Player Perspective by Alicia Nelson (Stony Brook, 2011)
After two days of playing in front of coaches on the August Fire Sale Camp in Maribor, Nick and Cory told me that there were two teams interested in me. But one was a lower level, and the other had organizational issues that were raising some red flags, so we decided not to pursue those. But the next day, Cory and Nick told me that a team from Brussels, Belgium was interested in me, and I couldn’t wait to go on that tryout!
The next day I flew to south France, where the Belgium team had been in a training camp. The team was staying at the manager’s beautiful vacation home in Plan de la Tour. My first day with the team started off at the beach in Sainte Maxime with a Jet Ski tour of the Golfe de Saint Tropez, followed by a waterfront breakfast, it was amazing! We trained twice per day, with a fun activity each day as well, including pro golf lessons, team bonding challenges, pool/beach time, and a night out in the famous Saint Tropez.
After being with them for a week, loving it, and them telling me they liked what they saw, I thought that this was my team. The morning that we were packing up to drive back to Brussels, Belgium, the manager and trainer said they would discuss my contract with me. To my surprise, they told me that they liked what they saw, but the team didn’t look as good in the training week as they had hoped, so they want to buy a couple new players instead of one, and I didn’t fit into that new plan. I was shocked, with a mix of anger and panic. The tour was almost over, and I had just “wasted” 5 days with a team that didn’t want me! I called Nick and asked what my options are. He said he would talk to Cory and figure it out.They worked their magic, and Nick called me back after a few minutes and said that he had a German team that was looking for a player like me, but that I would have to take a train from Brussels the next day. So I drove the miserable 10 hours back to Belgium with the team, and stayed the night there until my early train the next morning.
The next day, after a 7-hour train ride and an hour drive, I arrived in the little town of Emlichheim, Germany. The German manager drove me to my hotel, and told me that the tryout would be in an hour. I was still bummed from my experience with the Belgium team the day before, but I had another tryout to do and I needed to get my game face on. The German trainer put me through drills for 2 hours on the hottest day of the summer. But it was all worth it, the next day they offered me a contract and I signed with my new team. Now, a year later, I am so thankful that things turned out the way they did, I know that this team is a much better fit for me. I have grown to love the little town of Emlichheim, my team, and my trainer. I can even speak some basic German now! We had such a fun and successful season that I decided to sign with the same team again for next year! I can’t wait for it to start!