Erin Little uses professional experience in Finland to prepare SU players

At the end of the 2011 volleyball season at Syracuse, Erin Little wasn’t satisfied with the finish to her career. She tallied a career-high 128 kills and averaged a career-high 0.70 blocks per set during the campaign, but wanted more.

But she didn’t know who to go to. During the season, head coach Jing Pu was fired. And in December, head coach Leonid Yelin was hired from Colorado to coach the Orange. She approached Yelin and told him about her professional goals. The new coach invited Little to practice with the team in the spring. This was different for Yelin, because usually seniors are only looking to stay in shape, not improve on skills to play professionally.

“When she started practicing (with us),” he said, “I realized her talent, and I said, ‘You know what, if you spend spring with us as a player, I think I can prepare you to play professional.’”

In September of 2012, Little was offered a tryout by the OrPo Volleyball Club in Finland and made the roster. After the season, Little returned home to continue training for a tryout with a Polish team. Despite her efforts, she was cut, and planned to take a year off and train while holding a volunteer coaching position at Syracuse during the 2013 season.

She never left, never went back across the Atlantic and never again played in a professional league. But she had found a home. Now, as an associate head coach at Syracuse (15-7, 11-3 Atlantic Coast), Little uses her professional experience to help connect with her players on and off the court, and prepares those who have professional aspirations of their own for what lies ahead.

“I loved playing,” Little said. “But it’s hard being away from your family and friends for nine months.”

Laura Angle | Digital Design Editor

Little’s volleyball career began in seventh grade, shortly after her family settled in Burnt Hills, New York. After making the varsity team as a freshman in high school, she became close to Sarah Morton, who enrolled at Syracuse two years before Little. Her connection to Morton made SU an easy choice.

As a freshman, Little appeared in 28 of 32 matches, second for all SU freshmen that season. By the end of her senior year, she had transformed into a well-rounded player. Her 2.13 kills per game was fourth on the team, and her 0.70 blocks per game was third. One of the keys to succeeding at the professional level, Little said, is proficiency at all positions. And it was her responsibility to find the areas she needed to improve on.

“I think that as I started to work with Coach Yelin … I was just learning a lot and seeing the sport in a different way,” Little said, “when you’re forced to evaluate your game more on your own, seeing all the areas you needed to improve on.”

Little’s time in Finland lacked the comfort and familiarity her time at SU had. She knew no one on her team beforehand, and it was the first time she had been abroad in her life. Few players spoke English. Teams were allowed only three international players, and the rest must be from the league’s country, Little said. In this case, Little was surrounded by the Finnish culture from her teammates to her coach.

“Most of my teammates spoke Finnish with one another,” Little said, “(and) our coach also spoke Finnish, but because we have internationals, he also spoke English. Whether he chose to or not is different.”

The league OrPo plays in is the top women’s league in Finland. But “it’s not the top in the world,” Yelin said. But it’s still the same eight hour commitment each day to volleyball, and it’s still the same lack of freedom, he added.

Coaches have full control over how they treat their players and the schedules they operate on. Yelin, who had a professional career overseas himself, said it’s an environment that doesn’t compare to volleyball leagues in the United States.

“You can’t say ‘Oh I’m not in a good mood today,’” Yelin said. “No. You have to do your job. You are a slave. They can pay you a lot of money, but you’re still a slave.”

Now, as an SU coach, Little prepares her players for a professional career. The more she played, the more she understood the challenges of being on the court mentally as a player. In the end, it helps her connect with the Orange more during the match.

In this season’s group, she sees potential in Christina Oyawale, Santita Ebangwese and Amber Witherspoon for professional careers. Ebangwese said all the players know about Little’s experience overseas, but the coach keeps it low-key.

But SU knows, from Little and her career, that when it comes to playing professional volleyball, it takes more than talent. It takes a well-rounded game to have a chance at making a roster. But it also extends beyond that.

“I think most of our players could go and play,” Little said, “I think it’s wanting to have that commitment of playing in another country, being away from your friends and family.”

Little chased her dream for a year and she accomplished it. But then, Yelin called her back. He was the one who told her she had the talent to play overseas. He’d propelled her to the Finnish League, and nearly pushed her to Poland the next year.

And now, Yelin was calling her home. Or at least the place he wanted her to call home.

“I called her back because I understood what kind of person she is,” Yelin said.

“And I said, ‘Listen, Erin, we need you.’”