Marta Matamala: Everlasting

I started playing basketball at the age of five. Even the smallest basketball shirt would not fit as it was covering my ankles when I first started playing. Basketball is what brought me to John Brown University, and I could not have thought of a better place to play the last four years of my basketball career.

Being so far away from home for four years has not been easy but I always had someone that I could count on. JBU has brought amazing people into my life. A lot of them, I can even call my family now. My host family is one of the best things that has happened to me in these four years. Since day one, my host family has always made me feel welcomed and loved, would invite me to family dinner every week, and would hardly miss any home games. I will always be grateful to have them in my life.

I made awesome friends in my classes who were there when I needed them the most; their help meant a lot to me. My professors became my mentors: Dr. Susan Newton and Dr. Jill Ellenbarger guided me throughout my college career. With their support, I was able to achieve my goals. Being a student-athlete and working on a biochemistry degree was not easy. My mentors cared about me, and most importantly, they never let me lose my love for science.

I will always be thankful to my coaches. Coach Soderquist would always check on me and would ask how my family was doing, which was important to me. He recruited me and gave me the opportunity to come to the United States, which will be one of the best experiences of my life. I would also like to mention Coach Eshnaur, my assistant coach for two seasons. He made me love the weight room, made every day better, and made all of us work really hard while always having fun. He showed me a different way to love basketball and made me realize how important it was to work on physical strength outside of practice.

Unfortunately, I struggled with a great deal of injuries in last few years. Having surgery so far away from home was really hard, but it shaped me to the person I am today. I always felt the support, especially from the athletic trainers - KMay and Todd, the JBU athletics family, my team and coaching staff.

My teammates have been the best part of playing college basketball. Family doesn’t just mean to be related to someone, and they were a clear example of that. I could not be happier to have shared this experience with all of them. I know that I made friendships for life.

I remember being worried and sad leaving my family and friends back at home, but four years later, here I am, feeling the same way about leaving JBU. By far, these have been the fastest four years of my life and I know that JBU will always have a place in my heart.

Marta will graduate this spring with a biochemistry degree. She plans on returning home to Spain to begin her career.