"Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!" This has been my motto throughout my first professional season and so far it's helped me make some pretty tough decisions and embrace the enormous changes I've experienced this past year.
I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself, before you continue to hear my story about Azerbaijan adventures. I believe a tale is much more interesting if you know the storyteller. So to begin, my name is Jordana Price. I'm 23, soon to be 24! I was born in Oregon, but raised in Idaho (yes, the Potato State!) My jersey number is 12, I am a six-foot-one middle blocker and volleyball started for me in the seventh grade, but it wasn't anything special. I remember laughing a lot, not learning a thing and playing because my friends did. I think that's why most kids participate in the beginning, because it's a way to see their "besties", best friends, a while longer after the school bell rings.
The next three years of volleyball I did a great job warming the bench and cheering my teammates on. It wasn't until my sophomore year in high school that I gained some coordination, which allowed me to walk and chew gum at the same time. Thankfully my height had kept me on the roster thus far, I'm positive the coaches were waiting and praying that I'd grow into my legs, which I finally did! The two years following my sophomore season I found my name on the starting line up and proceeded to sign a letter of intent with Oregon State University. This was one of the best days of my life. I was very excited, along with nervous about playing in the Pac-10, the best volleyball conference in the United States for college volleyball. It was a dream of mine to play in Oregon and in the Pac-10, both of which I gratefully accomplished. What wasn't a part of my dream though, was the coaching change that occurred at OSU the summer before I was to attend the University. After a lot of thought I informed the new coach that I still wanted nothing more than to play for Oregon State and to help build a new program.
Fall of 2005, I partook in my first Division I [the highest level of college athletics in the U.S.] practice at Oregon State University. Within minutes of it ending the new coach called me over to him and sat me down so we could talk. He wanted to let me know that I just didn't have what it would take to compete at the Division I level or what he was looking for in a player, and that he wouldn't need me to be a part of his program. Devastated to say the least, I "redshirted" my first Division I season at Oregon State [in college athletics, the term "redshirt" means a student-athlete who does not participate in competitions for an entire academic year - Azerivolley.com].
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 - Azerivolley.com] Championship ring later. There you'll find me bundled up with my FSU teammates walking to board the program's first ever chartered flight! The plane was taking us to compete in the third round ("Sweet 16") of the NCAA volleyball tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There we played a thrilling match versus University of Kentucky. It took five sets to pull out the victory (on the left) and to make the Elite Eight, another first in the history of Florida State Volleyball! Our next challenger was the University of Minnesota on their home court. The winner was to receive a bid to the Final Four. Unfortunately, we didn't pull this one out and the match ended my college career. I finished as the number one blocker in the conference, fourth in hitting percentage, an All-ACC team player, AVCA All East-Region awards and as an Honorable Mention All-American.
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!
On the ride to the gym I'm sure I looked like a five-year-old staring into a toy store, I was amazed by everything! The biggest shock was how the cars seemed to drive in organized chaos! I gasped a couple of times because literally we were only centimeters from either side swiping a car or vice versa. This has been the biggest adjustment for me here, the traffic laws or the lack of thereof. I've come to realize that even though there are 7 cars squeezing into three lanes, driving like they are on the autobahn, people are much more alert and defensive, so miraculously there are little to no accidents!
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.
I've got plenty more Azerbaijan adventures to share and lots to tell about the city life and the friends I've made. For now though, I'll leave you with this... a short glimpse into the life of Jordana Price, the American from Idaho :)
More to come...
GO SHIRVAN!!!
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