Aussies on board

Most of Mount Royal University’s athletic recruiting takes place in its own backyard. Cougar Athletics has a lot of homegrown talent and coaches actively recruit from high schools in the Calgary area. But just because the majority of Mount Royal’s student-athletes are Alberta natives doesn’t mean the coaches don’t look elsewhere for talent. Their connections have helped them recruit athletes from all across Canada and occasionally, from the other side of the globe.

This season Cougar Athletics welcomes a pair of student-athletes from Australia as Perth’s India Ashboth joins the women’s basketball team and Canberra’s Jordan Power suits up for the men’s volleyball team.

It is always a difficult decision for international students to leave their home countries. The travel costs alone are extremely expensive and adjusting to new surroundings takes time.
 
Tuition costs for international students are more than double the normal amount, and because Mount Royal University and Cougar Athletics don’t have large expansive budgets to cover travel costs and lodging expenses, the school must use its competitive advantages of quality education and small student-teacher ratios to lure its recruits.

Ashboth isn’t entirely unfamiliar with the voyage, having visited the continent once before in 2009 for a playing tour on the United States’ west coast. She returned for Cougar tryouts in May without a guaranteed spot on the team. That trip would be costly for anyone, and the gamble Ashboth took shows her level of commitment to the sport.

Before arriving at Mount Royal, Ashboth played in Perth for the Southwest Slammers. Her coach, David Petroziello, moved to Canada and took up a position at St. Mary’s University College, which is how Cougars’ head coach Joe Enevoldson first discovered Ashboth. Enevoldson and Petroziello know one another through various basketball channels, and Petroziello’s word was enough for Enevoldson to take a chance on the young Aussie.

“I have the utmost respect for Petroziello…and in India’s case there were far more positives than there were negatives,” said Enevoldson.

The transition to Canadian-style basketball has been challenging for Ashboth. She endured her first tryout with the Cougars in April 2011 under extreme jet lag, and naturally showed a little rust. Despite that, Enevoldson saw some flashes of a player he knew he could work with. Ashboth has had to adjust her game since arriving in Calgary, where she says the style of play differs from that of her home country.

“It’s definitely more team-oriented back home,” says Ashboth. “There’s a lot more one-on-one play here, which I’ve had to get used to.”

Ashboth’s evolution into a basketball player began at an early age, and it actually took a failure in one sport for her to realize her calling in another. It was her mother that helped her into sport, although basketball wasn’t exactly what the elder Ashboth had in mind.

“My mom actually wanted me to play netball [a seven-on-seven variation of basketball],” recalls Ashboth with a laugh, “but I didn’t have the coordination, so I chose to play basketball.”

With MRU moving into the Canada West conference next year, Enevoldson is eyeing players with the type of physical attributes that will translate well into a conference that will surely be bigger, tougher and faster. According to Enevoldson, Ashboth is one of those players.

“She’s got the type of body that is CIS ready. The strength, the athleticism and the physicality is definitely something we’re looking for. She’s strong and getting better every practice.”

After getting Ashboth acclimated to his team’s style of play, Enevoldson expects her to have a big second half of the season. He is also excited about the potential to recruit more players from down under if the opportunity presents itself, and knows that his best recruiters really are his own players. We could be seeing more Aussies in Cougar uniforms very soon.

Unlike Ashboth, Jordan Power is in the midst of his first experience in North America. Whereas Ashboth was a bit of an unknown entity to her coach, Power is a proven commodity, having played volleyball for the Junior National team in Australia before making his way to Canada.

Power is here to take his game to the next level, something he said he wasn’t able to do in Australia.

“[The game] there is nowhere near what it is here, hence why I’m here,” says Power. “This is a great school with a great facility. I was already a starring player on the top team there so this was just the next step.”

Power didn’t grow up as a sports lover, and actually decided to try volleyball after his sister began playing. He wasn’t a big fan initially, but as he continued to play he began to rise above his peers and seemed to find his calling.

“I started playing at high levels and [becoming] one of the better players on the team. After awhile I just started loving volleyball, and it’s just what I want to do.”

Power will evaluate his options after this year, but so far he is enjoying the transition to life in Canada, and has found acceptance among his peers and coaches.

“As soon as I got here the team welcomed me and there’s been no worrying about being by myself,” said Power. “They’ve just let me in as one of them, which helps a lot when you’re coming over with no family. [As for] Shawn, [he’s] a great coach and he’s teaching me a lot of things I can use in my game. I’m learning some new things for sure.”

The two Australians are both important additions to their respective teams this season, and both are in just their first years of eligibility. They will be important building blocks for their squads as they transition to the Canada West, and both have the talent, positive attitude and dedication that embody the Cougar Athletics program.

Power and Ashboth have traveled a long way and sacrificed a lot to join the Cougars, but Mount Royal University has a lot to offer its student athletes, and it should be a fun and exciting ride for both.