Post-College Basketball "Career": From Rwanda to Romania

It's been over three years since I've played in a basketball tournament, and I have to say, nothing quite beats the thrill of being in the heart of a competitive sporting event.  I've been playing weekly pick-up games with the group of girls from Cluj that make up the former Romanian National Championship Team.  Although we mostly just play for the work-out, we've all been looking forward to this weekend's "30+ Women's Tournament" with teams from neighboring cities, and it was even more fun than I expected.  We also happened to win first place and get invited to an International Women's Tournament in Spain in May... but at this point in my "career," the most important thing for me really is just feeling the love for the game and remembering why I've invested so much time and energy into this sport over my 30+ years of life.         

The last time I played in a competitive tournament was the Zone V Club Championships in Kigali, Rwanda in August 2007.   Prior to that game, I thought I'd retired for good, but how could I turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against teams from Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya?  Our team was able to beat Kenya for the first time ever in Rwandan Women's Basketball history, which added to the growing enthusiasm for the sport.  My participation in the event helped to attract a few U.S. sponsors and private donors, allowing us to raise funds for water bottles, T-shirts, and sports bras for the girls.  I was able to establish lasting friendships with a group of amazing women who'd been through more by the time they reached university than most of us experience in a lifetime. It was all a slightly surreal experience, and I'm so glad to have the pictures to prove that I really was there, playing after so many years.

When I signed to play basketball for the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks back in the early spring of 1997, I was asked to provide some information for my Freshman Year Media Guide.  Next to "Greatest Sports Achievement," I remember writing something like, "The best is yet to come."  Cheesy, yes, but my intuition was right.  Although my collegiate years weren't what I'd hoped for and I didn't succeed in achieving those "bests" that I imagined, those years at Lehigh did prepare me for these amazing later-in-life experiences like women's tournaments in Rwanda and Romania.  Seriously, how could I ever have known then that some day in far-off countries, I'd be having a blast, meeting interesting people and experiencing pure competitive joy?