The 34-year-old spiker accepted the offer from San Diego Mojo, one of the seven franchises participating in the Pro Volleyball League that started in January
It takes a bit of pioneer spirit even if the conquest of the West is over and all you need is a plane to go back. But throwing yourself into a brand new professional league (with all the pros and cons) leaving your club halfway through the season to respond “ready” for a new life certainly involves a spirit of adventure. And that is not missing from Valeria Papa, a 34-year-old spiker who said goodbye to Chieri a few weeks ago to move to San Diego and wear the shirt of the San Diego Mojo, one of the seven franchises (but next year there will be ten) that takes part in the Pro Volleyball League , the first American professional women’s league that kicked off in January. And she is the first Italian to play it. An almost blind choice considering that the very fresh American pro league (which will be followed by another in November, Lovb which has hired Massimo Barbolini as coach) is still a mysterious object as an organisation.
two intense weeks
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But the desire to test herself is not lacking in the Ligurian spiker who in her career has also tried the Brazilian championship with Flamengo and the Bundesliga with Potsdam. “The whole move was born quite randomly – says Papa, who spent his time in Rome, Vallefoglia, Busto and Scandicci -. They contacted me from San Diego, I spoke to my agent and we evaluated. I was fine in Chieri, it’s one of the best organized clubs in Italy but the idea of trying something so different was too tempting. I have to thank Chieri because they realized that for me it was an opportunity not to be missed.” Catapulted from Chieri to San Diego for a good couple of weeks and with already a couple of games under her belt, also trying to understand a system which, compared to the “classic” championships, is not always easy. “They put me in an apartment in one of these residential suburbs. At the beginning I was with another American player who then got cut.” A fairly intense coming and going considering that the market does not have fixed dates and that, especially for American players, it is easier to cut athletes (there are two foreign players per team, made up of 14 players).
female guide
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A complete change of mentality starting from the bench on which Tayyba Haneef-Park sits, a passage in Italy which was not unforgettable but a World Cup silver medal in Berlin in 2002 (when Italy won) and two Olympic silver medals in Beijing and London. “It’s the first time I’ve worked with an almost entirely female staff and there are many in other teams. It’s a different world from that of the Italian championship. We are used to meticulous and meticulous match preparation, studying the opponent. Here for now there are no scouts, the technicians are very prepared but there is a very different method”. The atmosphere is also special. The first match in Las Vegas was special: “I was there warming up and I said to myself “you realise, you’re playing pro volleyball in Las Vegas”. Games in these huge facilities with a show atmosphere, the audience practically on the field. It’s very different from what we’re used to. I see a lot of enthusiasm, also a lot of people at the games. I think these championships can really take off because people have an interest in women’s sport. Consider that in San Diego itself the most followed team is the football team. Obviously they need to grow as an organization. Here everyone is kind and helpful but obviously there isn’t the experience of managing a club that there is in other leagues.”
a million dollars
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And obviously the economic aspect also has its value even if for now the management of the player pool is regulated. The players on the teams’ roster all have the same compensation and the contracts also involve the league which guarantees the payment. At the end of the season (24 games to play in total) a sort of Final Four will be played in mid-May with a million dollar prize for the winning team. Meanwhile, for Valeria there is also the challenge of adapting to the differences on the pitch: “Fortunately they have adopted the international rules (in reality there are eight substitutions available instead of six, ed.) but they call the rotations differently. But they are small things, you get used to it. And then the city is beautiful too. I was lucky”. For pioneers, a bit of luck is also needed.
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