Many of you may have an idea what this title means, but maybe your asking yourselves what is a"basketball WAG?" Well if you don't know, a "WAG" is a term first used to describe the "wives and girlfriends" of high profile football (soccer) players in Europe, mainly in the British tabloids. Just to give you an example, I've been told that Victoria Beckham is the so called "Queen of the WAGS." These are women whose husbands make millions upon millions of dollars for playing professional soccer. Supposedly they spend their time shopping, socializing, partying and being extremely wealthy housewives. Some of these women have jobs, some of them don't, but they are all pretty much categorized under the same term. Wags.
So, if you don't know me you may be wondering how this term relates to my life. Well, approximately one year and 3 months ago I married the love of my life and my best friend, who just so happens to be a professional basketball player. When most people think of professional basketball players they think of the NBA, they think of high profile athletes and they think of fame and fortune. Let's just throw all those ideals and stereotypes out the window in this case. For some professional basketball players who don't get picked up or drafted to the NBA, the lifestyle is COMPLETELY different. There is a whole part of this profession that some of you may not know of and it takes place on the other side the pond. That's right, in Europe! There are professional basketball teams all over Europe. Some of the top American players that didn't quite make the NBA get signed to high profile and high budget teams in Europe, but for players coming out of smaller universities that want to pursue a career this is not always the case. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up, just like any other career. And that is what my husband is doing.
My husband just so happens to be playing in Bulgaria. He has played here for the past 2 seasons and now is here for a third. Last August I joined him in the small town of Samokov, Bulgaria for my first experience ever going overseas where we lived for about 10 months. He played for a smaller team called Rilski Sportist who played in a mid-level European league called the Balkan League. Now we are back in Bulgaria in the even smaller, but beautiful town of Pravets for a second season. He is now with a team called Lukoil who has a much bigger budget and plays in the Euro Cup league, which is one of the top leagues over here. They are also the top team in the country. So slowly but surely he is working his way up the basketball chain.
Life is definitely different here in Europe and being the wife of a somewhat local celebrity and being one of the only blonde, blue eyed girls in Bulgaria can often lead to very interesting stories and situations. Now don't get me wrong, even though we don't live the "NBA lifestyle" I love the situation we are in. There are so many good things that come out my husband's profession. How many people do you know that are able to live in a foreign country for an extended period of time? We get to live overseas for 10 months at a time! This is one reason I love this experience. We get to travel and see beautiful and amazing places in Europe and not only that, we get to live and experience new cultures and people every year. We are also very fortunate that we have little to no living expenses. Most teams will pay for the players houses or apartments, they pay for some of our meals, travel, car, cable, and anything else you can think of. This means we are able to save A LOT of the money that we make and don't have to deal with "real life" quite yet. So needless to say, we enjoy our life, even though it can be crazy sometimes.
Now back to the "WAG" discussion. Last year I was told by a British man I had met, that I was a "WAG." Not know what this term meant I laughed it off and later asked another friend what it meant and when I found out I really wasn't happy. Honestly, I found the term to be quite demeaning and derogatory at the time. I mean personally, I think being described only as the "wife or girlfriend" of a man is somewhat sexist. I don't want everyone to refer to me as "the wife of so and so..." Yes I am married to a professional athlete, but I have a name and there's more to me than just that. But since this is usually the case I have decided that I will embrace my identity as a WAG. I mean if you think about it some WAGs are actually pretty powerful amazing women. Let's take Victoria Beckham for example, she is a fashion mogul, a successful businesswoman, style icon, and best-selling author---just to name a few. But that being said, I want people to know that I am much more than "just a WAG" and that is why I wanted to start this blog. I am an intelligent, strong woman with ambitions of my own. I never planned to marry a professional athlete, I just fell in love, got married and that's the end of the story. Basically I want people to know that being a "WAG" can have nothing to do with being rich, famous or being photographed for tabloids. Maybe in some situations this is what being the wife of an athlete means, but not in my situation. It's simply about supporting the person you love and living your life the way you think is best for you and your family.
So all in all, this blog will chronicle my life as a so called WAG and how it can be completely different than the stereotypes. You will find that this lifestyle comes with the good and the bad, the interesting and the boring, just like anything else. So I hope you enjoy learning more about my life overseas and this somewhat unusual situation.
So all in all, this blog will chronicle my life as a so called WAG and how it can be completely different than the stereotypes. You will find that this lifestyle comes with the good and the bad, the interesting and the boring, just like anything else. So I hope you enjoy learning more about my life overseas and this somewhat unusual situation.
