http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/sports/basketball/transition-game-wnba-players-battle-the-blues-in-first-season-abroad.html 2014-11-10 22:51:56 Transition Game: W.N.B.A. Players Battle the Blues in First Season Abroad Women’s basketball players say the money is overseas, but the adjustment can be tough, especially if you’re not in a metropolis, say the first-timers Bria Hartley and Kayla McBride. === SOPRON, Hungary — Bria Hartley and Kayla McBride’s preparation for their first season of professional basketball abroad was not unlike how they prepared for college. Skype accounts were set up. Xboxes were packed. Slingboxes were installed at their parents’ houses, ready to stream American television shows 4,250 miles away. They felt ready for life overseas, even if they could not locate their new home — Sopron, Hungary — on a map. Sopron is a town of about 58,000 people in western Hungary, about 45 miles south of Vienna. Its women’s basketball club, Uniqa Euroleasing Sopron, is the defending champion of the nation’s top professional league and competes in the EuroCup, the second-most prestigious tournament for FIBA Europe members. Hartley and McBride, both 22, completed their first W.N.B.A. seasons in August, and made the trip to Sopron to try to maximize their on-court earning potential, an indoctrination that hundreds of W.N.B.A. players have undergone in the last decade. But they have found that the transition off the court is not so easy, as their first month in a foreign country has largely been filled with bouts of boredom and homesickness. “Everyone’s like if you want to make money, overseas is where the money is,” said Hartley, whose W.N.B.A. team is the Washington Mystics. “You can make a lot more there than in the U.S. I guess it’s just a given, like, oh, I’m going to go overseas eventually.” The average W.N.B.A. player salary is $75,000, not including bonuses and benefits, according to league representatives. Internationally, players regularly earn more than double that playing for teams that are often funded by local governments and private sponsors, or through funds shared with more profitable soccer club partners. Boris Lelchitski, an agent for Hartley and McBride, said smaller towns often had the best women’s basketball teams because they viewed them as a source of pride and would “gladly afford those teams out of the budget in the town.” Recently, the W.N.B.A. created “time off” bonuses of up to $50,000 per team to give to players who limit their overseas competition to three months or less. But for Hartley and McBride, who, as W.N.B.A. rookies, had salaries that were among the league’s lowest, the extra money available from playing in Europe was difficult to eschew, even though other players had negative experiences in Sopron. Shenise Johnson, McBride’s teammate with the San Antonio Stars, played here in 2012 and told McBride that she found the town to be boring, even though the residents were nice. Kelly Faris, Hartley’s teammate at Connecticut, and Tianna Hawkins, a Mystics teammate, had played for Sopron and did not enjoy it. “They were like, good luck,” Hartley said. Hartley, who is from North Babylon, N.Y., and McBride, of Erie, Pa., became friends in high school at the 2010 McDonald’s all-American game, but competed at rival colleges: Hartley at UConn and McBride at Notre Dame. They had offers to play for separate teams in Turkey, and they chose Sopron in large part because of each other. Upon arriving in Sopron, they discovered that they were not as prepared as they had believed. And unlike arriving on campus, there were no dorms or guides to help them acclimate to their new surroundings. “They had someone pick me up from the airport, drop me off at home and were like, ‘We’ll pick you up at this time tomorrow,' " Hartley said. Hartley’s first apartment was in the basement of an older woman’s house. Faris had lived there the year before and cautioned Hartley that it might not be what she expected. Communication was difficult as the woman did not speak English. But the worst part, Hartley said, was a poor Wi-Fi connection, impeding the lifeline of an American expatriate. “It would work for like an hour and then black out for four hours,” Hartley said. “I was like, I can’t live here. I won’t survive at all.” Her new apartment is on the top floor of a three-story building, next door to her coach, Igor Polenek. The lack of streetlights and a lone flickering hallway light can make returning home at night unsettling. When McBride first moved into her one-bedroom apartment, she was tentative about using any electronics after she almost short-circuited her Xbox using an outlet that could not withstand the voltage. “I plugged it in and it would go on and then spark up,” McBride said. “I thought I blew up my Xbox.” Since arriving, neither player has explored the town much. Unlike Budapest or other larger European cities, there are few tourist attractions or malls in Sopron. The city is perhaps best known for its abundance of dentists. Visitors from throughout Europe often travel here to take advantage of the area’s cheap dental care. Living in Sopron, they find joy in the small victories, like finding a shop with free Wi-Fi to help them maintain contact with American friends. UE Sopron provides cars, but Hartley and McBride do not often go joy riding. They were unfamiliar with driving a stick shift, so a team employee gave them lessons. Local street signs are printed in Hungarian and German. Neither of them is fluent in those languages, limiting their automobile travel to the arena for games and practices, or to nearby markets. “I have a really small fridge, so the highlight of our day is going shopping,” said Hartley, who gravitates toward brand name American products like Heinz or Uncle Ben’s rice. “We found a new store, Tesco, it’s a lot more like a Walmart,” McBride said. “It’s our spot now.” In the W.N.B.A. it is common for a majority of the team to live in the same apartment complex, creating a more communal vibe. The missing camaraderie here has led to feelings of loneliness. After a recent practice a teammate was planning a group outing to a movie. She said she did not invite Hartley because the film was in Hungarian. “Sometimes I go to practice, come home, eat and watch TV, that’s all I do,” Hartley said. McBride and Hartley sit side-by-side on team bus rides. They spend so much time together that they occasionally finish each other’s sentences. Their Hungarian teammates all speak some English, but Hartley and McBride said it has been difficult to relate. Some players are still teenagers in college, making Hartley and McBride among the oldest players on the team. “They’ll be having conversations like a normal team, but we can’t really understand what they’re saying, so it’s kind of different,” McBride said. She added: “We’re used to being on our own being in college, but I think that’s where the team comes into play. On bus rides that’s when you get closer with them. It’s hard to do that here.” There is also less of a language barrier on the court. “No matter where we are it’s always basketball,” said McBride, who noted that practices are conducted in English, most likely because of the continuous turnover of American players on the roster. “That always helps.” Not surprisingly, Hartley and McBride have found the most comfort on the court. UE Sopron was undefeated through its first month of play this season. “It’s a little different than I thought,” Hartley said. “I thought it was going be like literally, pass the Americans the ball. But it’s a good system, sharing the ball. We have a lot of young girls with a lot of potential.” Both players understand that the experience of playing internationally varies. Hartley speaks regularly with her UConn and Mystics teammate Stefanie Dolson, who is playing in Russia. There, an interpreter has to communicate directions to her in English during practices. Sue Bird has played in Russia during the W.N.B.A. off-season since 2004. She said that there was an initial wave of timidity and that language barriers would always exist, but they eased over time. “There’s going to be a lot of late nights because you’re on the phone talking to your friends or family — it’s really those things that I think are the hardest,” Bird said. “The advice I’d give is just relax because it’s really not that bad. Once you find your way and get comfortable, you’re good to go.” Hartley and McBride talk to their families on Skype once or twice a week and will return home for two weeks over the holidays in late December, dates they have had circled on their calendars. Relatives are also planning visits after the new year. Amid the gaping hours of solitude that they would normally allot to the company of friends or even American television shows, Hartley and McBride are grateful to be experiencing this new life together. “The only reason I said I would go is because she was here,” Hartley said. “It’s way better to have a friend.” McBride interjected, “Someone who has the same struggles as you.”