NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Sammi Parks has made summer plans to continue her softball career in the Austrian Softball League. Parks, a native of Riverside, Calif. will graduate from Belmont with a degree in political science this December.
A four-year starter for the Bruins, Parks holds the single-season strikeout record during the Division I era with 169 in 2007. In 2009, Parks led the Bruin pitching staff with 117 strikeouts and is one of just eight players to reach triple digits in strikeouts in a single season.
Parks is competing for the Vienna Mosquitoes -- a member of the six-team semiprofessional Austrian Softball League.
Recently, belmontbruins.com exchanged email messages with Parks to get an update on her progress overseas:
BelmontBruins.com: What is the biggest difference between Austria and the United States?
Sammi Parks: "For me there really isn't a huge difference in terms of how the city functions. It works much like any city in the States. The main differences are obviously the language and the architecture. There is a much older style of architecture and the buildings aren't as tall. But as far as everything else goes, it really is just like Nashville. There is the inner city, and then the outskirts and the suburbs. I guess a big difference would be the crime rate. It is a very safe city. You could walk around at night by yourself and have no reason to be scared. Another big difference is the night life here goes on literally, all night. At home, if you go out the places close around 2 or 3 in the morning and here they stay open until 6 or 8 in the morning."
BU: How has your role changed on the softball field in Austria, compared to Belmont?
SP: "My role on the field has changed dramatically. I have gone from just another player, to being the best player on the team. I am also coaching, so many of the players are looking to me for the answers. I think I do a good job of helping them in practice, but it is very new for me during games to be coaching. Sometimes I don't realize that I am supposed to be coaching -- it is very difficult to play and coach at the same time."
BU: How are Austrian softball players different than U.S. softball players?
SP: "Austrian softball players are very different -- this is probably the biggest change for me. Austrian players often start when they are teens or even older. Some of the girls I am playing with have only been playing softball for two years. To them it is more of a hobby, and less like a job. They can't go anywhere with it like Americans can. College is free for them, so the hope of a scholarship doesn't make a difference. Most of them play softball because they enjoy it, not because they have to in order to keep their scholarship. Austrian players are really interested in learning and getting better. They want the sport to develop and get bigger in Austria."
BU: Are there any other U.S. softball players there?
SP: "There are other Americans playing here and most of them are pitchers. Two girls are from Mercer that our team plays and then a few others that I do not know. It is nice to know that there are other people in the same situation as me. I spent the day with one of the other American softball players the other day and it was so nice to be around somebody I could just talk to normally. We shared a lot of the same feelings about our adventures so that was cool."
BU: What is a new habit that you have started overseas?
SP: "My newest habit, and I guess it is a good one, is minding my own business. Back home I always knew everything that was going on and here -- because I can't speak the language -- I have learned to except the fact that I don't need to know everything. In a way, it takes a little bit of weight off your shoulders because not everybody is looking to you for the answers all the time -- they know you don't know. The other habit I have developed is the way I talk. I have noticed myself saying things differently than I normally would, and writing them differently. It is partially because I have to say things in a way that people will understand me, but also because my teammates all speak English but in school they learn British English, so the grammar and vocabulary are slightly different. I am beginning to say things the way they do, just so they understand me better."
BU: What do you miss the most about the States?
SP: "I mostly miss my friends. I have realized after being gone for two weeks how great my friends are. I find myself wanting all of them to be here with me. It is not that I don't like the people I meet here, it is just that the friends I have made in Nashville are so great and fun, and I can have fun with them doing anything."
BU: How have you managed dealing with the German-English language barrier?
SP: "There have been ups and downs with the language barrier. My entire team speaks English very well, so there is no difficulty when speaking with them. The one thing I am finding difficult is not being able to just ramble on and on to people. Anybody who knows me knows that I just go on and on about nonsense and talk a lot. Here I can't do that, so that has been tough because I am not a very shy person. I will pretty much talk to anybody, but here it takes me a little while to talk to people because I don't know if they are going to understand me or not and I don't want to do something wrong and offend somebody. In the city pretty much everybody speaks enough English, so it is really not that hard to get around. I have only had one experience with somebody who did not speak one word of English and that was at a Chocolate shop. We both just kind of spoke using body language and pointing so it all ended up working out."
BU: Last Monday was Memorial Day in the U.S. Have you experienced any Austrian holidays yet?
SP: "I actually have experienced a holiday it is, Christi Himmelfahrt which is the day Christ left the Earth and went to Heaven. It was last Thursday. There is another holiday coming up next Thursday, which is another Catholic holiday. Most of the holidays here are religiously affiliated. They celebrate Easter and Christmas, and Halloween is becoming more popular they say. But there are a ton of holidays here and it is hard to keep up."
