RAINBOW WAHINE BASKETBALL
Zagrobelna feels at home here
Iwona Zagrobelna has come a long way to play for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine.
Not only is she thousands of miles from her home in Poland, she arrived in this country not knowing any English.
"I never intended to come to the United States, so I never learned English," said Zagrobelna, who enrolled at Weatherford (Texas) College in the fall of 2003.
NEW MEXICO STATE AT HAWAII
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
Tickets: All seats general admission. $8 adults, $6 seniors. UH students with valid ID and children ages 4-18 free.
Parking: $3.
Note: The Rainbow Wahine are 57-24 (.704) in home WAC games.
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A teammate a year ahead of Zagrobelna at SMS Pzkosk High School in Warsaw, Poland, was at Weatherford and encouraged her to continue her basketball career there.
"When I graduated from high school, I was going to go back home (to Wroclaw, about 8 hours from Warsaw), but my club team kind of fell apart," Zagrobelna said.
"The Weatherford coach (Bob McKinley) kept calling me. Finally, in early August, I made up my mind to go."
Although there was an Eastern European community in Weatherford, Zagrobelna found school difficult because she had to translate every word.
Then she tore the ACL in her right knee before the season started.
"I had a terrible time trying to answer all the questions at the hospital," Zagrobelna said. "I'm a really shy person, so it took me a long time to speak to someone in English."
She conquered the language barrier, rehabbed, returned home for the summer and practiced with the Polish national team to get back in shape. There was never a thought about not playing again.
"It was obvious to me that I would keep playing. When I got back to playing it felt like I had only been away two weeks," Zagrobelna said.
She played two seasons for the Road Runners, was the conference defensive player of the year as a freshman and all-conference both seasons despite spraining her right ankle during her sophomore season.
McKinley encouraged her to transfer to a school in a more competitive conference than the Western Athletic Conference.
Zagrobelna visited Oregon State, then Hawaii, then canceled trips to Indiana and Texas Christian.
"Once I visited Hawaii, I knew this was the place for me," she said. "I'm from Europe and cold weather. I knew if I had a chance to be in the weather here, I couldn't pass on that."
She received her associate's degree from Weatherford and, once the paperwork was complete, arrived on the Manoa campus in time to attend both summer sessions.
"I'm very glad I came in the summer. It helped me to adjust and get to know my teammates," said Zagrobelna, who discovered a small Polish community here at a picnic at Kapiolani Park.
She also found a room to rent with a lady from Poland, who, along with a friend from Poland, attends the Wahine games and holds up a sign in Polish that says, "Let's go Iwona."
"She is like my mom. It's really nice to have a second family," Zagrobelna said.
In 10 games for the Wahine, Zagrobelna is averaging 4.7 points and four rebounds per game. The 6-foot-4 post player is the team leader in blocked shots (21).
An economics major, she hasn't decided what she will do after graduation, although pro basketball in Europe is an option.
"I know if I leave the U.S., it will be difficult to come back, but I can't imagine my life without basketball. I think my life would be empty without basketball," she said.