My first Publication Overtime November 2019 Merged PDF | Page 16

WE’RE GOING ABROAD
Overtime wanted to know what it felt like to move abroad to play sport at a young age. Here we found out
Simon Birgander (below), 22, is from
Sweden where basketball is almost
non-existent. He moved to Spain
where he now plays in the top division
of basketball, the Liga ACB
Words Eric Lanje
Overtime (OT): You moved to Spain at a
young age, how was the feeling before you left?
Simon Birgander (SB): The feeling before was very
special. I was very nervous before moving without
friends, family and everything.
But it was also a feeling of having a big opportunity
to succeed and doing what you love for living, if you
do it well.
In the worst case scenario, there was always the
option to move home in case it didn’t work and if it
went well, the journey just continued.
OT: Your first club in Spain was CB Clavijo
and now you play for Club Joventut Badalona.
How has your experience of the move been?
SB: The move was quite special, because CB Clavijo
is in a town called Logrono that is very small.
The club isn’t big either and they don’t play in the
first league. Badalona isn’t a big city but is very close
to Barcelona.
So you travel in there a lot and the league is much
harder, it’s the highest league, much more money,
many more fans, much more everything and harder
pressure.
OT: What did you think was going to be the
most challenging aspect before you left?
SB: I believed it would be the loneliness. You were
supposed to befriend new people that didn’t speak
your language, I had to speak English all the time or
sometimes Spanish.
Now, I can speak Spanish fluently but in the
beginning I couldn’t.
There weren’t many in Logrono that could speak
English unfortunately, as it is a small town.
But I met a guy that had very good English, so it
became that I hung out a lot with him so that I wouldn’t
feel the loneliness. He and his family took care of me.
OT: What do you believe most youngsters
suffer the most from when being alone abroad?
SB: I think that many suffer from the loneliness
and when something bad happens they give up
and
think
that
everything is going to go
downwards, instead of
keep fighting and trying
to make the best out of
the situation.
Of course it will always
go up and down in hills
and tops.
But ultimately the
most important thing
is always to look
forward and you can’t
do anything more than
that.
OT: Have you ever
felt that there are
traps out there? That
people want to take
advantage of you?
SB: There are of course
people that want to take
advantage of you. But I
haven’t felt it that much,
but I know others that
have felt it.
I stick a lot to the circle
of people that I have
confidence in and that I
can speak to.
I don’t spend time
with people who only
view me as a person who
only plays basketball. I
want them to see me as
the person that I am and
not solely a basketball
player.
OT: Unfortunately
last season ended
with a knee injury
for you. How do you
deal
with
severe
injuries mentally as
a young player?
16
SB: It takes a lot mentally. But luckily I injured my
knee and in the same summer the club wanted to re-
sign me.
So I didn’t have the pressure to recover as soon as
possible. But you have to think it is better to get the
injury now rather then at 36, which then can be career
ending.
Now it’s all about working past this and let time take
it’s time and come back stronger.
Mollie Taylor is 21 but at the age of 15,
with funding for basketball in England
minimal, she moved to the United
States of America in search of better
opportunities
Words Dom Bleakley
OT: How old were you when you moved to
the USA?
Molly Taylor (MT): I was 15 when I first moved
over here. My coach at the time put the idea across to
me and my family [to move to USA] after I made the
England U16 team.
OT: Do you think the level of development in
America allows you to go over there and play
to a higher standard at 15 than if you were to
develop over here?
MT: Yes, definitely. Because at that time I had made
the national team and all of the development teams in
England at that point was the highest point you could
get to at that age.
Whereas, in America, they have so many different
levels to play at and there’s obviously a lot more
players that play the game of basketball, so you just
find a lot more competition.
OT: Which college/university first recruited
you, and have you transferred throughout
your time over there?
MT: I was recruited to come to Loyola which is
where I’m at now.
I know a lot of people that have come from England
to play, and the majority of people that I know transfer
after a year or two because they are unhappy with the
situation as not many people can come out and visit
the campus.
It may be that the academics are too vigorous or the
school environment is too rural or too busy.
A lot of people don’t know what they’re getting
themselves into when they come.
OT: Were there any clear differences/
adaptations you remember when you initially
moved, whether it be in basketball or general
living?
MT: Sometimes people would make fun of my accent
and [perceived] British things I would do.
I’d never been to America before moving to high
school at 15 so it was all very new.
But my first memory which is really vivid was when
my high school coach picked me up in his car and we
were driving on the highway and I noticed everything
was so much bigger, the cars were bigger, the roads
were bigger.
We went to a Mexican restaurant and the meal sizes
were three times the size of ones back home.
It was very overwhelming but it was also exciting
that everything was new.