By Cole Garvey
Sports Editor
Mira Costa senior Andrej Orban crossed the Atlantic Ocean and now plays on Costa’s basketball team.
Orban, a transfer student from the city of Brno in the Czech Republic, will play for Costa’s varsity basketball team this year.
“The experience at Costa is amazing,” Orban said. “The kids, classes, campus and the culture itself are amazing. I’m excited for the upcoming season and to get to know a lot of new friends.”
Orban came to the Mira Costa through the Greenheart exchange program. Greenheart is a nonprofit program that specializes in working with foreign students and finding them homes and schools as exchange students in the United States. Greenheart has worked with 284,000 students who have travelled from their hometown to a new country, just like Orban.
“They work together with a Czech company that sends students like me to study in different foreign countries,” Orban said.
Orban moved to in the South Bay two months ago, staying with Dr. Thomas Konecny. After this school year ends, Orban will leave Costa and go back to the Czech Republic to resume his studies there.
“The thing I had to adjust to was the amount of homework that I started to get everyday and also I had to start to plan out my decisions and time as well,” Orban said. “The difference is that here I play for a school and back home I played for a club.”
During Costa basketball’s offseason, Orban has been practicing with the varsity team and is playing shooting guard for the Mustangs. Throughout the offseason, Orban and the Mustangs will compete in the St. Anthony’s and St. Bernard’s fall leagues to prepare for next season.
“The team is very different than my hometown team,” Orban said. “We work hard every day to get better and better. These guys are not only my teammates, but also great friends and family.”
In the Czech Republic, Orban played for BSM Brno basketball club. BSM Brno has existed since the 1970’s in Žabovřesk; a section in the western part of the city. BSM Brno focuses on developing their players to play at the highest level possible, and later succeeded in bigger and higher level club leagues.
“All of us [in Brno] played together through all the years and we were best friends and like brothers too,” Orban said. “Here it’s a bit different. I need to get into the society of the team better.”
In the Czech Republic, Orban attended the Gymnazium Svornosti Náměstí school, which is located in the subsection of Brno, known as Brno Žabovřesk. Gymnazium Svornosti Náměstí, built in 1970, is a full primary school that contains nine grade levels and 395 students.
“I have never been to such a large school, especially a large campus,” Orban said. “My previous school was just one big building with multiple floors. The adjustment was not very complicated for me, which was surprising.”
As the school year continues on, Orban and the varsity team are working hard to prepare for their upcoming 2018-2019 season. Orban will compete for a starting spot on the Mustang roster as the season begins. The Mustangs’ season will begin on November 13 in a home game against the South Torrance High School Spartans. According to Orban, he is extremely excited for the rest of the year and the experiences that he will have at Costa.
“I already got to know some great people. So I hope that this year will be the best school year for me as an experience,” Orban said.
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