Getting Paid to Play

posted by Marissa Kastanek, a Women Talk Sports blogger
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 9:15am EST

About Marissa Kastanek:

I was born and raised in Nebraska, USA where I played soccer, volleyball, track and field, and basketball. I played competitive basketball with the Cornhusker Shooting Stars for eight years. I won a N...more

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I am a professional athlete. I really like the way that sounds. As I said last post, I can attribute my growth to my goal setting but at the same time there are many other supporting roles that got me to where I am. I would like to start by thanking God and all of the blessings He has put in my life. The hope that he gives me has saved me many times from stopping. I thank my parents, my siblings, and my boyfriend for all of their support through my ups and downs and keeping me rooted. They have kept me on board when I wanted to jump ship. My extended family deserves a big thank you as well for all of their love and support; in their eyes I am the best ever and it is nice to hear that every now and then. To all of the coaches that pushed me to go harder then I thought I could, thank you. Finally, to all of the naysayers that doubted my hard work and dedication thank you for never letting me get satisfied with where I was.

I want to share with my readers the typical day of Marissa Kastanek, a professional basketball player in Sweden.

7:00 am – Wake up and get ready

7:30 am – Eat breakfast. I usually have some cereal, orange juice, and a banana. On a good day I will make some oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar with orange juice to drink.

8:00 am – Morning practice. In this practice there are only four of us from the team. My team is unique in the sense that not all of the players are getting paid to play so they have to work during the day and comet to team practice at night. This is a skill practice where we work on ball handling, passing, and shooting.

10:30 am – Lift on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We have a membership to a gym where lift weights. On Wednesdays I also do a yoga class to get so deep stretching in and to work on balance.

12:00 pm – Lunch. We are provided with lunch Monday through Friday at a restaurant that serves homemade Swedish food. There is always a fish prepared in many different ways and then another option of pork, beef, or chicken. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also always on the menu.

1:00 pm - Rest and relaxation time. I usually start this time with a shower to rinse off the morning and then I do some busy work. I do a daily bible study, read a few pages from my pleasure reading books, watch some American TV on my laptop, take a nap, work on my personal business, FaceTime with my family and friends, and write blogs.

5:00 pm – Get ready for night practice. I will prepare a pre-practice snack and put on my practice gear.

5:30 pm – Team practice. In this practice we discuss team concepts on offense and defense. We do team development drills rather than individual skill work.

7:30 pm – Eat dinner. After practice I prepare my own dinner. I am becoming quite the cook but I like to create meals with some type of meat, vegetables, and noodles or rice. I have gotten pretty creative.

8:30 pm – Get ready for bed. This includes a shower, some nighttime stretches, foam rolling, another TV show, and prayers.

10:30 or 11:00 pm – Lights out. I need to get proper rest for the next days work.

The most important things to remember about being a professional athlete are:

Nutrition: food is my body’s fuel so it is important that I fill it with the finest fuel. I am very particular about what I put into my body because my body is what the team needs so I need to take care of it.
Rest: I need to give 100% when it is practice time so that I can get better which means that I need to rest when I am not practicing. Also, if my body is telling me that it needs a rest I need to listen to it because pushing an injury can cost me my job.

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

billygene88 says:

You've played college ball. Do you think college players should get paid?

Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 1:07pm EST

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MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR:

Marissa Kastanek

I was born and raised in Nebraska, USA where I played soccer, volleyball, track and field, and basketball. I played competitive basketball with the Co...
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