Postautor: Gość-1147 » 29 czerwca 2012, 09:00
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Tutaj:
http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/Cougars+Joanna+Zalesiak+reflects+career/6308940/story.html
dość obszerny artykuł-wywiad (z 15 marca 2012), który jest podsumowaniem zagranicznych doświadczeń Joanny (El Paso - USA; Regina - Kanada).
Z kolei w tym artykule Joasia mówi (23 lutego 2012), że po zakończeniu sezonu 2011-2012 w Kanadzie ma nadzieję grać zawodowo w koszykówkę w Europie:
http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/Cougars+Joanna+Zalesiak+ready+move/6199122/story.html
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Dodaję pełne teksty artykułów:
U of R Cougars’ Joanna Zalesiak reflects on her career
By Ian Hamilton, Leader-Post; March 15, 2012
REGINA — Joanna Zalesiak says she can’t believe she’s up for the award as the top player in CIS women’s basketball.
Her disbelief isn’t a case of mock surprise. Instead, the University of Regina Cougars guard literally can’t figure out why she’s up for the Nan Copp Award.
“It’s solo funny; it blows my mind,” says Zalesiak, who will find out if she won tonight during the awards banquet held in conjunction with the CIS women’s basketball championship tournament in Calgary. “Never in a million years would I have expected that.
“It’s my last year (in the CIS), so that’s a perfect-case scenario for every player. (Winning the award) would be unreal and awesome, but there are so many good players.
“When I think about the whole league and the top teams — like Windsor and Ottawa — if they choose me, I’d honestly feel like I don’t deserve it.”
She may be the only person associated with the Cougars who feels that way.
The product of Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland, has had a significant impact on her team this season — Zalesiak was named Canada West’s most valuable player after helping Regina go 20-0 in the regular season — but also throughout her three years at the U of R.
“Looking back on my 19 years here, she’s going to be one of the top three impactful recruits on our program,” says Cougars head coach Dave Taylor, whose squad had lost seven players from its 2008-09 roster before Zalesiak arrived. “It’s not always just how good they are, but it’s the timing — and hers was perfect.
“We lost four starters and two all-stars and only dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the country (the next season) — and that was largely because of Jo.”
Taylor, for one, is a believer.
* * *
Zalesiak was born Nov. 22, 1988, joining older sister Kamila in the family of Jadwiga and Krzysztof Zalesiak.
As Joanna grew, she played volleyball and tennis and, during four summers, attended camps where she learned how to ride horses.
Before long, she started to focus on basketball, captivated by what it offered her.
“I was always energetic and it seemed like a sport where there was a lot of movement,” Zalesiak says. “When I turned 10, I was practising every day of the week. I guess that’s a lot for a 10-year-old but back in the day, that was our elementary school program.”
Coaches saw the potential in the youngster and encouraged her to concentrate on basketball. Watching the pro team based in Gorzow also inspired Zalesiak, who realized she could reach her goal of a career in women’s professional basketball in her hometown.
That squad indicated an interest in signing Zalesiak after she graduated from high school — she had practised with the pros a few times — but her heart was set on leaving town.
She wanted to go to the United States.
“When you think about basketball, you always think that the highest level is in the States,” Zalesiak says. “University basketball is really popular there, so that was my biggest dream: To go to the States and play university.
“I had heard of other Polish players who had gone overseas and they were really happy with their experiences, so I wanted to follow their steps and see what it was like.
“I had to go, because if I didn’t — it was a dream of mine and the opportunity presented itself — I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.”
So Jo went to El Paso.
* * *
The University of Texas at El Paso Miners at the time featured a Polish-born assistant coach and two Polish players whom Zalesiak had met during the World University Games in 2007.
That group’s presence at UTEP made Zalesiak’s parents more comfortable about her choice to accept a scholarship from the school, so they sent their youngest daughter off to the States.
“I was not scared at all; I was just so excited because I always wanted it,” Zalesiak says. “When I went to high school, for my peers — people who didn’t play sports or who didn’t have an option of playing at a higher level — it was a huge thing that I was going overseas and getting a scholarship.
“I was ready to take the opportunity to go there and see what happened. I also knew that if things didn’t work out and I wasn’t happy, I could always go home.”
And things didn’t work out.
Zalesiak appeared in 21 games for the Miners as a freshman, averaging just one point and 7.1 minutes per game.
She may have enjoyed the diversity she experienced in El Paso and the idea of being out on her own, but she didn’t enjoy the basketball.
“I wasn’t properly prepared for that experience, from a psychological point of view,” Zalesiak admits. “I came from an environment where I was always the No. 1 player, the starter, the MVP, a big deal kind of thing, and I went to an environment where I was the eighth, ninth player on the team.
“I was totally not ready for that and nobody told me it was going to be like that ... It was definitely a tough year for me.”
Even so, she made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t quit and go home.
Despite her struggles with English at the time, she passed all of her classes. She stayed with the Miners, even though she never got a chance to get more minutes.
At the end of her first season at UTEP, Zalesiak decided life would be finer if she wasn’t a Miner.
“I know I would have got a chance if I was more persistent and stayed,” she says. “But at the same time, after having a year of basketball taken off my life, it was hard for me to draw any energy to make myself stay — especially after that other opportunity presented itself.”
That opportunity was with her hometown pro team. But after just one season there, Zalesiak soon felt the need to move on again — and she was to wind up in a city she had never heard of before.
* * *
Zalesiak had two options for the 2009-10 season: A pro team in Cyprus or a university team in Regina.
She sent an email indicating her interest to Regina’s head coach, who almost tripped over himself responding.
“I heard my BlackBerry buzz, opened it up, read the message from her including her basketball resume, took three steps to my laptop, sat down and replied, ‘Yes, we would love to have you,’ ” Taylor says. “As soon as I saw her resume, I knew she would make us better.”
Coach and player worked out the details of a recruiting trip in August of 2009: Zalesiak would visit Regina for two weeks and, if she liked the place and the players with whom she was to practise, she would stay.
“I thought it was fair,” Zalesiak says. “I packed my suitcase for two weeks and, if I decided to stay, I’d just go with the flow.
“I came here for the two-week recruiting trip and I stayed. It also was influenced by my parents. They wanted me to finish my degree and playing here would allow me to combine sports and school. That was perfect for my parents.”
When Taylor told Zalesiak she would be a major player with the Cougars, the dye was cast. While she says now that playing in Cyprus “would have been the easiest path to take,” she also realized she likely would have been a bench player — and that wasn’t for her.
She also quickly discovered that the Cougars’ players had qualities she was looking for, such as potential and the desire to accomplish something as a group.
Once again, Zalesiak had a new home.
* * *
While Zalesiak tried to get accustomed to a new country, her new teammates were trying to get a handle on her.
“We were all amazed by how she played,” recalls post Brittany Read, who was going into her third season with the Cougars. “(Her style) was not something we were used to seeing in Regina.
“We had to get used to that and we were all hoping we could get comfortable with each other. I’d say we’ve done a good job of it.”
Knowing that she was to be the team’s point guard, Zalesiak took it upon herself to distribute the ball — but she did so with a flair many players hadn’t seen before.
Passes came from unfamiliar angles, including from behind Zalesiak’s back. She ran the break at breakneck speed and her teammates had to keep up.
It was a new style for Taylor’s team.
“I’m not trying to be the coolest person on the team by any means,” Zalesiak says. “When I run in transition and we’re doing a 2-on-1, sometimes it’s just easier for me to pass the ball behind my back. I’m just trying to do the easiest thing for me.”
She averaged 14.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 2009-10 and was named a Canada West second-team all-star. She also was named a CIS championship tournament all-star after helping the Cougars reach the national final, which they lost.
The following season, Zalesiak was even better, averaging 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists. She was named a Canada West first-team all-star and a second-team all-Canadian.
Some of her numbers dropped this season (12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds) but her assists were up (5.9) and the Cougars put up 84.2 points per game in the regular season, the third-highest average in conference history.
“We’ve learned each other so well throughout the years,” says Zalesiak, whose top-ranked team plays the Calgary Dinos on Saturday in the first round of the CIS tournament. “I knew the success wasn’t going to come in my first three months here. It’s a process, so we had to work on it.
“When we added other people to the team, we had to teach them our ways so that we could work as a whole instead of like a bunch of individuals.
“We didn’t just work our way up this year. It’s a process that has lasted for three years now.”
It’s been a process off the court as well.
* * *
One of the things Zalesiak talks glowingly about is the way her teammates welcomed her when she first arrived in Regina and tried to make her feel at ease.
That’s not to say, however, that they don’t enjoy needling her.
Take her English, for example.
“It’s different,” Read says with a laugh. “We had to get used to her speaking and to her saying words that make us go, ‘What the heck is she saying?’ She has different sayings or cultural expressions from back home.
“But I’d say we’ve adapted well to her nonsense.”
Zalesiak has adapted, too.
“Best time of my life, by far,” says Zalesiak who, despite having a year of CIS eligibility remaining, plans to leave Regina with her degree after this year to begin a career in pro basketball.
“When it comes to my experience off the court, it’s been so amazing and I’ve made so many valuable friendships that I know I’m going to maintain after I leave. I know I’m going to be in touch with those girls.
“It’s so good that when I leave after the summer, I’m going to start planning my trips back to Regina.”
Another person with whom she’ll no doubt stay in touch is long-time Cougars supporter Gord Staseson, who has made a point of befriending the Cougars’ international players in recent years.
In the case of Zalesiak, that friendship has resulted in advice, help — and a regular supply of cabbage rolls and perogies.
“It’s another way of letting her know that she’s not alone in a strange country,” says Staseson, who notes Zalesiak is as close to him as a granddaughter, “and that there are people here who care about her.”
Zalesiak has a soft spot for Staseson — “Words can’t even describe how much he has helped me through these three years,” she says — but also for everyone she has met in Regina.
“I’ve enjoyed the social factor of the whole experience,” Zalesiak says. “Of all the places I’ve been to, I feel like Regina is the most fun. I’ve enjoyed myself the most here.”
U of R Cougars’ Joanna Zalesiak ready to move on
By Ian Hamilton, Leader-Post; February 23, 2012
REGINA — Joanna Zalesiak is following her game plan.
Despite having one season of CIS eligibility remaining, the University of Regina Cougars guard is planning to leave the university — and its women’s basketball team — after the 2011-12 school year.
The 23-year-old product of Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland, hopes to return to Europe and begin a career in pro basketball.
“When I was making my decision about committing to the program, I was talking to Dave (Taylor, the Cougars’ head coach) and I let him know that my plan for my life was to stay for three years and then, if everything worked out and I had the opportunity, to go play professionally,” Zalesiak said.
“My plan was to finish school and I am finishing school this year (with a degree in sport and recreation administration), so I’m sticking to that plan. It would have been fun to stay for the extra year, but it will be fun to get a cheque in my account, too, if there’s that opportunity. I’d like to find out if I can play at a higher level.”
The Cougars — who open the 2011-12 Canada West post-season Friday, 7 p.m., against the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen in Game 1 of a best-of-three quarter-final — have an automatic berth in the 2012-13 CIS championship tournament as the host team.
That means Zalesiak, if she decided to put off her departure for a year, would have a guaranteed opportunity to play in nationals. There’s no guarantee that the Cougars will get there this season, so isn’t she tempted to stay in Regina and take advantage of that automatic berth?
“The perfect scenario for me would be to get it done this year and I would be ready to go, knowing we had the national title, we got the job done and I could just move on,” Zalesiak said. “That’s a good question. I can’t answer it right now.
“If Dave shaves his head, that’s going to help me come back. That’s one of the requirements.”
“She told me that and I said, ‘I’ll shave my head if you give me your passport,’ ’’ Taylor noted with a laugh. “She hasn’t got back to me yet.”
Taylor said he saw “no wavering at all” from Zalesiak after it was announced that the U of R was playing host to the CIS tournament. He recruited Zalesiak on the premise that she would play for three seasons — and he knew for sure last summer, after she visited her parents in Poland, that she was going to move on.
“I’ve been planning on it,” Taylor said. “Most people are concerned about it, but I look at it that I’ve had an all-Canadian player for three years.
“She has been even better than I hoped for. When you recruit an international player, you never know what you’re getting. The impact she had on this team was pretty significant.”
Zalesiak began her university career in the 2007-08 season with the NCAA’s University of Texas-El Paso Miners, but she averaged just 7.1 minutes in 21 games. She left the school after that season and returned to Poland to play professionally, unaware that Taylor had her on his recruiting radar.
Zalesiak joined the Cougars for the 2009-10 season and starred right away, averaging 14.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game en route to being named a second-team Canada West all-star.
Her averages jumped in the playoffs (16.7 points, 7.1 rebounds) as the Cougars reached the CIS tournament. There, she was named an all-star.
Last season, Zalesiak was named a first-team conference all-star and a second-team all-Canadian after averaging 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.0 steals in the regular season.
In the 2011-12 regular season, the 5-foot-8 guard averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.8 steals.
“If she walks out of here at the end of the year, I’m going to think of her as one of our best recruits ever,” Taylor said. “I’ll be nothing but excited for her and thankful to have coached her. I won’t have any regrets about her playing her last year.”
“Looking back three years, I was just a little girl from Poland who came to Regina, not very confident and trying different things,” Zalesiak added. “Right now, I know what I want. I know that I’m ready to go.”
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a była mowa o zawodniczce:P Ale to już naprawdę są szczególiki szczególików. Niech Ci będzie :d