By :Aaron Smothers

Florence Ward hunches over, sweat glistening under the bright lights of UNF
arena. She notices the rubber band holding her hair bac has loosened, she
re!ties it in a messy bun and begrudgingly hurries to the team huddle.
As UNF women"s head coach #ary $a%%meyer gives a %ost!%ractice %e% tal,
Ward eyes wonder &until they meet those of $aru #adeivi.
$he connection is obvious instantly. No taling is needed, facial e'%ressions
aren"t necessary !these two are the same accord.
(oach $a%%meyer wra%s u% her s%eech and the team disburses, Ward and
#adeivi lin lie magnets on their way to the locer room. A sight that has
become the norm for the two collegiate athletes.
)owever the two shares more than huddle stare!o*s and strolls to the
women"s locer rooms. $he two best friends are not only teammates on the
University of North Florida"s +ady ,s%reys basetball team, but the two are
also the lone international e'%orts on the team! something that has brought
the two together.
)ailing from Salisbury, -ngland, Ward admits the transition to the United
States a year ago was very di.cult. Ward had struggled to get use to U.S.
customs and its general way!of!life.
/0 cried all the time when 0 1rst got here. A loner, 0 had no friends really. As
you can imagine, 0 really missed home and 0 almost wanted to leave and go
bac.2
Until, of course, she met #adeivi.
#adeivi hails from $uru, Finland but has s%ent a few years in the states
%rior to coming to UNF. Naturally she gravitated towards Ward, as she too
remembered what it felt lie to be some%lace foreign.
/She basically too me under the wings and hel%ed me gras% an
understanding of how things wor over here,2 said Ward of #adivi. /We"ve
bonded on the fact that we"re a little di*erent from everyone else.2
#adeivi is currently home in Finland where she usually s%ends her summers
before %re%%ing for the u%coming school year and season. $hey"ve manage
to ee% contact through social media %latforms lie i and sna%chat.
Ward, now starting to reach her comfort 3one, 1nds it a lot easier now to be
away from both -ngland and #adeivi. Now, her focus is a lot more
basetball oriented as she continues ada%ting to collegiate basetball, where
%laying time has come at a %remium!something Ward was not e'%ecting.
/0t"s a little rough not getting the same amount of %laying time that
everyone else gets, but 0 now 0 can"t sul about it. 0 4ust have to continue on
wor hard and have a good attitude,2 said the so%homore.
$hat same attitude has been infectious, as /Flo2, as she lies to be called, has
ironically become one of the more %o%ular members of the team!a team that
has made it a mission for Ward to be as comfortable as %ossible.
50t"s the accent 0 thin, /Ward 4oed. /$hey love me because of the accent.2
$he UNF +ady ,s%reys are currently in the midst of conditioning in
%re%aration for the u%coming season which starts later this Fall.