I am just very happy... I can not describe it...Everything happened so quickly that I just know begin to know what happens... But know realized-I have to be ready for new challenge of my life,it is turning point of my professional career!
I began my sports life in my Motherland,playing for the flagman of our volleyball-Azerrail Baku... We had so many sweet moments for these 8 years. Both in my club and National team. But now I am leaving my club here, for new page of my life...For Scavolini Pesaro. One of the best teams of the modern volleyaball. "Calibri girls" won Italian Serie A1 Championship three times in a row and I don`t need to introduce this team more... I think it is quite enough to imagine how great team is Scavolini Pesaro. It is very professional team,in any part of its activity...
I hope it will help me to come back to my National team with new breath,for taking the biggest aims with our great coach Faig Garayev and strong players who just look for the first chance to show high level volleyball in the International arena AGAIN... As we used to do that in European and World Championships...
I am looking forward to meet my new teammates, I hope I will be useful for my team on their long way in the Italian Serie A1 and the CEV Champions league. There are so many top players like Manon Flier,Martina Guiggi,Destinee Hooker,Francesca Feretti,Senna Usic,Monica De Gennaro,Elisa Manzano... in my team. And the coach Paolo Tofoli-one of the best setters in men`s volleyball in the Past. I hope we will understand each other both as setters and a player with coach... I hope...I believe!!!
I would like to thank our National federation President for the best conditions he provided us, President of Azerrail Baku for believing me all this time, and of course my head coach Faig Garayev for everything he did for me...
But I am also very grateful to my new President Giancarlo Sorbini and coach Paolo Tofoli for believing me... I hope I will justify their confidence.
Hello my new home - Pesaro. Hello - My DREAM TEAM!!!
Sincerely,
Your Natavan GASIMOVA
Fast forward through a year spent playing at a Junior College in Idaho, a transfer to Florida State University... and one 2009 ACC [The Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the collegiate athletic leagues in the United States - 
People have since asked me if I've ever considered writing to the coaches that told me I couldn't make it or that I wasn't good enough, they've suggested sending my awards in the mail to show them how wrong they were and that I did it. To tell you the truth, it has crossed my mind to write to them but instead, what I would say is this: "Thank you. Thank you for giving me the fire to better myself; for sparking the desire within to become the best volleyball player I could be. Your doubt ignited the spark that pushed me to greatness. The spark that evolved into a passion for something I love and without your doubt I never could have made it this far." And FAR is precisely where I am today... playing my first professional season here in Baku, Azerbaijan!
My agent wrote me an e-mail informing me that if I was interested there is a team in Azerbaijan that would like me to play for them, that he knows the coach and he thought this would be a great place for me to market myself for my debut as a pro player. To be honest I had never even heard the word Azerbaijan in my life and I told my agent, "OK, but what country is Azerbaijan in?" LOL. Come to find out it's its own country, and the capital is Baku, and my future home. A couple of googling sessions later I discovered that Baku is a city that sits on the Caspian sea, it is a major oil exporter and that Azerbaijan used to be a part of the Soviet Union and people speak Azeri, Turkish and Russian. None of which I knew.
November 5th was my official departure day. After weeks of strenuous phone calls, e-mails, and trips to the post office, finally, I received my Azerbaijani visa in the mail. I left the USA two days later. I was experiencing an array of feelings at this time. Excitement, to start the new chapter in my life. Fear of not fulfilling my coach's expectations. Eager/anxious to play in my first practices and meet the new team. Proud that I'd signed my contract and happy that I was en route to accomplishing another dream of mine. I was headed to play my first year for "Shirvan", one of the newest volleyball clubs in Azerbaijan's Volleyball Superleague.
Twenty-eight hours later, I walked out the automatic sliding doors of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport into the city of Baku. It was a sunny day and gratefully Shine, my English translator provided via the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation and Zaur, my club's director were there to greet me. They asked, "How was my trip? Was I tired? Would I like to practice today? What did I think of the City?" I answered all accordingly, requested a small nap and told them after that I would definitely be up to practice! This pleased both of them! They took me to my new apartment which ended up only being a temporary stay and let me sleep off some of my travel. Both Zaur and Shine returned to pick me up for practice a couple of hours later. I was anxious and triple checked my bag for my shoes and knee pads! The worst thing would be to show up my first day without shoes!
Arriving at the AVF (Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation) my next surprise awaited me there... 16 flights of stairs!!! Now don't get me wrong, I'd been working out in Florida, but stairs is a whole other game. One that I prefer not to play! LOL I asked where the elevator was by the 7th flight, but come to find out there wasn't one. Now though, I am proud to say that I take these stairs with ease everyday that we practice! Sometimes at a light jog!
After defeating the stairs single handedly, they showed me to our practice gym. When I stepped inside I saw a circle of my new teammates stretching and lightly chatting, not in English mind you. I walked over to my coach (who I recognized via our Skype sessions) first and introduced myself. Then I sat down on one of the red chairs, put my shoes on and went to take a spot in the circle to stretch, when someone called over to me in English! I jerked my head towards the voice with a smile, it was another American Sherisa, she waved me over. I was oh so happy to talk to her, it's not as easy as you think going from hearing the world in your native tongue to being in a place where you hear everything and everyone, but understand nothing (so much for eavesdropping!).
My first professional practice was a lot more than I bargained for, especially after nearly thirty hours of traveling and jet lag, but I survived and performed decently. I didn't play up to par personally, but given the situation everyone was really understanding, my legs and feet were extremely swollen. I looked like I had elephant limbs and my body was fatigued, and my coach and new teammates knew this. I made it through though and I was happy by the end. I didn't feel too overwhelmed, nervous or fearful by this point. The coach told me to get some rest, being he can speak some English, and to come back tomorrow ready to go at it again!
I have gone back to practice almost every day since November 5th of 2010. Being that today is January 22nd of 2011, I'm officially seven matches into my first professional career and I feel amazing! I've gotten the opportunity to play defense, serve and set in practice daily - something that most middle blockers don't get to do in the U.S. too often, because there are liberos (or the little people) that do it for them.
I feel much more confident after competing in our matches, getting my first kills against players at this caliber is nothing but great! Even though my team has lost more than we've won, I do my best to put it into perspective. This league is one of the best in the world! After the first couple of matches I realized that there are players here from the best national teams from dozens of the greatest volleyball countries. So if there was ever a time and a place to start my volleyball career it was here, this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.
