What's up y'all!

Andre Hollins • March 5, 2020

Belgium: Year 1

What’s up y’all,

First of all, thanks for visiting my site! First time blogging, so here we go. I’ve been an overseas professional basketball player for 3 years now and I’ve realized a lot of people don’t understand or even know what it’s like to play basketball/live in a completely different country. So I want to bridge that gap and kind of enlighten people of what it’s like for me and bring you along on my journey.

Belgium: Year 1

I signed my first professional contract with a team in Belgium called the Leuven Bears. That year was a tough one because we really struggled as a team throughout the year. We only won 6 games the entire year SMH! There were a lot of changes/differences I had to get accustomed to, for example, the European style of play and the different rules set in place over here . Outside of basketball, Leuven was awesome. Pretty much everyone spoke English because it’s a college town and there is a lot of different things to do. The food didn’t differ much from the food we eat in the US, and it was only 20 minutes away from Brussels. So life outside of basketball was great compared to other places in Europe. When I look back and think about that year, I realize how much I’ve learned how to handle being a professional b-ball player in a foreign country. The first year playing overseas is always the toughest because you’re away from your friends, family, culture, food and comfort zone. Loneliness, frustration and boredom kicks in at times but nothing beats playing the game I love for a living! Being able to say I am a pro is a blessing within itself and it comes with the perks of traveling and seeing parts of the world I never would’ve imagined seeing when I was younger.

My next blog will be about Year 2: France/Germany

Once again thanks for visiting my site. Until next time!

-Dre

    My First Blog Post

    By websitebuilder • February 10, 2017
    I have finally decided to take the plunge and add a blog to my site. I always wanted an easy way to share information with visitors and I’m super excited to start this journey. Keep coming back to my site and check for updates right here on the blog.

    10 Reasons You Should Love Blogging

    By websitebuilder • February 10, 2017
    Anyone can make one: For better or worse, anyone can write a blog post about anything they want. Everyone has a voice and the best voices will rise to the top. The writer can show their personality: In blog posts, the writer has more leeway to add in their voice and personality than other types of writing. Blogs are a great form of mass communication: You can help people, learn new things, entertain your audience—the possibilities are endless and amazing. Blogging opens up all of these to a very wide audience. You can make money: Get the right blog going and you can make a lot of money through advertising and sponsored posts. It allows people to craft better thoughts: Instead of reading haphazard, uneducated Facebook statuses, it’s much better to see people’s thought process in a well-written blog post. You can establish a community: Blogging allows you to connect with other individuals who share the same interests. Sharing ideas and opinions within your community helps establish yourself as a thought leader. Good for SEO: Keeping content on your site fresh and relevant, you can use your blog to boost the search engine ranking (SEO) of your site and your business. It brings people back to your site: If your blog is strong enough and updated regularly, people will come back looking for more and bring traffic back to your site as well. It’s free: It costs you a grand total of zero dollars to post to the blog, so if you have something to say, there’s nothing to stop you. You can establish yourself as a thought leader: A blog is a great place for your original thoughts, and it can be a wonderful way to show off your individuality. If people like your ideas, you can become a thought leader in your industry! What else do you love about blogs? Let me know!