The martyrdom lasted more than a year. Redemption came just last Wednesday. Eleanna Christinaki finally managed to compete with her college team. Her enthusiasm was reflected in her performance: 6/13 three-pointers, 6/7 two-pointers, 2/2 shots, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Thirty-two points in 30 minutes of participation. Career record in the NCAA (US College Championship). In the Maryland basketball neighborhood, everyone was asking about this lively, smiling girl.
Baltimore is thousands of dreams away from Paralimni, where Eleanna was born (December 16, 1996). The road was long, arduous, but wonderful. Until a year ago. The daughter of the former Greek goalkeeper and current football coach, Nonda Christinaki, and the Cypriot journalist Aphrodite Augustinou, fell in love with the orange ball from a young age. He had great talent. So much so that at the age of 15 she wore the Panathinaikos jersey. It did not take long for it to become international. She is the youngest member of the National Women's Basketball Team to finish fourth in the Czech Eurobasket.
After spending one season with Athinaikos, in the summer of 2015 she started living her legend. He received a scholarship to the same college where Nick Kalathis excelled and became a key member of his team, the Florida Gates. With 17,6 points, 4,7 rebounds and three assists in nine games, on average, the 1,83 guard led her to the greatest distinction in her history. Nothing foretold what happened on December 11, 2016. The Gates announced that Christinaki will not compete again with the colors of her university, because "she refused to accept a penalty for violating the team's culture." Mystery.
Anyway, Eleanna had worked unimaginably for this career. Early morning training, classes from 8 am to 2 pm, second training immediately after, and then "tutorings": something like a tutorial for college athletes who have lost traditions because they travel frequently with the team. As for training, do not imagine that the girls go out on the field for a relaxed "double". They include endless running and weights in the gym. Especially during the preparation for the new season, they are reminiscent of marine training.
She had a very good reputation as an athlete, so it was not long before she found her next destination. On December 29, 2016, she traveled - with her father - to Maryland, to meet the coach of one of the three universities that had surveyed her. A week later the signatures fell. Eleanna preferred this college because it is third in America in women's basketball. But also because the coach, Brenda Fries, "clicked" on her. She had taken care to study -on dvd- all her matches with the Gates, and she seemed excited about her qualifications.
Last January, Christinaki became a resident of Baltimore on a $ 200.000 scholarship, and a member of the Terapin Hoops - University team. But there was an insurmountable problem: NCAA rules forbid athletes from playing with two different colleges in the same season. So, she had to train (and read) counting the months one by one until she returned to the races. Fortunately, there was also the National team…
Acclimating to her new life was not easy. She missed her parents, her friends, the Greek language, Greece. He had left it all behind to play basketball. But, he did not play basketball. Between serious and funny, she was trying to learn Greek from her teammates. They endured to the word "turtle". Until he discovered something from his homeland: Marathon Delhi, a Greek restaurant in Maryland. When he arrived at his door, he smelled her house. She also had her favorite food: lemon and egg dolmades. To make sure it was in the right place, he ordered in Greek. The owner, George Soldatos, replied in English: "Ohhhh, are you Greek?". When Eleanna answered "yes", they started speaking in their mother tongue.
He fights the loneliness he feels with a little "chat" on the Internet. With her people in Greece, with Mariella Fasoula (daughter of Panagiotis) and Sofia Ermideidou, who also emigrated to America, and with Giannis Antetokounbo. She met him in August 2016, in Greece, a few weeks before returning to her college in Florida. While training individually, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar suddenly appeared in front of her. They said so, were photographed, exchanged mails and telephones. The Gates, in fact, took care to "upload" the photo on Twitter: "Eleanna Christinaki with the NBA phenomenon, Giannis Antetokounbo, after a training session". Since then, they have regular communication. In any case, he "meets" Giannis very often in the USA. Every time she tells someone that she is Greek, he speaks to her with admiration about the "Greek Freak".
He had been playing basketball since December 8, 2016. Like wrote the Washington Post, the wait is over. On Wednesday, in the triumph of Maryland over Copin State (113-49), the young Greek woman stole the show. The coach said she was impressed by the terrifying feel of the game she has, and said that this combination - energy, scoring and passing accuracy - testifies to her rare talent.
They called her "female Antitokunbo". Exaggerations. Eleanna Christinaki does not jump so high, she does not nail so impressively, she is not so famous. But, she has her own American dream: to become the third Greek woman -after Kostaki and Maltsi- to reach the WNBA (women's NBA). And, like Giannis, she is a role model for thousands of children in Greece who dream of following in her footsteps.
Source: Protagon.gr