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Emily Kuper, a German exchange student, fits in with Raiders
Kuper, a German exchange student, fits in with Raiders
By Gary Housteau
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
As one of the first few players off the South Range girls bench on any given night, Emily Kuper sure has come a very long way, literally, to earn that position.
Kuper is a foreign exchange student from Berlin, Germany and she couldn’t be more happier with the role that head coach Tony Matisi has her in on the hardwood. But more importantly she’s become a perfect fit off the court at South Range as well.
Hosting exchange students in America is a fairly common occurrence, but her situation has somewhat of an uncommon story to it.
For starters, Kuper is being hosted in America by the family of Steve Rohan, South Range’s principal. Rohan and Kuper’s father, Ingo Wolf, were college basketball roommates at Florida Atlantic University.
“He wanted to bring his daughter to the States to learn English, so she’s here living with me and my wife and my two boys,” Rohan said. “She’s been here since, I think, Aug. 1 and it’s been great for our family. It’s been good for my 13-year-old boy and my 11-year-old boy to have a 16-year-old sister, and it’s been good for me and my wife. We’re not allowed to call her our exchange student, we have to call her our daughter. She’s our German daughter.”
Wolf went through an exchange program and the Rohans went through the entire process of being a host family before the relationship in America was consummated.
“Basically the exchange company that we went through were ecstatic that they didn’t have to find a host family because we wanted to do it,” Rohan said. “So it worked out real nice.”
Learning the language was a top priority for both parties.
“The English language in Germany is a big deal,” Rohan said. “And just in the six months that she’s been here, her English has drastically improved.”
So it’s been nothing short of incredible experience for the Rohan family.
“She is probably one of the kindest kids,” Rohan said. “And she’s got such a good heart. But she’s a super kind girl and she’s totally fit in with our family. And she’s a good student as well. She was on the Honor Roll the first nine weeks and I’m looking for her to be on the Honor Roll the second nine weeks as well.
And Wolf said he is placed that things have worked out so well for his daughter.
“We feel very fortunate but it was our plan, our goal, to send our daughter to the United States to learn English and find out more about the country, and to have the experience to spend one year abroad in a completely different environment,” Wolf said. “And its been very great. She loves it over here and I’m also touched. I’m here now for a few days and when I see everybody is friendly to her and parents tell me how much they enjoy that my daughter is here. So it’s been very special and a great experience for my daughter, she loves it over here.”
Wolf is in the basketball business so he recently came to America for a few days on business and surprised his daughter. He was in attendance when South Range recently played Springfield.
“They all surprised me,” Kuper said. “We were all sitting on the couch and he was coming in the house and I had no idea he was coming, so I saw him and I started crying because I so surprised and lucky he was there. I had no idea he was coming. It was pretty cool.”
Wolf thinks the basketball part will naturally take care of itself for his 6-foot-2 daughter.
“Over here the game is maybe a little bit more athletic and she definitely has to pick up on that and be a little more physical,” Wolf said. “But she’ll continue to make improvements in her game and I hope she continues to make improvements.”
So not only will Kuper take her improved hoop skills back to Germany but the relationships and friendships she continues to forge while she’s here will last a lifetime.
“I just love her,” junior Maddie Durkin said. “She’s a good player and she plays hard but she’s just a great person to be around. And she’s funny. It’s just a good time with her. Just with her being here makes practice and everything else so much more fun.”
According to Durkin, Kuper’s not the only one learning a new language.
“We’ve learned a little bit of German from her,” Durkin said. “Like instead of saying no we say ‘nein.’ She’s trying to teach us a little bit, but I’m not that good at picking it up.”
And at 6-1 herself, Durkin and Kuper, a sophomore, make for a very formidable set of twin towers.
“From the beginning of the season till now it’s so much better,” Durkin said. “We’ve been playing so much better as a team as of late, it’s been great. But she fits well with us. She’s teaching us some of her basketball stuff and she’s picking up on ours.”
Senior Kate Yeagley echoed some similar sentiments about her German teammate.
“She’s so much fun. She’s like my best bud,” Yeagley said. “She’s always got something to say but it’s always encouraging. She’s just been so much fun to have her here.”
And like Durkin, Yeagley tries to learn from Kuper as much as Kuper learns from them.
“I’ve really learned how to have fun and make new friends from her,” Yeagley said. “I don’t know many people outside of my little school so it’s been kind of nice having someone new from the outside to help me open up those experiences and opportunities. She’s just an awesome person because I personally don’t know if I could be able to make such a transition in lifestyles.”
Basketball aside, Matisi couldn’t be any happier to have her on board as well.
“It has nothing to do with being an athlete,” the coach said. “It’s how she fit in with the team, her personality, she’s a great kid, she always wants to do what’s best for the team. It’s never about her, it’s been ‘how can I help the team?’ and the girls have really taken to her. It’s been a fun experience.”
The basketball part has just been a bonus.
“She’s adapted well, she’s working hard. It’s always offensive first so we’ve had to teach her a few things defensively that she’s never seen before,” Matisi said. “I’d love to have her for four more years but it’s been a great experience.”
She truly is a unique person according to Matisi.
“She’s all about giving and making everybody feel better,” he said. “I just think she’s a wonderful girl.”
Kuper is just so grateful to be at South Range.
“I love it here. I’m really glad that I’m here because it’s really, really cool here,” she said. “The people are really nice, the teachers are helping me all of the time, the coaches are really good with me, the girls are really nice to me. And I really love basketball so I’m really glad that all of the kids love basketball the same like me.”
And her host family has simply been wonderful to her.
“It’s great there,” Kuper said. “I’m so happy that I live with them. I would never change the family. And I’m really happy that I did this. The experience that I get is so cool and I have more confidence and I can speak English now.”
She’s hoping for an even happier ending to her experience.
“I just want to win big as a team and just enjoy each other,” Kuper said. “I wish we would do [state playoffs] so we’re working hard for that. It would be quite a memorable experience to take back home with me.”