I understood everything the moment I heard those words in the solemn team meeting. It was a deeply emotional moment. I loved that team, and I truly loved Hartwick College. It was a beautiful, small school nestled in upstate New York, a place that quickly felt like home. But sometimes, even when your heart is completely invested, circumstances change, and you realize Home Is Where The Heart Is, but sometimes, home can be taken away.
For me, the hardest part wasn’t just the team being cut; it was the suddenness and the way everything unfolded. There was a part of me that held onto hope, a wish that somehow, they could find a solution, that the program could become financially sustainable. We were all caught off guard by the news, and for many of us, our lives were instantly thrown into uncertainty.
It’s tough because there’s such a strong human element to all of this. I had come all the way from Russia, chasing my dream of playing water polo and getting a great university education. I understand that life doesn’t always go according to plan. That’s just the reality of the world, something you learn to deal with when it happens.
But the weight of that news, hanging over us as we headed into the conference championships, made everything even more difficult. On one hand, we were supposed to be preparing for the biggest competition of the year. On the other, so many of us, myself included, were grappling with the question of where we would go after the season ended. Focusing on the games felt almost impossible at that moment.
Our team was incredibly close, a tight-knit family on that small campus. Suddenly, we were told it was all coming to an end. It’s an incredibly difficult thing to play through, to try and compete when the very foundation of your team, your community, your home away from home, is crumbling beneath you.
