Bjorklund basked in Bratislava
Ask local basketball star Angie Bjorklund the best and worst things about representing her country at a world championship tournament in a foreign country and she can quickly click off the good and the bad.
But as she talks about the gold-medal winning experience with Team USA at the U-19 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, one thing really jumps out for the gym rat and one of the best female basketball players in Spokane history.
“I was just a shooting guard,” said the Tennessee-bound, University High grad. “In high school I had more freedom. I had the role of being creator, all-around player. On this team every single player could do that. My role was to get a shot within the offense. When I had an open shot I had to take it.”
In other words, she was just a basketball player – which is all she wants to be.
“At first it’s hard. You have a bunch of all-stars put together to make a team,” Bjorklund said. “The coaches did a great job. They had their system, we had to buy into it, do what they said. Everyone had their role. Once we got to know each other, it just flowed.”
She averaged 7.4 points in 17 minutes off the bench as the team went 9-0, winning the championship last Sunday with a 99-57 rout of Sweden.
“I thought I could have done better,” she said. “I had some on games, some off games, but overall I felt good.”
Although this team made it look easy, winning by an average of 35 points a game with just one margin less than 10, the U-19 title isn’t a given for the Americans.
Started in 1985 and held every four years, the U.S. didn’t win until the fourth tournament in 1997 and won gold again in 2005. The rotation changed this year.
The highlights were typical Bjorklund.
“My teammates were a blast,” she said. “I loved every single one of them. That definitely made the trip. If you don’t like your teammates it’s going to be hard. And when we won gold, that was awesome.”
She also loved the Canary Islands, where the team played three warmup games, and old European architecture in Slovakia. Dinner at the “amazing” American Embassy with American food was special and the post-tournament, all-night souvenir swap was a blast.
Adjusting to international basketball rules, limited site-seeing, daily chicken and potatoes and the minor hassles such as electric plug-in adaptors were the down side.
“I missed America,” she said. “It was hard at times being in a different country, but it was an amazing experience.”
Bjorklund learned top-level basketball is a business, with three film sessions and a shootaround almost every day.
That, she believes, will help her at Tennessee, along with the six weeks of summer school, which she started before her official high school graduation.
“It seemed like going to camp. Once I realized I would be there for a while, I kind of freaked out, got homesick,” she said. “Once I got settled in and got used to the routine, I had a blast. It was kind of quiet. It will be lot different when school starts, I’m excited to see it.”
Bjorklund was in the gym daily, working out or playing pickup games. Final Four MVP Candace Parker made an impression.
“On a breakaway I threw her the ball and she just went up and dunked over this girl. Wow!” Bjorklund said. “Candace is definitely the real deal.”
Bjorklund returns to school next weekend, eager to find her niche with the defending national champions.
“It’s going to be tough, but I think I’ll do pretty well if I can keep my shot on,” she said. “We definitely need a shooting guard. Hopefully, I can step up and take that role.”
That’s a role she is now familiar with.