After living in the Czech Republic for most of their lives, two international students Julie Honzovicova and Marketa Svozilova are finishing their senior year at Florida Atlantic University, reflecting on how they have made a major impact on FAU’s Beach Volleyball team. 

Head Coach Steve Grotowski traveled to Europe to watch them play and recruit them for FAU. Since moving to the United States to pursue the offer, Honzovicova now holds a record in flight 3 wins as a pair, and Svozilova holds a record in individual season flight 2 wins (22) and season flight 2 wins as a pair. 

“It’s been beneficial for them being here and playing at the top of our lineup, and I think for us, obviously beneficial because they’ve helped the program grow,” said Grotowski.

Honzovicova, who grew up in Prague,  played multiple sports as a child from tennis, gymnastics, track and field to volleyball. Though her parents never played sports professionally, they encouraged her to pursue athletics early on.

Honzovicova’s mother had her and her older sister join a beach volleyball camp at seven years old. Inspired by her sister’s enthusiasm, Honzovicova took beach volleyball more seriously. 

Honzovicova’s beach volleyball coach at the time told her if she wanted “to have big swings and a dynamic approach,” she needed to explore indoor volleyball; she ended up playing for another 10 years at a professional indoor volleyball club for seven years for the “A-Team” in Prague while also playing beach volleyball in the summer to become a better player. 

“In my first year, me and Maki were… here for each other. So it was really helpful to have someone from Czech,” said Honzovicova, who talked about how her sister is her inspiration and is the person who shaped her as a volleyball player and encouraged her to come to FAU. 

She said being in the U.S. alone alone alone was difficult knowing that her family was so far away. 

“I think I can say I’m really grateful that my parents and even my sister had the chance to visit me at least once here because it means a lot to me…so I was happy that I could show them where I lived for four years,” said Honzovicova. 

Svozilova, who recently played in an international event in Mexico, grew up in the second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno. At 10 years old, her dad’s friend took them to Italy for a vacation. They were playing beach volleyball there, and they asked her to try playing, and she fell in love with the game. 

Like Honzovicova, she played indoor volleyball during the winter and outdoor volleyball in the summer. Svozilova never thought about playing volleyball in the U.S. However, in her junior year in high school, she won third place in the European Championships under 18 and was recognized by a scout who asked her to come to the United States to play. 

“We don’t really have like sports and universities that are combined like it’s hard to combine athletics and school in general,” which made her want to come to the U.S. where she could do both, Svozilova said.

FAU offered Svozilova both a degree in psychology and the opportunity to play on a competitive beach volleyball team.

“I didn’t really know what my options were much, but the guy [the scout] told me that FAU would be a really good fit for me because of the coaches and the culture. It was very family-like, and everybody was supporting each other,” said Svozilova.

The two players have in common that while being recruited, they did not know much about recruiting to play in the U.S. until they were told about FAU. After visiting, they both fell in love with the environment in South Florida and took a strong liking to Head Coach Grotowski and the other coaches.

When FAU increased the beach volleyball team scholarship budget, Grotowski began looking for players to fill those roles and had contact with people in Europe who mentioned Svozilova and Honzovicova. 

“We were able to go over and look at them and really liked them, and I think it’s been a huge, huge addition to our program,” said Grotowski.

Coach Grotowski mentioned that the first time FAU made the NCAA tournament was Svozilova and Honzovicova’s freshman year. They also won the conference championship in their sophomore year.

One difference between volleyball in the U.S. and the Czech Republic that Svozilova mentioned is that in Czechia, Svozilova said they always played the same teams every summer, while in the U.S. they play different teams every weekend and four different teams each weekend. 

Homesickness no longer bothers Svozilova because she sees her family during Christmas and all summer. 

“I think it’s always hard when I’m leaving, but then once I’m here I don’t really think about it as much,” said Svozilova.

Almost every day after practice, Svozilova and her teammates watch movies, which is what she would do as a child with her parents after school; having these same traditions makes her feel more at home. 

“We don’t even have to speak much but just being around them makes it so nice for me,” said Svozilova.

Honzovicova feels most at home when she visits a local coffee shop near FAU where she hangs out with her friends or does her homework because that is what she spends a lot of time doing. 

Although being homesick was not a huge problem for Svozilova as an international athlete, injuries were more of an issue. She had problems with her back her freshman year and had major back surgery her sophomore year, temporarily setting her back from playing volleyball.

For Honzovicova, the language barrier was difficult, especially when she was in more stressful situations, and her “brain was kind of heavy” trying to translate her thoughts into English. 

“When you’re thinking in your own language, it’s much easier because you don’t think about the translation,” said Honzovicova; but she has been able to overcome that language barrier over the years, and it is easier for her now.

Honzovicova and Svozilova continue their senior season through the rest of April playing in the Capri Classic in Boca Raton and the NOLA Classic in New Orleans.

“I’m going to miss them for sure. They’ve been a big part of what we’ve been doing for the last four years; having a different perspective on the team, and people from different cultures and backgrounds is nice. So definitely something we’ll be looking to add again in the future,” said Grotowski.

Molly O’Flynn is a Staff Writer for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Molly at moflynn2024@fau.edu or DM on Instagram @molly_oflynn_.