From Germany to Sweden

      After a disappointing finish to my season in Cloppenburg, Germany, I knew it was time for a change. I had been with Cloppenburg since January of 2011 and had really hoped that after the 2011-2012 season that we would advance into the top league in Germany. We came very close, but didn't quite make it. It was a very hard decision for me to leave Germany. It had become like a second home to me, and I had made so many amazing friends there. Although it was sad knowing I wouldn't be playing with the same girls again, I knew it was the best decision for me to try something new. As I left Germany at the end of May, I had no idea what was in store for me in the next couple of months. I had talked with my agent and he said we would explore other options in Scandinavia, but we wouldn't know anything for sure. I was excited to be going back to America, but I was also nervous about finding another team. What if I had made a terrible mistake by leaving Cloppenburg and wouldn't be able to find another team?

    After a couple weeks of intense waiting (well not that intense, I was mostly at the beach) I finally got an answer. A team from the small town of Kungsbacka, Sweden was interested in having me play for them. I was both excited and nervous at the chance to play there. I didn't know much about Sweden and immediately went to Google to check out my potential new home. What I gathered from Wikipedia was that there were 19,057 inhabitants in 2010 and that there was an infamous fire in 1846. To say the least, I was a little bit alarmed after reading this information. Nevertheless, I thought I would give it a try. If I hated it there, my stay would only be for 3 months since I was only going for the second half of the season.

     When I got to Sweden, I was met at the airport by one of our coaches and one of the girls on the team. I immediately noticed what amazing English they both spoke. By comparison, when I first arrived in Germany my coach showed up at the airport with an Ipad in an attempt to translate. Already, I knew things were going to go much smoother than in Germany. Another pleasant surprise was when we were driving through the city. It was way bigger than I thought and has almost 70,000 inhabitants. Gothenburg, which is the second biggest city in Sweden is only a 25 minute train ride away.

     My home for the next 3 months is a small cabin at the Gottskar Hotell. The parents of one of the girls on our team owns the hotel. Another American and I share the little cabin. We have a small living area and kitchen and share the same bedroom to sleep in.  It is about 25 minutes outside of the Kungsbacka city center and at the moment we have been taking the bus to get back and forth. The area I live in is a 5 minute walk from a harbor and place to go swimming.

     So far everyone has been extremely nice and eager to help us settle in. I am excited for the upcoming training sessions to see how I fit into the team.