Coming over to the UK from the USA can be daunting for even the most nomadic of athletes, especially when you’re coming to play sport competitively and at a high standard.
However, the move across the pond didn’t deter UEL Women’s Volleyball star Ari Sierra, who relocated to London from El Paso, Texas, where she played college volleyball at New Mexico State University.
She is now ever present in her second season at UEL, but the jump hasn’t come without its challenges.
Teething Problems
“My biggest challenge coming from the US to the UK has been adapting to a more relaxed game. In the US every day you had to give 110% or another person was going to take your spot since there is so much competition in the team. We had 23 players on the roster, eight of which were in my position.” Said Sierra.
Sierra also says that last season at the university, the players laid-back attitude to the game sometimes allowed complacency to creep in:
“Players may have thought that it was ok not to try in practice, as there’s not enough depth in the squad for anyone to take your spot. It seemed like people would only try their hardest when it came to going up against our rivals, Essex”.
With a new look squad however, Ari will be hoping that the team can push on for success in her final year at UEL after crashing out of the BUCS Championships last year in the Semi-Final, following a 3-1 loss to Northumbria University.
“We (the players) have a better relationship this year. I don’t think it will be hard to go further than we did last season and I already feel the coach is doing a great job in working on what didn’t go well last year.”
Personal Goals
On the personal side, she expressed an interest in ‘going pro’ but has also expressed her feeling that there could be many obstacles to overcome and how it can be frustrating to be a student athlete who doesn’t necessarily ‘grab the headlines’.
“Unfortunately, it is very hard to get a contract in my position (Libero) because rosters usually look for people who can score points, whereas my position relies more on passing, defending and keeping the ball off the floor”.
Whilst Sierra has refused to allow this to get in the way of her professional goals, she also recognises that it’s always helpful to have a backup plan.
“If by any chance I don’t get a pro contract, I would like to go into beach volleyball where it is a completely different game and I still have a chance of getting somewhere big”.
Ari has played the game long enough to deal with the peaks and troughs of volleyball and has shown that, no matter what successes the MSc Positive Psychology student has on and off the pitch in her final year at UEL, she still pushes for a further career in a sport she has loved playing since the age of 11.
