Another Season in the Books

The first sports experience she can remember is accompanying her dad at the track to watch the horses.  It wouldn't be long, however, until she was dribbling, catching and trying to shoot a basketball.  From the land of chocolate, waffles, fries and beer, Jana Raman speaks Flemish, French, English and is now improving her Spanish.  She plays for Belgium's national team and helped them qualify--for the first time in history-- for the Olympics back in February of 2020.  Hopefully they'll actually be able to participate in the summer of 2021.  Jana has worked hard to combine academics and athletics.  She's a licensed Podiatrist and knows what it's like to work all day at the clinic and then go to practice at night.  Here's her story!  

Walking down the street in her hometown of Lisbon, Portugal, Luiana was recruited to come on over and try her luck on the basketball court.  She was only 11 years old at the time and probably hadn't reached the beautiful 6'3 she is today, but whoever that coach was saw potential.  Lu's knack for basketball took off running and it wasn't long before she was suiting up with the different age categories of Portugal's National Team.  Basketball ended up taking Lu to the United States, Germany, Spain and the UK.  She received her undergrad from UCLA and recently finished a Masters while playing in the United Kingdom.  Humility, hard work and a desire to succeed, Luiana Livulo pushed through obstacles and continues to put one foot in front of the other.  She's just living her life, she says.  

She grew up on a farm, country style in the midwest, Custer, Wisconsin to be exact.  She didn't start playing basketball until the 6th grade which was fairly late even for the early 90s.  Her passion for the game of basketball, her touch around the rim, her pin point passes and her feet--especially her feet--have taken her around the world (Spain, Slovakia, Russia, Turkey, Poland, China, Italy and Sweden) as a professional basketball player. WNBA Champion, Janel McCarville commands respect in the paint.  Sneaky passes, put backs, rebounds, screens and beautiful post play, Janel does it all and she does it with class, style and a smile on her face.  She's a great story teller as well, listen in!

La deportista de Tres Cantos se fue a jugar al Movistar Estudiantes con 14 años y ahí es cuando cambió el chip.  Ella misma decidió a cambiar su actitud y a dar lo máximo de sí en cada repetición y cada ejercicio.  Este cambio le llevo a disfrutar aún más en la pista y le llevo a los EEUU con una beca donde triunfaría en las pistas y las aulas de sus clases.  Carmen Grande gozó en el extranjero gracias a la mentalidad que llevaba cultivando desde los 14 añitos.  

From a hobby farm in the small town of Albany, Australia, Zoe Harper made the five hour move north to Perth where she'd be adjusting to a city of one million plus habitants and attending a high school which specialized in basketball.  Two years later she'd be crossing various time zones and landing in the city of Minneapolis where she'd spend the next four years of her life studying and playing Division 1 basketball as a Golden Gopher.  Listen in as this country girl from Australia tells her tale.  

With thirty years of Division 1 basketball coaching under her belt, Barb Smith shares her story as a young player, then college coach and now as a self made entrepreneur.  From the 70s to the 2020s, Barb Smith has seen it, heard it and experienced it all from a player's and coach's perspective.  Almost ten years ago she launched a consulting and motivational speaking business called Courtside Leadership, in the last couple weeks she published her first book, Beyond the Talent: Profile of a Winning Team, and now she's coming down the stretch with a business that's been quite a few years in the making, Find My Team.  Bubbling with wisdom, insight and a great sense of humor, Barb Smith takes us for a ride in this episode of, Another Season in the Books.

Temeka Johnson never stopped believing in herself.  She didn't listen to the naysayers, but instead, followed the little voice inside her heart.  That little voice took her all the way to the WNBA where she became the Rookie of the Year in 2005, won a WNBA championship in 2009 and played professionally in places like Israel, Russia, Turkey, Poland, France and Spain.  That little voice allowed Temeka to do great things and now that she's hung up her sneakers she continues to do great things.  Check out Temeka Johnson and HOPE online to see what she's got going. 

Una deportista de Asturias, España jugando en el prestigioso Ivy League (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell y la universidad de Pensilvania),  de los Estados Unidos, estudiando una carrera doble de Neurociencia y Psicología ademas de estar ejerciendo en el equipo de baloncesto.  Jimena Abejon nos cuenta como es la vida de un Student Athlete dentro del campus de Dartmouth, como era el proceso de entrada, porque le gusta formar parte de una hermandad y que es lo que echa de menos de su tierra, cachopo, puede ser?  Jimena nos dice como pasó sus primeros dos años en una universidad ilustre de New Hampshire, rodeado por un bosque muy denso y en la compañía de sus compañeras quienes les gustan escuchar al Hip Hop y no al Reggaetón.   

The basketball world is very small, so when I met Coach for the first time I wasn't expecting him--a guy from Belgrade, Serbia-- to tell me he had coached for the Minnesota Timberwolves and lived in Minneapolis.  In September of 2005 Aleksandar Džikić was the second European to be hired as a full time assistant coach in the NBA. At that time I was starting my sophomore year of college just across the Mississippi river from Coach's place, maybe we even passed each other on the Stone Arch Bridge. Aleksandar has coached in the top leagues around the world and in a variety of countries.  He speaks phenomenal English, has a great sense of humor, might look/sound intimidating but don't let his appearance fool you, he's a friendly guy who'll give of his time if you ask nicely.  We talk about his childhood in Belgrade, the rigorous basketball coaching degree he earned in Serbia, his time spent in MN (ice fishing isn't his thing), how basketball has affected his personal life, and his views on the European basketball system compared to the American.   

Veterinaria y deportista de elite, Bea Royo viene de la preciosa ciudad de Zaragoza y ahí es donde se hizo la universidad y donde desarrolló su pasión por el baloncesto.  Siempre dispuesta a trabajar y echar horas, Bea iba compaginando su carrera con su vida como deportista.  Y cuando ya tenia su diploma en mano, aprovechó para mejorar su ingles, yendo a sitios como Inglaterra y Australia para jugar al baloncesto.  Una mujer inquieta, con ganas de comerse el mundo.