The transitional phase to college for student-athletes can be daunting. Adapting to a new atmosphere serves as a maturation process, leaving families behind to live on their own for the first time in their lives. College athletes are known for their extracurricular work on the field, and it takes time for them to settle down in an unfamiliar setting.
For some athletes, however, it’s not merely a drive straight down the interstate or a direct flight into Richmond. International athletes at Longwood and nationally are presented with new challenges, adjusting to being a student-athlete in a different country practicing a different culture.
Challenges in which senior Leonie Verstraete of the Longwood field hockey team endeavored just four years ago when she left her family in Utrecht, the Netherlands; just a short 3,989-mile adventure to her second home in Farmville. Move-in was full of excitement and optimism, but grappled with trying to fit in.
“When I came here, I didn’t know my role and I didn’t know my place and I always knew people,” Verstraete said. “I think my freshman year I struggled with playing, and you could tell by the way I played, like I didn’t play my full potential.”
Verstraete never considered going to school in America until field hockey head coach Iain Byers reached out after seeing her highlight tape. Skyping and constant communication between the two eventually led her overseas.
“I didn’t put that much thought into it to be honest, it was kind of spontaneous,” Verstraete said. “My initial plan was to go for a year, but then I liked it so I wanted to stay here to finish my education.”
Verstraete came to America not knowing much English and struggled with acclimating to the culture change, something in which junior Amadeo Blasco encountered three years ago when he was recruited to play for the men’s tennis program.
“It’s a different culture, everything is different,” Blasco said. “I’m still learning.”
Contrary to Verstraete, Blasco always had intentions of playing tennis in America. Where he lives in Valencia, Spain, he said it is extremely difficult to compete at a high level while receiving an education at the same time. Additionally, he’s an only child, making it extremely difficult for his parents to see him leave.
“I think they were kind of sad I left them that early because I left home when I was seventeen.” Blasco said. “But they were excited for me because they knew how much I wanted to come here to America to study and play tennis.”
Redshirt senior Sherif Maalouf of the Longwood men’s soccer team already had a sniff at the American lifestyle his freshman year when he committed to play soccer at Northern Illinois. His first impression wasn’t exactly what he pictured, so he gave the sport another go in America when he committed to Longwood.
Part of a family who likes to travel, it was still tough for Maalouf to leave his domain in Cairo, Egypt when he first came to America.
“In the beginning it was a bit difficult,” Maalouf said. “I’m a family guy so just not being around the family was difficult.”
One of the most taxing aspects of being an international student, Maalouf noted, was not being able to go home whenever they want. For himself personally, depending on the layover, a simple trip back home twice a year may reach 20 hours. Although the trip is difficult for those who come from overseas, they have all familiarized themselves with the constant obstacles of travel.
Not only is it tough to adapt as an international student-athlete, according to Maalouf, but transitioning to a different style of education and cultural traditions was something he, as well as Verstraete and Blasco, struggled to conform to when they first moved to America.
Interestingly enough, though, they said they can never win when leaving both home and school on breaks. When they go back home on the two breaks most of them have – winter and summer – they’re leaving behind a second family.
“When they get really close to their teammates and other people, for us, it’s really hard to leave here. We have, like, a new life,” Blasco said.
Verstraete, who graduates in 2019, says not being able to drive home every so often has become one of the more difficult parts of living overseas. However, her friendships and teammates have made the transition to an unfamiliar culture easier, and dreads the day she leaves her second family.
“I thought at first I was going to get more homesick, but I think I was surprised that I wasn’t,” Verstraete said. “When I’m home, I’m homesick to here. Also when I’m here it’s the same thing. It goes both ways.”
Although they miss their family and friends in their respective countries, leaving the friends they’ve made over the years at Longwood has become equally as difficult. They’ve essentially created a new life overseas, even during memories they may have missed with family and friends back home. This, in turn, presents them with a new challenge after they graduate.
