MOSCOW, Idaho – Former Vandal soccer star, Kavita Battan, has inked her first professional contract, signing with Skovde KIK in the Swedish Football League Women's Division I.
 
"I've always wanted to play professionally, so once the opportunity came, I couldn't say no," Battan recalled.  "Like I said it's always been my dream to play.  And I got there, I'm here."
 
"I am so proud of Kavita and could not be happier for her to have this chance to realize her dream of playing professionally in Sweden," said Idaho soccer head coach Derek Pittman. "In the first ever meeting I had with her in 2014, she told me she wanted to play professional soccer after her career at Idaho, so to see this come true for her is really special. She is working extremely hard right now to prepare for her departure and get herself ready for this tremendous opportunity."
 
Battan will join the team in April, and will be one of four Americans on the squad.  Due to league rules in Sweden, Battan will be a member of the squad for three months, leaving the team at the summer break.  She's excited, but she knows that there is still plenty of work to do.
 
"I don't really want to overthink it," said Battan.  "I just want to be able to play my own game and do what I'm good at.  I'm already nervous enough as it is, just going there.  But I don't think it changes my mindset.  I've been playing for a ton of years now, so I don't want to completely change what I've been doing.  Obviously when I get there, it will be a bit of a mental game playing against professionals, but I don't want to get into my own head where I lose my game."
 
That was never an issue for Battan at Idaho.  She finished up her playing days with the Vandals in 2016, leaving the program with the fourth most goals, eighth most shots and ninth most assists in team history.  Battan was also a member of Idaho's history 2015 squad that set numerous school and conference records on the way to its first ever Big Sky Regular Season Championship, earning First Team All-Big Sky honors on the way.
 
"Not only is this awesome for Kavita but this is great for our program as well," said Pittman. "She will be the first ever Idaho Vandal to go on and play soccer at the professional level and it says a lot about the talent that we can attract here at Idaho and how we go about developing them into top players. Our coaches work extremely hard to cultivate an environment of challenging players to get better every day and this a tremendous example of that coming true. It takes a lot of courage to chase your dreams and dedication to put in the work to achieve them. We wish Kavita all the best in this new opportunity."
 
Now, as a pro, Battan will need to fine-tune her game in a short period of time to be prepared for the challenges ahead.
 
"When I was playing for Idaho is was more about strength," Battan said.  "I feel like now it's more about getting fit to keep up and working more on the soccer aspect of things.  I'm playing against professionals, so all of these girls are going to be more polished.  For me, the difference has been focusing more on the soccer side of things, tactical stuff, technical things, rather than the strength.  
 
"I've always been little.  I don't think it's going to change that much."
 
The process of signing also seemed like a quick one, taking just four days from first contact.  Connections from her experience playing for Team USA at the World University Games in Taiwan last summer helped with that.
 
"Two of my teammates from Taiwan also signed," said Battan.  "One signed right before me, and one signed last week, so I know two of the girls that will be on my team.  I'm pretty excited about that because I'm pretty close with one.  It will be nice to see a familiar face in Sweden.
 
"I've had an agent for quite some time now.  It's actually funny, because the day after I signed my agent sent me another team that was interested in me.  But this team, the president of the team had seen something about me and we got in contact through one of my teammates from Taiwan.  And it just kind of happened."
 
What's next from there remains to be determined.
 
"At one point in my life I thought it was time to hang up my cleats, but I already know that when I get to Sweden, and I start playing again, I'm going to want to continue going," Battan said.  "So I don't really want it to be a one-time thing.  I want to be able to establish myself, do well, get noticed, and keep going.  I don't think it's a trial, I think it's like a new beginning for me."