“Pallavolo” Across Oceans

Working in a team setting with other people is arduous. Sometimes it is difficult to get along, and with the diversity of opinions it can be difficult to get things done. Playing on a sports team is even more demanding, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The more you know your teammates, the more trust you have in them, whether it’s knowing how they play, how they will react, or where they will be on a court. It takes thorough knowledge of a sport, and in most cases, an incredible amount of communication between teammates and coaches. For example, at every volleyball game, you hear members of a team communicating their intentions with the ball through the use of shouting “Mine!” So imagine how difficult it could be, being dropped into the middle of a new Volleyball team where your teammates and coaches speak a different language and some of the rules contrast to those which you are familiar with. 

That is exactly what happened to Miss. Eleonora Sanna. An Italian exchange student from Sardinia (a beautiful Italian island off the western coast of mainland Italy in the Mediterranean Sea), is set to spend her senior year here at Central High School in Omaha. But this is not Miss. Sanna’s first experience as a foreign exchange student. She has been studying abroad for two weeks every summer since she was eleven; three times to Great Britain, once to New York and once to Miami. She is now seventeen.  

Miss. Sanna has been playing on a private volleyball team in Italy since she was eight years old. Her high school in Sardinia does not offer Volleyball as a school sport. She currently plays in the position of “Outside Hitter” on Central’s Junior Varsity Volleyball team. She greatly enjoys being on the team, saying that she has integrated well despite the sometimes-frustrating language barrier.  In an interview she said (with a beautifully thick accent), “We started playing like, on the first day of September, and now I just stay on the bench [during games] … cause sometimes, maybe I don’t understand really what [the coach] asks me to do, so I’m like ‘uh, what?’” But after a month and a half of being once again immersed and surrounded by the language, communicating has become increasingly easier, especially with the help of her English teacher Mrs. Omar. However, another less obvious obstacle that Eleonora has had to overcome are the differences between American and Italian Volleyball. For instance, in America, a player in the position of Libero (the back middle, roaming defensive player) can serve the volleyball over the net, whereas when Miss. Sanna plays in Italy, this is not the case.  

Nonetheless, Eleonora Sanna is determined persevere and make the most of her year here at Central. She has frequent contact with her friends and family in Italy through phone calls and texting. She has even been in recent contact with her previous volleyball team, as their new season started in late September. She is assimilating into life in the states, balancing her classes with Volleyball and her goal for the season is to get past the language barrier, and the bench, and get to playing on the court.