by Jamie Church
Jennifer Walkling never expected to play basketball overseas after graduation. The six-foot forward was earning a degree in psychology and had other plans for her time after FDU. That is, until Coach Peter Cinella asked her "why not?". During his first season, and her senior year, Cinella urged Walkling to accept an invitation to play in a tournament hosted by the WNBA held in Tampa, the site of the 2008 women's Final Four. The Westminster, Maryland native figured she had nothing to lose and attended the tournament, playing in front of WNBA players, coaches, scouts, agents and "every one you could imagine" as she describes it. It was there that she met her agent, Raul Jiminez.
Using Walkling's impressive statistics from her career at FDU and highlight tape showcasing her advanced interior presence, Jiminez helped Walkling market herself as a player. Walkling averaged 17 points with 9.7 rebounds per game during her senior season. She scored 511 points and led the Knights in 23 contests while tallying 66 assists in over one thousand minutes. She scored a total of 1,243 points during her career at Fairleigh Dickinson and has been named to the FDU All-Time Roster. It's not surprising that without even trying out Walkling signed a one-year contract with a Spanish professional basketball club. On August 17th, 2008, Walkling boarded a plane destined for Valls, Spain.
The psychology curriculum at FDU required Walkling to take Spanish classes, a feature that has helped tremendously in her time abroad. Although she admits the language barrier has been difficult at times, her Spanish teammates are always there to help.
Walkling was the only American player among a team full of Spanish speaking women; without friends, family or even an idea of what life in Spain was like, her teammates became her roommates and her family. She says she instantly felt comfortable, and grew closer to her teammates. Many of the Spanish women and their families spoke English, making the adjustment easier on Walkling.
Walking lived with three of her teammates, and spent much of her time with them both for basketball or fun. A typical routine in Spain consisted of breakfast with her roommates, an hour and a half of shooting around together in the morning, lifting two days a week, an hour and a half long practice each night full of technical work, review of plays and drills and along with one game per week. Because the team only plays one game a week, Walkling describes the Spanish basketball season as "dragged out" compared to a US season. Spanish basketball is also relaxed compared to its counterpart in the US. Walkling says it is hard to adjust to their practice and coaching styles. In Spain, teams do not always have practice the day before a game, and never warm-up together immediately before a contest. Coaches expect players to do drills correctly, stay in shape and perform well, all with self-discipline. "I never liked to hear a coach yell at me when I played in the United States, but now I miss it," she says, "they expect you to do it all yourself".
Even with all the adjustments, Walkling enjoyed her experience overseas and is looking forward to going back again. This year she's signed with UE Mataró, a team in the northeast of Spain, located near Barcelona and along the Mediterranean Sea. Walkling describes herself as a beach girl, and can't wait to be back in Spain. She's excited to be close to the beach and the city, and be able to explore Barcelona with her teammates. Unlike last year, she says she won't be comparing life in Spain to life in the US. Although she misses her teammates from FDU, and the family she had there, she's enjoyed the culture change and the traveling, and even the lack of technology.
Walkling loves every minute of her time in Europe but is still a Knight at heart.
