While most of her fellow graduating seniors were scrambling to find jobs last spring, Laura Hageman was packing her bags for an extended stay overseas.
Hageman, a two-time Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, has been playing professional volleyball in Pieksämäki, Finland, since just after her graduation. Her team, Pieksämäki Volley, plays in the 10-team Finnish SM League, the highest level of volleyball in Finland, and finished second in the Finnish Cup, a tournament that brings together teams from all over Finland from all different divisions of play.
One of the biggest adjustments Hageman had to make was adapting to a different style of coaching, she wrote in an e-mail.
A big distinction is the expectation of her to recognize what is wrong with her play and fix it herself without much instruction from her coach, which is very different from the American style of coaching. Though she struggled early, it forced her to challenge herself and become a smarter, stronger player.
Hageman and her roommate, former Wisconsin-Green Bay player Janelle Tomlinson, are the only Americans on the team, and the coaches do not speak a lot of English to the players, so Hageman and Tomlinson rely on their teammates to interpret what the coaches say.
Having Tomlinson there as someone to relate with has been a source of comfort for Hageman, as the only regular contact she has with family and friends is e-mail and occasional phone calls.
Hageman followed a common course during her senior year at Ohio after expressing interest in playing professionally in Europe: Coach Geoff Carlston and assistant coach Anne Botica put her in touch with an agent who runs the Spring Cup, a tour that brings top players from American colleges to play against national teams from several smaller European countries.
The tour gives players the chance to experience what it's like to play in Europe while allowing European coaches a chance to scout the players. All college players who are interested in playing in Europe, including Hageman's former teammate and setter Briana Adamovsky, take a similar tour in order to gain exposure in European volleyball circles.
Though playing in the Spring Cup solidified her desire to play in Europe, the choice was still tough for Hageman. The prospect of living full time in a foreign country, dealing with a language barrier and adjusting to a new team and style of volleyball were all major considerations, and Hageman also had her fiancé, Dan Cobb, to think about. But in the end, Hageman and those close to her knew she would regret passing up this opportunity.
She's getting a new kind of experience
Adamovsky said. She wasn't anywhere near done playing volleyball (after finishing at Ohio). Carlston said the personal changes Hageman made during her senior season helped her reach her decision.
She got to become such a better leader in the last year and really took that to heart he said. The steps she took in becoming a leader ... certainly helped her to take that initial plunge that leap of faith to go to Europe.
