The University of Mississippi Athletics
Blending Cultures On And Off The Court
4/2/2008 | Men's Tennis
By Whitney Tarpy
Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
Fans surrounding the courts at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center may not understand the words coming from the players on the Ole Miss men’s tennis team during a match.
Not because they are part of tennis lingo, but because they are literally foreign languages.
At Ole Miss, seven of the eight members on the team are from foreign countries. What’s on the court is international, but off the court is a different story.
“In the beginning it was really hard living away from home,” said senior Erling Tveit, who is from Oslo, Norway. “My first semester was real hard with the language and other stuff. I didn’t know what was going on. But after the first semester, it was fine.”
Teammate Matthias Wellermann, who is from Lingen, Germany, said that one of the toughest obstacles to overcome was the language barrier.
“The first two months I was kind of wandering around with a dictionary,” said the senior business major. “You know the grammar, but a lot of times words were missing or you couldn’t express yourself how you wanted to. When I had to read all the assignments, I would have to read them twice.”
However, it doesn’t take long for the players to become comfortable, said assistant coach Toby Hansson.
“They figure things out by themselves pretty fast,” Hansson said. “If they have any problem understanding what they need to do, then we can definitely help them out.”
Hansson knows firsthand the fears of coming to a new culture. A native of Sweden, he began his tennis career at Southern Methodist University in Texas. “I think it’s difficult just being away from home. I think that goes for anyone who comes from a different part of the
Even though an ocean separates them from their families, the players said that they usually get to talk to their family once a week, and they visit during Christmas and summer breaks.
Although many college students overcome the yearning for home by living in dorms, this concept was something that Tveit and Wellermann found strange.
Tveit said that he felt that he was too old to live in a dorm. However, he was glad to have teammate Jakob Klaeson as a roommate in Deaton Hall since Klaeson is from Sweden.
Wellermann agreed. “It was weird because I had never heard about a dorm before. So I came here, and I didn’t know I would share a room with somebody.”
Once the players conquered some of the initial challenges, they found they could enjoy and experience the campus like other college students.
“I like the football games,” Tveit said. “That is a good thing. I only get to make it to a few games, like one or two, because we are traveling for tennis.”
Both players also like the environment Ole Miss provides that allows students to walk everywhere.
“I like the campus a lot,” Wellermann said. “I’m from Germany, and there are not too many campus schools. They are all spread around the city. So it’s nice that you can practice here, take a shower and go to class.”
The tennis team hails members from five different countries, but also includes lone American Robbye Poole. Although the senior may standout, Poole has learned from the experience.
“It’s fun actually,” said Poole. “You learn different cultures. You learn how different things go with different people. You learn how different cultures interact with each other.”
The Summerville, South Carolina native said playing with international players gives him a chance to see different styles of the game, including work ethic and tennis drills.
Although they often talk in different languages, Poole said that communication is never really a problem.
“I think there are a few culture misunderstandings, but for the most part we all know what is right and what is wrong,” said
With Hansson being out of college since 2000, he knows that Tveit, Wellermann and the other team members will look back and remember the good that came with being on a college tennis team. “My favorite thing was just being part of a team. I liked the whole atmosphere of being in college with studying and playing for a team. You basically make friends for the rest of your life and have a good time.”
