Koitka, Nelson bring global vibe to Pirate tennis program
COSTA MESA -- Two tennis players -- each with a similar path to Orange Coast College -- but from two vastly different parts of the world.
Such is the case for two Pirate women's tennis players Logan Koitka and Camila Nelson, whose journeys to Southern California from two completely different areas of the globe have not only helped OCC to a 20-0 record heading into Saturday's State Semifinal matchup with College of the Desert, the duo have also brought different life perspectives to a very OC-based program.
"Logan and Camila have been a fantastic addition to our women's tennis program," OCC head coach Chris Ketcham said. "Not only have they contributed with their tennis skill, but they've brought a diverse international flavor to our team the past two years. We're so proud of them. These are two great student-athletes from two different parts of the world, Germany and Peru, who have been brought together by their desire for an American education and their love of tennis. Meeting international students and learning about their culture is one of the many benefits students, faculty, and coaches experience at OCC regardless of the class, subject area, or sport they're in."
The stories are different ... but there also several similarities. It IS a small world, after all.
LOGAN KOITKA
Koitka, a sophomore on the Pirate women's tennis program, began her time at OCC in the fall of 2021 and has been a steady force for the Pirates in two seasons, earning Orange Empire Conference MVP in singles AND doubles play for two straight seasons, going 21-4 in singles and 19-5 in doubles last year and 16-3 in singles and 17-3 in doubles this year.
"My mom has family in California so we would take trips here every two years and we would travel up and down the state for a couple of weeks at a time," Koitka said. "I remember coming back to California with my dad in 2020 and we drove around the state looking at colleges, which was difficult at the time because most campuses were closed due to COVID, so we thought that maybe going to a junior college would be a smoother transition. My dad played tennis at Fresno State and his old doubles partner mentioned OCC to us and on the road trip, I met up with Coach Ketcham and he showed us around the campus and we thought right away that this would be a great fit. It was actually nicer than most of the four-year schools we were looking at."
Logan's dad's love for tennis was shared at an early age. "I began playing when I was 4-years old and I played pretty intense until I was 12 before I took a break from the sport for awhile from age 12-16," Koitka said. "But during the break, I realized how much I loved the sport and I wanted to get back at it. In Germany, there really isn't any high school sports ... you play on club teams, so it was a different type of upbringing for playing the sport.
"Life in Germany is different than it is here ... not better or worse ... just different. Germany is more 'by the book' type of thinking, where there's one way to do things and people are very direct -- you'll always know what they're thinking. It can come across as harsh, but it's more direct and you have to earn their trust more. That type of thinking wasn't really MY type of thinking, so I thought that living here might be better."
Born in Colorado, but raised in Germany, Logan's accent may sound like a local, but the culture shock of coming to America for college was still very much there. "Americans love to chat and smile, but sometimes, it can be hard to tell if they're sincere or not, so that took some adjusting," Koitka said with a laugh. "If people out here say, 'we should get together sometime' ... in Germany, if you say that to someone, they pull out their planner and say, 'OK lets pick a day and do it' ... very matter-of-fact.
"But coming here and being on a sports team right away, I immediately connected with people that I knew I had tennis in common with and with the amount of time we spend together, it definitely makes making friends a lot easier right away. I don't have a car, so my teammates have been great with driving me around and they really helped take care of me early on. I've had a great time here at OCC and I'm sad that it's my last semester here."
As for life here in America, compared to her native city of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany, the differences don't end with just the people. "Where I grew up, it's always cold and snowing in the winter, while here it's always sunny and nice," Koitka said. "The lifestyle is different ... more fast paced and this country is SO BIG and every city seems so huge and with no car, it's all so far away, so that was hard getting used to.
"The conception of living here is different than I was expecting. As a tourist, people always say, 'If I lived there, I'd go to the beach every single day" but that's not the case for hardly anyone when they actually live here. The people here are a lot more 'normal' than they're portrayed in movies or TV shows, which is a very good thing."
When it comes to playing the sport of tennis, even THAT has some differences. "Growing up, we don't play a lot of doubles so that was completely new to me," Koitka said. "When I came here to OCC, it was a lot of work to get my doubles game up to where it needed to be. Playing with (OCC teammate Madeleine Veltri) for the past two years, we became great friends and that made the process easier. She's given me tips on how to be a better doubles player and chemistry-wise, she's been great. She's one of my closest friends on and off the court."
As for her style of play, Koitka prefers a more aggressive, power-packed type of tennis, something that sometimes isn't always seen at this level. "I like to play the baseline and use my forehand shot, but I've had to learn how to play a more complete game, and Coach Ketcham has helped me do that," Koitka said. "I credit him for helping me become more of a tactical player, which has helped me win a lot of my matches. He's taught me to be patient, find my opponent's weaknesses and build off of that."
On the court, Koitka plays to win, plain and simple and sometimes, she uses her bilingual abilities to vent some frustrations without the officials catching on. "Yeah, I've been known to mutter some things in German when things aren't going my way, but it's nothing too bad," Koitka said with a laugh. "I'd like to think I'm a nice person off of the court and I'm always polite to my opponents on the court. But I AM competitive and I want to win and I try to stay in my 'zone' and focus on the match. I'd like to hope that my teammates consider me their friend."
One definite way to garner popularity with the team is by indulging in one of Southern California's favorite food stops. "My favorite food around here is definitely In-N-Out, without a doubt," Koitka said. "People who come here from other countries, that place is tops on their bucket list for food. It so iconic outside of this area ... it's not an expensive place, but the food is so good.
"But if I could bring some of my favorite food from Germany to here, it would definitely be -- and I know this sounds cliche -- but it would be pretzels and sausages."
When asked about whether Logan has found SoCal's German hot spot -- Huntington Beach's Old World -- "I still haven't been there yet, but I've heard from other German friends that it's pretty authentic!"
As for future plans, Koitka still is figuring things out, but one thing is for sure ... the U.S. is a place she wants to call home. "I 100% plan on staying here," she said. "My friends back home in Germany were convinced that I'd move back and I'd miss my home. But, since I've been here, some of them have visited me here and they now want to live here too. I like the energy here -- very positive. When you see people, they smile at you here and I love that. With me being born in America and living in Germany, it wasn't always easy to fit in over there, but here, there's so much diversity ... anyone can fit in here. I definitely feel more accepted."
CAMILA NELSON
Much like Logan's story, Camila's path to Southern California began at a very early age. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, a family trip to the states helped change Nelson's mind set. "My first trip to the United States came when I was 11 years old and we went to L.A. and Hollywood and Lake Tahoe," Nelson said. "I really liked California, so I knew I wanted to come back here. Lima is completely different than here. Even though it's a really big city, the probability of you running into someone you know is so high. Everyone knows everyone there. And even if you meet someone new, chances are you and that person will have 2-3 mutual friends, so it's always like that. We tend to all be really close in terms of our distance with our families and we see our families all the time. I have friends here that maybe only see their family like once a month at most, but in Peru, it's more like once a week or every two weeks. It's also easier to make friends there because of the fact that everyone knows everyone, so we all have more or less the same background."
Nelson began her tennis career at the age of 5. "My friend's grandparents wanted her to play tennis so I joined her and just fell in love with the sport," Nelson said. "Tennis isn't a common sport in Peru ... in fact, I was the first member of my family to play tennis. My mom and my aunt were athletes too, but they played volleyball, but as long as I was in a sport, my mom was fine with it. I played until I was 11, then stopped for awhile. I got back into it when I was 14, but then after awhile, the Pandemic kept us all inside so for me, playing the sport was really a rollercoaster, emotionally. Each do-over, I basically had to start over again, so that was humbling."
But with the thoughts of going 100% back into the sport she loved and a dream of returning to California for her education, Camila began her journey to Orange Coast College. "Because I couldn't practice or play during the Pandemic, which was my most important time to get noticed at my age, I thought my tennis career was over," Nelson said. "When I was looking at schools around here, I talked with (Ketcham) and he wanted me to give it a try, but I was so scared because I hadn't touched a racquet in like two years. He was great at making me feel so comfortable in getting back onto the court again.
"When I was looking for the right school, I wanted something close to the beach, even though I don't go there all that much. It was between OCC and Golden West, but I chose OCC because of tennis and because of the on-campus housing, which allowed my mom to feel more comfortable with me so far away."
It's been a fantastic freshman year for Nelson, who has posted a 10-6 record in singles and an 11-2 record in doubles, playing with OCC teammate Leanne Pascua. After just practicing with the team last year, Nelson picked up her game once again and she's been instrumental in helping the Pirates go unbeaten through the first 20 matchups this year.
"It's been really fun here at OCC," Nelson said. "At first, I did struggle with my classes because here the classes have a different type of rhythm that I wasn't used to with assignments. I went to American schools in Peru so I was pretty confident about speaking English and getting along fine here, but that always hasn't been the case. Going to class and having teachers talk really fast, I did struggle with that early on. When I speak English, I first translate what I want to say in my brain from Spanish, so it was hard at first, but it's much better now. Learning the English slang words took some time, but I'm getting there."
Much like Logan, learning the craft of doubles tennis was almost as difficult as mastering English, but it's a challenge that Camila has been up for ever since arriving to the OCC campus. "I did not play a lot of doubles in Peru ... we practiced doubles there, but it was more fun than it was for competition," Nelson said. "In singles, the pressure is all on yourself, but in doubles, I'm always worried I'm letting my partner down."
Showing her ability to be a fast learner, Nelson and Pascua helped the Pirates win a pivotal match against L.A. Mission on Tuesday in the Southern California Regional playoffs, turning a 2-6 deficit into an 8-6 win, helping OCC gain momentum for a 5-2 win over the Eagles. "Playing with Leanne ... she is so supportive and we work well together on the court," Nelson said. "We never get mad at each other, which is great. In Peru, there was much more anger issues with doubles, so that made me feel intimidated. It took a little getting used, but I'm feeling better about it."
Talking about the differences between life in Peru and life in the states, Nelson had plenty to choose from. "The overall vibe is way different," she said. "Everyone here is so happy. Maybe it's because it's always sunny here and that puts people in a good mood. Plus, there is so much more independence here, compared to my country. Young people live with family until they're around 30 years old, so when I moved here at the age of 18, it was something different and my mom was scared to have me come out here. Once I came here, I felt so much more independent ... I learned how to cook and how to handle my money and bills and paying rent. When I go back to Peru and see my friends, I really wish that they could get out of the area and learn more about living on their own.
"In Peru, kids my age go to school, then immediately go to university for college. Here, people I know are talking about taking a 'gap' year to explore things, then, go back to school. That just doesn't happen where I'm from."
Food here vs. Peru also has its differences, according to Nelson. "Peru has some of the biggest and best cuisines in the world," she said. "We have amazing food over there, with a lot of seafood and fish being so close to the ocean. We get food styles from different countries, but we do it Peruvian style, which makes it so much different. Fast food where I'm from is cheaper than here and it's so good. But I do love the Shake Shack here, that's for sure."
The U.S. stereotypes were reached in Peru, but Nelson has seen a different America while living here. "I think as all international students think, we tend to see the U.S. as how we see it in movies and TV shows … it's not the same," Nelson said. "It's much more 'normal' than you see on TV or in the movies. I remember watching "The OC" on TV in Peru and I was thinking, 'Maybe that's how it is there!' But, that's really not the case."
As for life after OCC? "I really want to stay in the U.S. and live here," Nelson said. "Ever since I was a kid, I loved the U.S. I'm not sure if I'll stay in California or live somewhere else, but for now, California is my favorite state. I'll be here at OCC through next season, but after that, I'd love to maybe find a college in San Diego and perhaps keep playing tennis. I really want to continue to play and hopefully, I'll be able to do that."
