The Lady Demon’s tennis team is entirely made up of international students at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. The 2023-2024 season brought many female student-athletes from different countries around the globe. Some of those countries are Austria, Argentina, Japan, Slovenia and South Africa.
Tjasa Klevisar, junior health and exercise science major, is from Kranj, Slovenia. She has been playing tennis since she was only five years old and her experience being in the United States has been amazing so far, she said.
“I’m from Slovenia, a smaller country in Europe next to Italy,” Klevisar said. “When I finished high school, the previous coach recruited me to get my education and play tennis on a high level.”
Like any foreigner, Klevisar has adjusted to the new sights and life in the U.S.
“Mostly the size and how big everything is and some other basic stuff, but otherwise there weren’t any other differences from my country,” Klevisar said.
Her expectations going into her third year on the court were high for the team as well as herself.
“My expectations for this season are for us to get along as a team, to be connected as a family and to support each other on and off the court,” Klevisar said. “I also want to show others that we can do the best we can with our power.”
Klevisar gave advice to other international students looking to study in the U.S. and potentially at NSU.
“Try it, see the world and it’s a good opportunity. If you don’t like it, you can always go home,” Klevisar said. “I’ve only been to parts of Texas and Louisiana, but seeing other parts of the U.S. is very nice, so just go for it.”
Honoka Umeda, freshman psychology major, is from Kumamoto, Japan. Umeda began playing tennis when she was six years old after looking up to her brother for years. For her, bonding with her teammates is something she aspires toward as she enters her first season at the collegiate level.
“It’s my first season so I don’t know how it’s going to go, but they have three freshmen and we will help each other and then the junior and sophomores help us a lot.”
Umeda came to NSU after visiting in September and loved the welcoming atmosphere.
“My agent said the coaches and the girls on the team were so nice,” she said. “I heard the girls were international so they understand me, for example I cannot speak English, so they help me a lot with that.”
Sofi Garcia, sophomore computer information systems major, is from Buenos Aires, Argentina who started playing tennis when she was seven years old. She explained her relationship first starting out playing tennis then shared her journey to NSU.
“In my country it was hard, especially tennis, because it’s a very expensive sport,” Garcia explained. “That’s why I came to NSU for new opportunities.”
She also touched on the fact that in Argentina, balancing sports and education can be very difficult.
“Like I said in my country, it’s hard to study and play the sport at the same time, so I came here to do both at the same time and I love it,” Garcia said.
Much like Umeda, the language is a cultural difference she struggles with while being in the U.S.
“The language is one, because English is my second language and Spanish is my first, so I’d say that was the hardest thing in my opinion,” Garcia said. “But day by day it’s much better and I feel more comfortable.”
While language can be a struggle for Gracia and Umeda, they look past that because there’s something more important to them than a language barrier, team and unity.
“Team and unity while being a family, but obviously all of us want to win and get the victory,” Garcia said. “But we are doing good day by day and we are ready for everything and every challenge.”
Sara Erenda, freshman psychology major, is from Hall in Tirol, Austria. Erenda explained that even though she was born in Austria, both her parents are Croatian and she’s always loved to play tennis from a young age.
“I started playing tennis when I was three-years-old with my dad and sister,” she said. “I entered my first tournament when I was eight and I’ve been playing ever since.”
For Erenda, making it to this point in her life was a journey and a process to play on the collegiate level of her sport.
“I just practiced and tried to do my best, and then somehow in the last year of highschool, college coaches started contacting me,” Erenda said. “At first, I wasn’t interested in playing college tennis, but then I thought let’s give it a chance and it could be a great experience to keep playing while getting a degree.”
From talking to the coaches, they explained to her that Natchitoches is a small town and it’s a family at NSU, which she admired.
“I thought it was great to be on a campus where you know people and they’re your friends and will maybe even feel like a second family,” Erenda said. “At the end of the day, I knew that’s where I wanted to be.”
Erenda encourages everyone to take that leap and see the opportunity through, because it’s those reluctant or scary paths that led her and her teammates to find each other and grow together as players.
