WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬"Senior outside hitter Annie Drews was in Europe, June 13-25 as a member of the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour Team, featuring one player from each conference institution. The team visited Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.
Annie shares a journal summing up the trip below.
Greetings from the one and only United States of America!
I have been back from our Big Ten All Stars European tour for about two weeks now and can finally say that I am adjusting back to my life in West Lafayette after two weeks exploring Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy! The entire experience can't be put into any amount of words, but I'll do my best to summarize my final thoughts on the trip.
Our final travel day included waking up (or for most of us, never falling asleep) and leaving Padova at 1:00 AM for Milan. From Milan, we took a three hour flight to Turkey, waited about two hours, and then we began the 12 hour trip back to Chicago. While it definitely made for a long travel day- with most of us having a hefty car ride or another flight back to school- it provided a good time to reflect on the trip and gather my thoughts on what I could take back to my team and my role at Purdue.
Obviously, the experience training in another country- which has a different set of rules, regulations, and gym etiquette than us- was invaluable. In international volleyball, each team is granted six substitutions as opposed to America's 12, which meant a lot of pressure on playing time and performance. The ball is slightly different, the net calls and ball handling calls are stricter, and overall gave us a lot of opportunity to adjust and stretch our capabilities as players. For me, and I'm sure that the other girls would agree, it was eye opening to see first-hand what playing in another country as a professional player would look like. A few of us have been on tours with our school programs, but this tour felt all too real because we could potentially be playing overseas in six months to a year from now. For me, the reality of that truth is hard one to swallow, and I don't know if I'm ready yet to accept how soon those decisions will be made, but it was encouraging to hear from other coaches, players, and tour managers on where they could envision us fitting in on a team in Europe.
The tourism was pretty sweet too. My two favorite hobbies beyond volleyball are to be outdoors and to cook, so I LOVED our beach day in Croatia (I use the word "beach" sparingly, because it was no sand and all rocks) when we spent the day laying out and kayaking on the clearest water I've ever been on. Also, Italy for me was buying lots and lots of food to bring home for everyone and trying gelato whenever possible with Justine Wong-Orantes (PS- J, thanks for sharing my love for all things sweet and chocolate- our 10+ gelato runs sure didn't disappoint!). Another memory that was pretty high up there in my book was renting $7 electric scooters with the scooter gang- Jocelynn Birks, Halle Peterson, Maddie Slayter, Kelli Bates, and Meghan Tallman. We totally ran the town for a solid 30 minutes and got the chance to see every nook and cranny of Rovinj, Croatia!
My overall, ongoing message that I took home from this trip was how incredible grateful I should be. First, to be an American- Europe is an INCREDIBLE place, but just different enough to take notice and be thankful for all that our lives hold for us here in the States. Second, for the Big Ten Conference and Purdue University, who for some reason find me suitable and capable enough to send me around the world and open doors for me that I never would have imagined I'd get to be a part of. Third, to get two full weeks with some of the best players in the country. Seriously, to play with All Americans, a National Champion, and some of the scariest up-and-coming talent we have in the Big Ten was good, but what really was great to me was hearing about their programs, teammates, coaches, and operations and get some inspiration on what I could see Purdue doing in years to come to break through to the next level. And lastly, I am so thankful from this experience to have the coaches that I have and the girls that I get to call my teammates. It's easy when you spend so much time with the same people to grow weary or comfortable with them. And while I enjoyed the other coaches and girls on this Big Ten squad, I feel so glad to have a program here at Purdue that I get to come home to. I think of Dave and Angie Shondell, who host us often for Thanksgiving and day trips to their lake house. I think of our AD Morgan Burke, who comes to practice weekly, and of our assistant AD Calvin Williams, who has shared his family with us. It is rare to have such a comfortable and strong home away from home, and I commend this program for making mine so second-natured and welcoming to us that we almost neglect to appreciate it sometimes. Never been more humbled to be a Boilermaker and can't wait to get back out there this fall with this experience under my belt. Thank you again to the Big Ten Conference, coaches, players, contributors, and fans!
As always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, HAIL PURDUE!
#18 Annie Drews