Ben Hallock spoke zero Italian and, even worse, couldn’t figure out the intricacies of the produce section at his new, local grocery store in Liguria, Italy. The employee trying to assist the foreigner spoke no English. All Hallock could do was hoist the limes in his hand and look helpless.
No matter how Hallock felt in that moment or the other instances he adjusted to life abroad while playing professional water polo for Pro Recco, the best club team in the sport, Hallock was just a phone call or text message away from someone – teammates on the U.S. men’s national team – who could understand.
“What stupid thing did you do at the grocery store today?” Hallock said. A more common inquiry is: “How’s your tutoring going?”
That type of conversation between members of the national team leading into the Tokyo Games seldom occurred. During that cycle, Alex Bowen said, the former veterans had retired and stopped their pro careers in Europe, while the next generation had not yet gone abroad for pro opportunities.
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Past national team members such as Tony Azevedo, Merrill Moses, John Mann, Jesse Smith and Josh Samuels all had lengthy careers overseas. But Bowen was the only national team player abroad in 2016 and 2017.
Since then, the entire team – plus anybody who wants to have a chance to make the Olympic roster – plays abroad. It was a recognition on the players’ part that it’s necessary for them to remain competitive internationally, Bowen said.
“Because while we do have a national league here, it’s not competitive compared to the European model,” he told USA TODAY Sports.
The competition in college is sufficient for that level. Top players from around the world attend schools in the United States. The issue is going up against 21-year-olds after graduation.
“There’s a difference between going against college-aged guys and going against guys trying to put food on the table,” Bowen said. “So that’s immediately obvious when you go to Europe to play.
“There’s that extra motivation over there. These guys are trying to stay relevant and stay on the team for as long as they can.”
For Dylan Woodhead, playing in Europe was a borderline necessity. He was part of the crop of younger national team players going abroad as the COVID-19 pandemic surged in 2020. He’d been struggling to find pool time in northern California and was driving nearly an hour to the East Bay to get into the water.
“Maybe the best way to go train and prepare is to go play in Europe,” he thought.
So Woodhead and another 10 national squad teammates made their debuts in Europe that year and picked up some valuable experience before the Tokyo Games. Woodhead finished his Master’s degree in mechanical engineering while playing his first season for Vouliagmeni in Greece.
“For me, I had never really made that big move,” said Woodhead, who grew up about an hour from Stanford.
It took 23 hours for him and his two suitcases to reach Greece. He landed at 10 p.m. local time and as a car drove him across his new country, he thought to himself, “Where am I in the world right now?”
“It was very daunting. I was a little apprehensive,” Woodhead told USA TODAY Sports.
Within a week, though, his teammates made him feel welcomed to the point he felt comfortable. Signing that first pro contract was “an interesting, life-altering experience,” he said.
“But is something I’ve grown to be thankful for,” Woodhead said.
The American proves himself
Nobody on the Olympic roster is as well-traveled over the course of his career than Bowen. Next season will be his 10th abroad, and he’s played in (in chronological order) Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Greece, Serbia, France and, soon, Spain. He announced his transfer from Noise-le-Sec (France) to CN Sabadell (Spain) earlier this year. In 2023, the Olympic roster played in Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Croatia. Improvement in the national team’s quality of play leading into the Paris Games, Bowen said, is “100 percent” evident because of his teammates’ commitments to spend most of their year playing in Europe.
Bowen singled out Hallock, who has won three Champions League titles with Recco – and played key roles during the team’s run of dominance.
Hallock is one of seven U.S. players who play in Serie A, the top level in Italy and arguably the premier league in the world. The challenges in the pool have forced him to grow as a player. The scouting aspect of other countries’ best comes into play during the Olympics.
“Knowing your opponents, knowing how they think – just the little tendencies that you might pick up on by playing someone twice a year,” Hallock said. “It could be the difference in one game in the Olympics.”
In European club water polo, the best players sign with teams as teenagers – similar to the European soccer model.
“You see them with all the responsibility on their shoulders,” Bowen said. “When they play for their national team, there’s a little more sacrifice.”
Because those elite players have to showcase more skill throughout a season, Bowen said he can pick up on a fake a player does with his club team but may not have shown up previously during international competition.
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The variety of tactics and style that the Americans are exposed to thanks to their club teams have let them broaden their water-polo horizons, Woodhead said.
“That increases your thinking, your decision-making, the way you find solutions in the game,” Woodhead said. “I think that all-encompassing experience has helped our team grow a lot and mature a lot.”
Hallock became the first American to play for Recco when he arrived in 2020.
“There was sort of a lack of – I don’t know if trust is the right word – but maybe confidence from all my teammates,” Hallock said.
He needed to prove himself – without knowing how to communicate with his new teammates.
“It was definitely an insane experience, for me, at 22 years old, not knowing what anyone was saying,” Hallock said.
Offering demonstrative body language helped in the beginning.
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“Just showing up and proving to them that I belong there and I was good enough,’ he said. ‘Eventually, they sort of bought in and believed in (me) as well, which is again, confidence-building on my part.
As time went on, Hallock poured his efforts into learning Italian. He wanted his teammates to be friends and build relationships outside of the pool.
Bowen has had the tough task of learning a new language every couple of years. He only becomes comfortable enough to get by or at least ask the other person to speak in English. But wherever he’s been, his teammates have embraced him.
“Water polo, even internationally, is a really tight-knit community,” Bowen said.
Teammates have given him rides to doctor’s appointments and let him borrow their cars to pick up his fiancée from the airport.
Woodhead’s gratefulness to his teammates in Greece has yielded bonds that will last forever. He’s also received a different perspective outside of his northern California bubble.
“That relationship with my teammates is what makes (playing) abroad so special,” Woodhead said.
‘Hey, this isn’t a vacation’
Hallock is not fluent in Italian but he can definitely get by conversationally. He’s comfortable enough to conduct media interviews in Italian. In Genoa, he consumes plenty of pesto, and “it’s amazing.” But food in Italy is regionalized fare and he misses the variety available back home sometimes.
What helps prevent homesickness is seeing American teammates throughout the year. If they play each other during the regular season or Champions Cup, they will make plans to hang out or stay over each other’s apartments the day after games.
“We definitely make an effort,” Hallock said.
Hallock counsels his teammates to have good relationships with the manager of their club team and to have an understanding of expectations before arriving. He also says to be ready for discomfort – at practice, in the pool, in the city.
“It sets in after a couple of weeks. You’re like ‘Hey this isn’t a vacation,’” Hallock said.
The U.S. men open Olympic play against Italy on July 28, and Hallock is familiar with the Italian roster. Serbia, Montenegro and Greece are other powerhouses the U.S. will have to contend with to medal, which the men have not done since the 2008 Beijing Games (silver).
Most European teams have the advantage in that the top club team or two in each country will roster 50-70% of the national team. Naturally, they spend more time in the pool together.
“The U.S. is coming from all around Europe and we’re meshing all of these styles back to our identity,” said Woodhead, whose younger brother Quinn is also on the team, and plays for Telimar in Italy.
It’s a different challenge than what other teams face, but Woodhead said it will be up to the Americans to use it as an advantage “if we organize it well and we plan well and are thoughtful in our training.”
After their seasons, the U.S. team gathered for six weeks of training before departing for Europe on July 6 for tune-ups in Greece, Slovenia and Croatia.
“It’s just fitting the puzzle pieces together,” Bowen said.
For a roster that has uprooted their lives to go abroad and pursue their professional passion, the growth that comes with doing such a thing should make that process easier.
“Through that growing process comes a lot of maturity,” Woodhead said, “and that maturity helps us in the pool a lot.”