.png&type=webp)
University of Massachusets Athletics
Collens' Court: International Flair Gives Tennis Family Feel
March 26, 2015 | Tennis
It's late night at Berkshire Dining Common and Ana Yrazusta and Anna Woosley are sharing a plate of Berk's famous fries as they discuss their season coming to a close while A-10's approach. The Spanish native from Las Palmas has had an incredible year thus far playing one and two singles for the Minutewomen while battling the challenges of being homesick. Luckily for Yrazusta she has great friends like Woosely and Carol Benito to give her support and make her feel right at home.
The UMass tennis team has four internationals of the 11 total players. The duo from New Delhi, India, Aarzoo Malik and Carol Benito, are roommates and have known each other nearly ten years. With a 30-hour journey from their home to Massachusetts, the two share common grounds with other internationals over long journeys and unwanted jet lag.
"You feel like you are not going through everything by yourself," Yrazusta commented on having other internationals on the team.
Benito, who is not only from India but as well Spain, is doubles partner to Yrazusta and the pair could not stop talking about how they miss the Spanish food culture.
Carol spilled on her favorite dish and how she felt about campus dining. "I really miss the Spanish omelet. The food here is good but it's not home food."
Sophomore, Anna Woosley from West Sussex England, gets along with everyone on the team but it's safe to say her best friend is American teammate, Julia Larson.
"Although I am international we have a lot in common and have similar personalities. I think it's really interesting how we come from very different cultural backgrounds and still have so many similarities," Anna added.
Julia agreed saying that "it's very fun learning about each other and our differences. It makes us closer."
The internationals not only miss their home food but a lot of them, if not all, are very close to their families. Yrazusta is an only a child who is very close to her parents and cousins. She talked some about how when she get's homesick it comes and goes in week's time. Mr. and Mrs. Yrazusta sent their daughter Jamón Serrano, which is one of Spain's finest meats. Jamón Serrano is a salty, aged ham that is typically served in thin slices. It certainly brought Yrazusta great comfort seeing as she didn't share with anyone. Who could blame her?
A package from Spain is not the only thing arriving across seas. Anna Woolsey's parents spoil her with England's well-known delicious chocolates. Anna's basket filled of Cadbury Mini Eggs and Galaxy's Cookie Crumble in celebration of Easter approaching.
For the India duo Aarzoo and Carol, you can find hand made scarves from Fab India and incense from a small boutique in Chennai in their goodie bags. Of course you cannot forget some sort of spice since that is India's trademark. Lay's Magic Masala chips are a favorite of Ms. Malik's and are only sold in India.
Aarzoo isn't just a fan of India's food. In fact, she can't get enough of America's huge proportions and constant refills everywhere.
"Aside from food, some of the things I really appreciate about America is the gender equality in Western Massachusetts. I think it's an important way of life to live by and there is way more freedom of expression here on these topics than an India. I am in full support of equal communities."
This isn't to say that Aarzoo doesn't miss her home and family. Malik could not stop talking about her reliance on her family and how hard it can be to not have her family close to help her out through some of the struggles she may have being away. She struggles not having her younger brother Armaan around to have fun with.
Anna from England can certainly relate to not having her brother around. Her 16-year-old brother James has been her best friend since day one and while they FaceTime a couple times a week it's not nearly enough compared to the time they used to spend together. Although James is not a tennis player, he is a great golfer and can relate to sports ups and downs alongside Anna, which helps bond the two.
"It's really nice to be able to talk to him about typical athlete problems such as being sore a lot, dedication and sacrificing, etc. We do typical brother-sister picking on each other but in the end of the day I love him and he loves me."
While the tennis team is one big family the four-abroad players definitely consider themselves sisters. Just as a typical family they have their moments with each other when they are together 24/7, but for the majority of the time it's all giggles and smiles here for UMass women's tennis.
"Judy and JC do a great job of choosing who comes onto this team and I really appreciate that. When you don't have a good group of girls it really can affect your results on the court. You need support and the closer you are the more you can feel safe and comfortable on a team," Carol Benito added as she addresses the team functionality.
The face of Massachusetts's tennis won't change too much next year considering they are a very young team only losing beloved seniors Chanel Glasper and Gianna Francis. With the addition of Ruth Crawford who is already close with many of the girls on the team, women's tennis won't face much change in the family dynamic as they did this year with more half the team being new.
Brittany Collens is a sophomore on the UMass tennis team and hails from Manchester, Mass. As a feature writer for UMassAthletics.com, Brittany will show fans and alums different sides of UMass, our great student-athletes and our dedicated staff. Check out more of Brittany's work as she also writes for the Daily Collegian and works for UVC-TV!
