North Carolina State University Athletics
Eddins Checks In From Europe
1/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Jan. 11, 2006
Stefani Eddins and Adeola Kosoko, former NC State volleyball players, are currently playing on a professional volleyball exposure tour in Europe. Organized by Bring It Promotions, Eddins and Kosoko are traveling with a group of other volleyball players looking to join professional teams in European leagues. Practicing and working out before many European league coaches in several European countries, Eddins took a moment to email GoPack.com with a tour update.
"I am in Austria and have been playing with a team that is looking at me as a possibility. I leave here tomorrow to rejoin the tour in Maribor, Slovenia. I have enjoyed playing with the team in Austria, but I want to return to the tour to see if I can get more offers.
"I've had the lamb soup here, which I only drank the soup and did not eat the meat - it was suspect, ha ha. Today I just ate a turkey sandwich that was like chicken without the flavor because they do not eat chicken. Our waiter Alex says that turkey is just like chicken anyway, but they have the best vegetable soup here. Breakfast is very different from the states because they eat sandwich meat and pepperoni and some dip that looks like spam, with jelly and vegatables like tomatoes and peppers. So I am glad that I brought oatmeal with me and Pop Tarts. They also drink a lot of tea and coffee here. I've had tea for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Eddins on Jan. 12:
"Now we are in Maribor, Slovenia until Sunday. We are in a hotel that is right next to many ski and snowboarding slopes. I do not think I am going to go skiing but we will see. Last night I went to order a pepperoni pizza but they do not have it. Last time I asked for one in Prague they gave me green and red peppers so I guess saying they do not make it is better than getting that!"
Eddins on Jan. 22
"Adeola and I got back on Wednesday. The tour was a great experience. I knew that the experience in Europe would be different from any other experience that I ever had, but I had no idea that I would enjoy it this much. There where only a few problems that I had at the beginning of the tour and that was cramming everyone into the one bus that we travelled in. As the tour went on and I got to know the girls the travel situation became more pleasent because we talked and joked the uncomfortableness away. I met great people on this tour, and fabulous volleyball players.
"The players were broken down into three teams, I was on the RED team, 'ROUSH' as we called ourselves. We won all but one of our games with the first night of play in Prague being our best match by far. This tour allowed me to see others way of play and feed off of them in a positive way. We had to take everyone's playing style into consideration in order to be able to come together and win matches in a short period of time. This was very challenging for me, but this experience has opened my eyes to a new world and has made me grow as a player.
"We saw a professional match while in Austria. It was very interesting to witness the different relationships between European and American players, and the American players with their European coaches. They appeared to be comfortable with their current situations. I honestly expected the European teams to be more lazy, and to drill every ball, but these teams hustled and I must say they tipped the ball more often than I was expecting. To get more of a feel for European volleyball we were also able to ask ex-European players who had joined us on the tour what their experiences have been like. We also got the opportunity to talk with Americans that had also come on the tour and then who had been picked up by European teams. They were a great resource. We heard the good and the bad situations that have come up during their time in Euroupe, but the honesty they gave only helped us be more confident in our decisions whether or not to come back and play here in the future."
