How I ended up in Kuusamo

As promised earlier in my long overdue update post, I will get more in depth with some things and events that happened in my life over the Summer. One of those being (as the title suggests) where I ended up playing this season. But before that, we need a little backstory.

Last year I played my first professional season abroad in Lugano. I loved every minute of it, despite some of the problems during the season. It was an amazing experience and I knew that I wanted to keep exploring the world and see how far I can make it as a volleyball player. Volleyballwise everything went according to plan too. Even though I wasn't a starting player, I got to play a lot and developed in areas that needed improving. Most importantly I developed and changed as a person (more on that in another post). Over Christmas I was selected for the national team and too my suprise, got to paly a lot there too. I was also with the national team for most of the past Summer, which I wasn't before my rookie season abroad. All of this gave me a much more stable base to finding a good club for my second season as a pro.

As the 2018-2019 season came to an end, I returned to Finland and started training with the national team. At this point I got quite a few offers from different Finnish clubs but didn't really pay much attention to them, as I was set on heading abroad. It wasn't until I received a eye-catching offer from the past season's bronze medal team Pölkky Kuusamo, that I stopped to think about it more. I did still end up telling my agent (Dirk Sauermann/Volleynetwork International) to turn it down. If I remember correctly, it was he who suggested we ask if they would be willing to consider adding an option to the offer. The option being, I could still take a contract abroad, as long as it is signed before the 15th of August. Kuusamo agreed and to me this was the best possible situation as I new I had a good place in case I couldn't find anything abroad. At this point though, I didn't actually think I would be playing in Kuusamo.

The Summer was flying by and offers came and went but none really appealed to me. In hindsight, I was probably being a lot pickier than last year because my thoughts were a lot clearer on what I wanted. In no time August came around and I still didn't have a club abroad. That and the additional blow of being cut as one of the last players from the European Championship team made me doubt myself and I started to realize I might very well return to Finland to play this season. And sure enough - on the 15th of August - I packed my stuff and headed to Kuusamo.

The couple of weeks after that were a blur really. I was pretty confused and didn't really know how to feel because this wasn't something I had planned for at all. I would be lying to myself if I said my initial reaction was disappointment in myself more than anything else. Not that there was anything wrong with coming back, the level of the Finnish league trumps many others in Europe and it is only getting better. It was just that I had a picture painted in my head and when that shattered I felt very lost. I'm a planner and I just hadn't planned on this happening.

So as I said, initially I was pretty confused and didn't really know how to feel. Now it is crystal clear to me that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. I don't think I have the words to describe how grateful I am to be on this team. To anyone who has asked me (and people are probably getting tired of hearing this) I have said that I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun playing club volleyball. And that is all thanks to the team we have right here from the coaches and staff to all the players, especially the players. I've met so many amazing people here, its almost overwhelming (but in the best possible way!). It makes a huge difference in your overall mood and especially in your performance on the court, when everything in the group around you just clicks into place. Paradoxally, I have to say that I'm really, really happy I didn't find a club abroad. I wouldn't want to miss out on being a part of this team for the world.

I want to finish this post off with a quote (espeacially for all my planners out there) from Charlie Brown himself. My mom introduced me to this quote and if I'm not mistaken, its the screensaver on her computer.

"My entire life can be described in one sentence: it didn't go as planned and that's ok".

(I know this is in the past tense but I strongly believe it can be applied to how you feel at this very moment, regardless of what stage in life you are going through.)

x Jess