior studying sports medicine, said he believes the difference between men’s and women’s soccer comes down to mentality.

“[Women] think of the game just as well as men do, but there’s definitely a different component,” Kryger said. “It’s different because I have to look at things from [a woman’s] view.”

Born in Mexico City, Sanchez came to Iowa during the summer after finishing a swimming career at Southern Illinois. Coaching the Hawkeyes has been a thrill for him, and he has learned a lot from the team and the coaching staff.

After graduating from Omaha Papillion-LaVista High School, Kryger had several offers from small colleges to play soccer. Instead, he chose Iowa for its academics.

Missing soccer his freshman year, he jumped at the chance to get involved with the game again. Seeing the Hawkeye program grow during his three years has been gratifying to him.

Both Sanchez and Kryger scrimmage against the women to give the team different looks during practice, something Sanchez said is good for the team.

“It’s not the same playing with just girls than having a guy right there who could be a lot stronger and maybe a little faster,” Sanchez said. “In the Big Ten, there are girls that are strong and fast.”

Players say practicing with the men prepares them for tough opponents.

“When they play with us, we always have to be playing our best defense because they’re good and bigger than us,” junior Keli McLaughlin said. “It’s always great to have as much help as possible.

Having another set of eyes give us another view of what we’re doing well and what can be done better.”

Rainey said Sanchez and Kryger have been valuable assets to the team in many ways.

“Ivan has done a great job with the team. He also gets good feedback during games from being able to watch the game and give the coaches some thoughts on things he sees that are going well or not going well. David helps out the team with film, and he has done a nice job as far as taking on some of the administrative things of practice.”

The two also have something in common. They both want to be head coaches in the future.

After going through soccer-less periods in their life, neither is ready to give up the game again.

“I’m trying to learn what it is to coach soccer here in the U.S.,” Sanchez said. “Although I have a swimming background, soccer is the sport I love the most.”