UNA Volleyball’s De Leon Loves Florence, But Misses Salsa Dancing in Puerto Rico
Nov. 5, 2014
Bryan Rachal, Public Affairs and Media Relations
FLORENCE, Ala. – To say San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Florence, Alabama, are slightly different places is an understatement. San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico and has a population of more than 395,000. Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County and has a population of slightly more than 40,000. Lions are not native to San Juan; whereas, Florence is where Lions come to roar! What the two cities have in common is that both have been the home of Andrea De Leon. De Leon is currently a junior at the University of North Alabama, majoring in biology, but she is also a native of San Juan. How she made her way to Florence is an interesting story and it all started with Volleyball.
“Volleyball in Puerto Rico is huge; everyone plays volleyball! We’re like a big, big family. There are so many club teams and there is so much rivalry between clubs; and then if you switch clubs you’re a traitor! We have tournaments; because Puerto Rico is such a small island, we have tournaments during the weekends and we would travel the whole island, and play against each other.”
The heavy emphasis on volleyball in the country no doubt helped De Leon end up where she is today, a setter and starting member of the UNA Volleyball team. However, like most athletes that excel, De Leon needed some adversity to inspire her to be the best. It started at a young age.
“In 4th grade I went to volleyball tryouts in my school and the coach didn’t choose me because I didn’t know the rotations in volleyball. That made me really mad, and I told my mom that I wanted to be part of a team. I always wanted to be part of a team. So one day my mom picked me up from school and she had bought some spandex and tennis shoes, and she said put this on, I have a surprise for you. So she drove me to a club volleyball team and I had my first volleyball practice; and I remember my forearms hurting from all the passing, but it was really fun!”
De Leon was a fast learner and after one year she made it to starting lineup for the club’s team one and took her first trip to Orlando in the 6th grade. Every year she got better and traveled all over the U.S. playing club volleyball. During her sophomore year of high school, De Leon was asked to join one of the larger volleyball clubs in Puerto Rico. This team was designed to give volleyball players, with the grades and talent, an opportunity to play at the collegiate level in the States, in front of collegiate scouts. De Leon said she played in California, Texas, Louisiana and Maryland, to name a few.
During her junior year of high school, De Leon was initially recruited by Georgia State, but after two years in Atlanta she decided that she needed to transfer. “I think I made the right decision here. I feel really comfortable here, playing for Coach Radecki. She makes me feel good; it’s like a family here, so I like it!”
As many will agree, it’s one thing to travel to another place but quite a different thing to move there. So when De Leon arrived in Atlanta for her first year of college it was a shocking experience. “It was really hard my first semester; oh my God, I missed home so bad! I didn’t understand many of the accents and people had to repeat themselves two or three times for me to understand. Plus you’re in season right off the bat so you don’t have time to socialize or make friends because all you have is the team, volleyball and school.”
That first year, De Leon had not planned on spending Thanksgiving at home in San Juan, but she felt like she really needed it. So she went back to Puerto Rico and said it was the best time of her life. “It was the best! Then I came back and I felt better and since then it gets better every day and every semester,” she said.
For De Leon, one of the biggest changes was not just how people sound, but the culture in the States was very different, mainly the music. “Obviously we have different music. I like dancing Salsa! There’s no place to dance Salsa here, so the first thing I do when I go home is go to a Salsa place to dance with my friends!”
Food can also make or break an experience, and thankfully for De Leon, the South and Puerto Rico have some things in common. “I do love the food. Southern food and Puerto Rican food are not that different. I mean, like the fried stuff; we eat a lot of fried stuff too. I love friend chicken!” But what De Leon said she misses the most is her mom’s home cooked rice, because, she said, rice here is different. “Sometimes, my mom sends me rice from home, she said.
San Juan and Atlanta are both very large cities, so when De Leon transferred to UNA for her junior year, getting used to a smaller town was an adjustment as well.
“When I first came to my visit here, I was like ‘WOW! This is so different’; but it was a good kind of different. I like small towns because everyone knows you and if you need help they’ll give you a hand. If you’re in a big city you can be struggling and people will just pass by and not help; I like that about here. It’s a small town and everyone has each other’s backs.”
Campus life has also been enjoyable for De Leon, who said UNA is relaxing and not too fast paced. She said she loves football games and loves having a winning team on campus, which is certainly an upgrade from Georgia State. “I like campus life; it’s relaxing and chill. I can do stuff if I want; there’s definitely things to do. My major is biology, so I don’t have much time when I’m in season; but when I do want to do something, there’s always something to do, so I like it!”
Of course, one of the main reasons De Leon is here, besides getting an education, is to help the Lion Volleyball team excel. After a difficult season last year, this year is looking very bright. The team has already secured its spot in the Gulf South Conference Volleyball Tournament. De Leon attributes it to all the talent on the team this year.
“This is a really talented group. I would say that every position is two or three players deep. If you’re not playing well, this person will do the job; if she’s not playing well, this person will do the job. That’s what I feel that has helped us so much. You won’t always have a good day. Sometimes you have a bad day, okay but, the team needs to win. So it’s okay you can sit the bench for a while, and we’ll put someone in and she’ll do the job, and that’s what I feel is helping us a lot. Everyone has been on the same page since the first day we got here.”
Another factor is the strong play from the many freshmen on the squad. Players like Ashtyn Kapovich, Lexi Bradley and Megan Wadsworth, to name a few. “That’s been the key for us, said De Leon. That’s literally been the key. Starting middle Megan Wadsworth, she’s been doing so well. She stepped on the court and you can notice her presence, and she’s a freshman. Lexi, another freshman on the court, does the job when she’s out there. Ashtyn, the libero, she’s a freshmen too. She’s leading in aces right now in the conference, that’s amazing. We’ve got freshmen doing their jobs and that’s what we need, people to step up and do their jobs so we can be successful as a team.”
But with all the talent comes high expectations as well. So would it be a failure if this team doesn’t win a Gulf South Championship? “I don’t think it will be a failure, but I want to win the conference championship. So I don’t think it will be a failure, but we’re a really talented team…so yeah.”
As mentioned, De Leon is currently majoring in biology; when she graduates, she hopes to go to medical school with dreams of possibly becoming a pediatrician. “My whole life I wanted to be a pediatrician. I always told my pediatrician when I was a kid: ‘I want to be like you when I grow up.’ So that’s been there my whole life, but I don’t know. I know I want to work with kids, but I’m not sure so...’”
As for staying in the States after she gets her medical degree, De Leon said, “I want to go back home! I love Puerto Rico; it’s the perfect weather. I don’t need to have winter clothes. I can just have my shorts and my jeans and that’s okay.”
Even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, De Leon could still be considered an international student. She said she takes advantage of the services offered by UNA’s Office of International Affairs and encourages other international students to look very closely at what UNA has to offer.
“I would say it’s an adventure and an experience that will definitely help you become a better person. It will shape you. I think UNA is great; it’s a great school for international students. There are a lot of activities on campus. I feel really accepted here; people don’t look at me wrong because I speak Spanish. They ask me what language I speak and then they try to have a conversation with me in Spanish. So I feel that if you’re an international student and you want to go somewhere in the States, I think UNA is the perfect place to come.”
For more information more information on Lion Volleyball: http://www.roarlions.com/Volleyball/
For more information on the Office of International Affairs:
http://www.una.edu/international/
For more information on UNA’s Biology program: