On the last day of match play, Tim took a group of 8 girls to play in Klagenfurt, Austria against their InterLiga Team, ATSC Sparkasse Klagenfurt. On the way we stopped in Bled, Slovenia to tour the town and we ate lunch at a quaint little restaurant. The girls took this opportunity to ask Tim about the realities about playing professionally in Europe. While we all wish for the fairy-tale experience, we soon realized that it¹s more about the opportunity of living abroad and connecting with the culture and people to create a unique chapter in our lives. Even though volleyball is a vital aspect of the experience, it is also often simply the vehicle used to gain an opportunity that so few people have.
Throughout the tour we played in many facilities, saw many cities and interacted with all different types of people. This was important because it allowed us to assess the culture that surrounded us as well as use it as a trial run for playing (and more importantly, living) overseas. A few girls realized after attending the Exposure Tour that this was not the lifestyle they had envisioned, while others who were previously questioning their commitment fell in love with the Europe and solidified their plans to play in upcoming seasons.
The Exposure Tour as a whole is an experience unlike any other. It allows you to familiarize yourself with the European way of life before diving into something that is ultimately a life-changing experience. Over the past few weeks I have come to realize the rewards of playing abroad. While it is challenging to be away from family and friends and the luxuries of home, it is also a way to grow as a person. Being thrust into another culture with a different language and lifestyle allows you to have a life experience that is very unique and also very rewarding. As competitive volleyball players, we are all privileged enough to have a skill set that can open so many doors. This tour is an amazing opportunity to explore the possibility of expanding your horizons by playing in Europe.
Tim's Addition: Since the match wasn't until 8:00pm and we greatly overestimated the drive time to Klagenfurt, we ended up having some free time in the city to shop, and also to have some pre-game pizza and talk even more about what it really means to play overseas. Most of the girls in this group weren't free to play until next season, so it was nice to really have the full 10 days for them to learn about Europe and the various possibilities of playing next year. I believe we won the match in 4, but as Klagenfurt was in the middle of important InterLiga and CEV matches they didn't really have their stars in the whole time. Many thanks to Coach Helli for even making the match a possibility. After the match we had about a 3 hour drive to Venice and our beds for the night. It seemed like a good idea to check out Udine on the way (the first real city we'd pass in Italy) so we pulled into the center around midnight to find a snack and some vino rosso. It was the weekend so we were in luck, and not only got to check out the 'centro storico' but also got some good Italian pizza a few more memories...
The rest of the group spent the morning in Izola with some free time to visit this beautiful little seaside town, and then spent a few hours in Piran, one of Slovenia's many hidden gems. In the evening, they again split into two teams to play the OK Koper 1st Division Team and their Junior Team. From there it was dinner and then off to Venice for the night...
Our last day of tour was a totally free day in Venice. The girls had bus passes to get onto the island from our hotel and from what I heard, most of them spent a full day out there enjoying the sites and eating glorious Italian food. I'm hoping someone writes me a journal entry so that I can take this short paragraph down. It really was a nice day to be in this gem of an Italian city...
We closed with a big late Italian family-style meal at Crazy Pizza near the hotel, and it was nice to have a big private room to have some fun and bring closure to the tour.
This was a frustrating year for everyone as the economy is certainly taking its toll on European clubs. We had less openings and offers than in the past, and offers on the table have generally been lower all year. Clubs that have had great track records over the years are falling to bankruptcy or other financial issues, and its harder and harder to find teams for mid-level players. There are still spots out there, but they're tougher to come by and offering less money than we've come to expect. It was a shame to have a few girls head home that would have easily been placed in passed years. Fingers crossed that things get better soon.
Many thanks to everyone on the tour. We had two wonderful coaches and people in Kyle Robinson (Long Island University) and Kirstine Jensen (Northwestern University) as well as a lovely group of young women that were actually much more well behaved than many of their predecessors. Thank you.
As of this writing, we have the following players with teams:
Ashlee FISHER, signed with Sollentuna VK, Sweden
Savannah NOYES & Quincy VERDIN, signed with Doprastav Bratislava, Slovakia
Mira DURIC, signed with HPK Naiset Liiga, Finland
Jessica HOHL, signed with Miranda del Ebro, Spain
Brynn MURPHY, is training with Volley Lugano, Switzerland
Bianca GOROSPE, is training with TV Villingen, Germany
Justine BURKHARDT, signed to play with Melk, Austria for the '10-'11 Season
Hopefully we have a few more last minute placements for a few more of the girls that came to stay...
"Jessica Hohl in Miranda del Ebro with her President and Board"
:
"Quincy Verdin, Rese McNatt, and Savannah Noyes after the Bratislava vs. Maribor InterLiga Match shortly after the tour" |
