Chelsie Schweers ('11) was signed to a contract with the Panathinaikos Greens last week, making her the first CNU women's basketball player in school history to play professionally. CNUsports.com has asked Schweers to blog her experiences from across the pond and will check in weekly with Captains fans through the new feature It's All Greek to Me...

Blog #1: Get Her to the Greek

Hey everybody! As some of you may already know, I finally got the call I've been waiting my whole life for… and I have been given the opportunity to play professional basketball! I wanted to start a blog to stay connected with my friends, family and fans and so I can bring you an inside look at my first “job”!
 
Life in Greece is certain to be a lot different for me, so stay tuned to CNUsports.com every week as I bring you all the details…
 
So, last week, I was sitting at home on Tuesday morning when I got a call from an agent. He asked me if I was interested in going to play for a team in Athens, Greece. I told him I was definitely interested, but he is from Europe so I had a hard time understanding everything he was saying. I asked him to email me the details, and not 30 minutes later, I was reading an email that said he wanted me to be in Athens no later than Thursday!
 
At this point, I was still considering an offer I had received from another agent to play in an 11-day tournament in Dubai. The Athens contract would be through at least March 29^th, though, so before I told my parents or anyone else, I started doing some research on Athens. I was thinking if I didn't find it too appealing I wouldn't say anything and just go to Dubai.
 
After doing some research it sounded like a pretty sweet place, so I called my mom first and, of course, she was excited for me. I mean, after all, I had been waiting for this opportunity for at least eight months! After that I called my dad. He was very excited for me as well and said I needed to go because it would teach me a lot about life and I'd be playing professional basketball which has been my dream since I was seven years old.
 
I waited until Wednesday to call the agent back and tell him I was accepting the offer to play in Greece. I got the official contract later in the day Wednesday and then I received my plane ticket. I was set to leave at 1:20 pm on Thursday, January 26^th. It was definitely overwhelming knowing that I would be leaving less than two days from when I was first contacted.
 
I had no idea where to start packing for a place I could possibly be for about three months. I just began putting all my favorite basketball shorts and shirts in a pile and went from there. I managed to keep it down to just two suitcases and a carry-on. After I finished packing, my mom and I talked for a while about how my new life would be for the next three months and I began to get very excited. 
 
The big day was finally here! I woke up early Thursday morning and had breakfast at my favorite spot, the Sunrise Cafe. I went back to my house and grabbed my stuff and went to the airport, where things got a little rough. Everyone was happy for me, of course, but it's always hard to leave your family. This was the first time I was ever leaving the country! They were sad to see me go…I was going to be 7,000 miles away in a new country! That's a little nerve-wracking, especially for my mom because we are very close. My family kept reassuring me that I was going to have a great time and everything would be okay. 
 
After I went through security I sat down, my mind just started racing with a million different thoughts and ideas. I was thinking what in the world have I gotten myself into? Two days before I had no idea I would even be going and here I was, about to board the plane…it was a lot to take in all at once.
 
My first flight was only going to be 45 minutes to JFK airport in New York and from there I would be going directly to Athens. My flight to Athens was to be about 10 hours. I calmed my nerves and boarded the plane in Norfolk. Then, as if just to mess with me, the pilot came on and said there some bad weather in New York and that we needed to get off the plane and we would re-board in a hour and a half. My opportunity to play professional basketball had finally arrived and, of course, there were issues with the flight! I was very nervous because my connecting flight only had about an hour and a half layover, so I knew at JFK I was going to have to hustle to make my flight. Everything went well, though, and I did make it, I just didn't have time to grab food or anything. 
 
I knew there was going to be some “culture shock” when I arrived in Greece, but little did I know that it would begin when I boarded the plane in New York! Everyone on the plane was from Greece and didn't speak English. It was at that point that I realized how different it was going to be for the next few months.
 
The plane ride was smooth, and I even fell asleep for about six of the 10 hours. I arrived in Greece at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning, local time, which is 2:30 a.m. in Virginia. I went and picked up my luggage and a manager from the team was waiting for me at the airport. He took me directly to the office to sign my contract and then to my apartment. I met my roommate, who was so helpful calming me down because I was definitely a bit nervous at first. She is a 6'0 tall post player from Hartford University in Connecticut.
 
After I dropped off my stuff, I got ready and we headed to practice. They introduced me to everyone and they were all so happy to have me as a part of the Panathinaikos Club. Practice was a little different than I'm used to, considering my coach doesn't speak any English, but they do have a couple of translators so it wasn't too bad. I learned four plays that day and they gave me my uniform. I'm wearing number nine for now, but hopefully I will be able to change it. I was #10 my whole life before CNU and then #11 as a Captain so I was thinking maybe I could be #12 here! We'll see.
 
My crazy week continued on Saturday…GAME DAY!  We had a game scheduled for 4:00 p.m. This was going to be an away game but only about 10 minutes drive from our gym. I was nervous because my coach told me he was going to play me even though I had only had one day of practice.
 
When we arrived at the gym some police escorted us inside and some fans of the other team started a riot. Welcome to professional basketball in Greece! The game ended up being canceled. I'm not sure when the make-up will be played, but our next game is not until next Saturday. I feel relieved because now I have an entire week to go over the plays and get more comfortable with the team and more time to get in the gym on my own time and get some shots up! 
 
Unfortunately I haven't had much time to see the sights of this new country yet but when I do, I will tell you all about it. For now my main problem is this time difference. We are seven hours ahead of Virginia and the past two days I have gone to sleep at like 6 a.m and slept all day until about 4 p.m. I have to get better about making myself go to bed!
 
I hope everyone is doing great back home and I appreciate all the support, y'all are the best! Talk to you soon with more on my life playing pro ball in Greece!