March Exposure Tour 2006
Spain, March 10-20, 2006
Cordoba, By Addie Thiry (Rutgers)
After playing in Avila we took their bus to Cordoba where we would play Cajasur Cordoba: a team that ended up in 13th place (of 14) and are now moving down to Liga FEV = 2nd Division. You’ll learn the tiers better as you go along, but this would be the equivalent of a second level team turning into a third.
This team also had an American player named Ashley Pederson who went to Penn State. We always played a team with at least one American player and it’s interesting because we’d go around and say where we’ve played and it would turn out that we’ve played each other before in different tournaments and things back in the states or we knew each others’ teammates, etc. It brings the whole experience into perspective.
Tim would talk about how a lot of players think that playing in Europe or other countries overseas is a step up from wherever they’ve played in the states, but that’s not always the case. Of course, there are a lot of tough, dedicated teams in Europe, but there are also teams that are the same kind of competition that you would see in the States, as well as teams that aren’t as difficult to play against.
Another thing that I hadn’t thought about is that a lot of the players on the European teams are harder on you as a teammate than what you’d be used to. That’s because this is their life and their job, whereas US players tend to stay for a couple of years just for the experience and get to come back home when they’re finished playing, ready to do other things with their lives. It’s not that all teammates are hard on the US players, or that US players aren’t competitive enough, but it’s something to consider when playing on a foreign team.
On a different note, we stayed in a hotel in Cordoba that we were excited about because it had a pool and we hadn’t been able to lay outside or anything yet. Unfortunately it was under construction, so we just hung out until the taxis came to pick us up for the match.
I basically had the same roommate, Erin, for the whole trip although we did switch it up for one night and I don’t know how she slept without me. But it was nice because all of the players on the trip got along and we could mix it up a bit and things were good.
Just a little note about some of the hotels that may help though is that some of the rooms come with an extra keycard which made no sense until you walked into a dark room and couldn’t turn on the lights. Erin and I figured out that you slip the card into a slot in the wall and the electricity works. Maybe some people knew that already, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Also, some of the windows are covered by metal sheets with holes cut in them, which I still have no idea how to open, so good luck with that.
Playing in Cordoba was exciting because we played in a large gym with hardwood floors and the atmosphere reminded me of a college game. We had warm-up music, which was nice because that’s what most of us are used to and I think the game was televised (Editor’s Note: The other team filmed the game and the local news came and took some highlights for the news).
One thing that’s different about warm-ups, and which is true for everywhere we played, is that both teams warm up together which means hitting at the same time. This was strange for me because it limits what swings you can warm up with, but you could get used to it.
I think we played well against the team. Throughout the whole trip, I think we could have played better together and won a lot more than we did, but overall, I think we found a way to play together. It's frustrating to be so used to winning and playing and have to step back and let whatever happens happen because in the end, we’re individuals on an Exposure Tour, not a well practiced team in competition.
We did end up losing to Cajasur Cordoba , but that night made up for it. We ended up going out for a great dinner with the president/coach of the team and Ashley and ate a huge 5-course meal. The meals really were endless pretty much everywhere we went in Spain and we always knew we’d get some kind of ham prepared at least 3 different ways along with bread and cheese. Actually, we ate ham, bread and cheese at basically every meal, but it was really good food and conversation was lively and we all got to know each other a little better that night.
After dinner, we split up and while some waited for a taxi to go back to the hotel after taking a walk around the Mezquita (which is a mosque in Cordoba City) others went out with Ashley, and others took their own tour around the city. We always had the chance to go off on our own and see what life may be like for us in each city we visited, which was nice. I would recommend looking into what things there are to see wherever you may be going because having an idea of what their might be to do saves some time and is easier to ask about in Spanish.
Luckily, we had Kristen who came prepared and acted like a little pocket tour guide. Overall, each city had something different to offer and Cordoba was one of the larger cities and seemed like an interesting place to live and an exciting place to play.
