Foreign players unite tennis and education

Alba Berdala still remembers the day she left her family, friends and country behind. \n“That was, I think, the most scary event of my life,” the sophomore IU tennis player said. “It was hard. I had no idea where I was going, no idea what to study. ...(But playing collegiate tennis) was something I knew I wanted to do.” \nWhen Berdala’s flight from Spain arrived in New York, she met her future teammate and classmate Sigrid Fischer, who had just arrived in the United States from Germany. The women had made the life-altering decision to become Hoosiers for the same reason. \n“I wanted to study and play tennis at the same time, and that’s not possible in Germany,” Fischer said. \nIt’s not possible in Spain either, which is what brought Berdala to the States. \n“(European) universities don’t have tennis teams,” she said. “If you want to play tennis, you have to start your \nown club.” \nPrior to their meeting in the New York City, Berdala and Fischer had never met in person. They knew each other only from brief e-mails, and when they arrived in Bloomington, their first in-person encounter with IU coach Lin Loring matched another familiar name with an unfamiliar face. \nLoring confesses that foreign language was his worst subject in school, so much of the conversation with the women – both during and after the recruiting period – was done through translators. Berdala and Fischer only knew a handful of English words when they arrived, so muddled hand signals were, for a while, the women’s language of choice on and off the court.\nIn addition to learning English, Berdala and Fischer adjusted to school, collegiate tennis and a new country. Senior Cecile Perton served as a guide to her new teammates, having gone through the same experience two years earlier. \nThe move to America was difficult, but each player said it was definitely worthwhile. \n“I loved it right away,” Perton said. “I don’t know why. It was just such a different \nexperience, and (coach Loring) taught me so much that I never ever regretted it. I miss my family, though.” \nBecause they are away from their families for nine months of the year, the tennis team serves a more important role for international players. Loring often plays the role of parent for the women while they’re at school, especially on move-in day of freshman year. \n“You have to help them out with stuff,” Loring said. “You have to make sure they have a ride to Target and tell them ‘I think you need to buy this \nand this.’” \nJust as they were with their native languages, the players were weaned from depending on their coaches, but Berdala said that when she was sick, Loring was there to help. \n“I felt he really cared about me,” Berdala said. “I know if something happens, I could \ncall him.” \nLoring’s personality, along with the school’s academic reputation, were the main reasons the three chose IU, but Loring said that often isn’t enough to lure American recruits away from schools with newer facilities. Of the team’s current eight-player roster, five are from the States, though none are from Indiana. As American players continue to favor other programs, IU will rely more heavily on foreign players, and the roster could be 80 percent international in the future, Loring said. \n“We’re losing head-to-head (in recruiting) against schools that have a losing record \nagainst us,” he said. “You do what you have to do to remain competitive.” \nThis year’s international players have done their part to keep the Hoosiers competitive. Berdala was ranked No. 86 nationally in singles earlier this season, and the doubles combination of Perton and Fischer is 13-3 on the season. As one of the two seniors on the team, Perton is also a co-captain. \nThe trio has adapted off the courts as well. Perton will graduate this May. Berdala and Fischer, who last year were speaking with their hands more than their mouths, are nearly upperclassmen. Learning English has long been off the women’s to-do list, but they joke that mundane words like ‘broom’ can still pose problems. \n“We have to wait for our American roommate to get home,” said Fischer about \nthe times when they flub English words. \nMemory lapses aside, Loring said the three are all great students who are equally focused on both school and sport. \nBerdala said American student athletes often take their opportunities for granted, but knowing the sacrifices each made to play at IU, the women’s appreciation of their opportunities is apparent. They’re playing for one of the storied programs in NCAA women’s tennis, but they never lose sight of academics, Loring said. \n“To take the SAT in a foreign language, you’d have to be a lot smarter than I was in high school,” Loring said. “There’s a general rule that I found, that all of the international kids have been very good students. They just have it together.”\nThe international trio and the rest of the No. 33 Hoosiers (14-3, 4-0) will take on No. 46 Ohio State (14-5, 3-1) at the IU Varsity Tennis Center today \nat 3 p.m.