Krysten Garrison sets the ball for her Fer Volleyball teammate in Kosovo. Her team won the Kosovo championship. Garrison recently returned to the United States where she will spend the summer. She plans to return overseas in the fall.
Krysten Garrison was a standout volleyball player from a young age. She was an all-state player in high school and went on to play college ball. Now, she is playing professional volleyball overseas.
In the last nine months, Garrison coached high school volleyball at Greenville and played on two different teams overseas. Her season just ended and the team won the championships in Kosovo.
“I have officially finished my 4th professional season in Ferizaj, Kosovo,” Garrison said. “During this season…it was A LOT of volleyball. I did not get to do much exploring around the country, but all the time in gym paid off because we are the champions of Kosovo.
“When I first got to Kosovo it was quite an adjustment. Most days we were without electricity for hours. Some days in the middle of practice the electricity in the city would shut off, so we couldn’t continue our practice. The heating systems were not great, so keeping my hands warm during practice and matches to set was nearly impossible. But I can’t complain too much about the cold after being in Mongolia.”
After Greenville’s season ended, Garrison went to Mongolia. When her team did not make the finals, she returned home in late December for a few weeks before she joined her new team in Kosovo.
Mongolia was an experience for Garrison. The cold could not compare to Missouri cold.
“Most nights when we finished practice it would be between 0 and -15F,” Garrison explained. “I promise I will never complain about a Missouri winter again!
“I made the All-Star team (in Mondgolia)! It was quite the production and a huge event here. A selected captain conducted a draft and picked players for their team. It was a lot of fun and they had some crazy added challenges I was not prepared for. In the middle of the second set, they paused the game and handed us all oven mitts. We had to continue playing while wearing them!”
Her volleyball teams have been very welcoming.
Garrison said that in Mongolia her team would often go out for pizza and shopping. “I used my translation device a lot! (It was very helpful if you ever need something while traveling. 5 stars!) ,” Garrison said. “Of course I loved all the cashmere stores and learning their skin care products! I have a new collection of everything cashmere and hoping my skin looks like theirs soon.”
In Mongolia, Garrison and her teammates spent many hours at different coffee shops. “I have never met people who drink so much coffee or ask you to go for a coffee at 10 pm. Before fitness, coffee? After fitness, coffee? Before practice, coffee? After practice, coffee?” Garrison said “And I’m not a coffee person, but I believe my relationships with the girls were built during all those hours at the coffee shop. “
In Mongolia, when you google Ulaanbaatar (the city Garrison lived in) you will see it is the most polluted capital city in the world. “They aren’t lying!” Garrison said. “The families living around the city in the Yurt villages don’t have electricity, so they burn coal in the winter to stay warm. Unfortunately, that smoke comes directly into the city. I had to wear a mask when I went on long walks, because it feels like you are standing over a bbq grill and trying to breathe. I was able to find lung detox supplements that helped, but I’ll be happy when my cough goes away.”
Garrison has enjoyed eating the different foods and learning the different customs in the countries in which she has lived.
“I have learned different traditions they do here and was able to take part in a few,” she said. “One of them we poured milk into a little cup and looked into the sun while thinking of our biggest dreams. When we were ready we threw the milk into the sun! I’ll let you know if those dreams come true.”
In January, Garrison went to Kosovo.
“During the month of March most of the country, including my teammates participate in Ramadan,” Garrison said. “During this time, they are fasting from sun up to sun down. No water, no food, no gum, nothing! Some days they would go a full day without eating, we would start a volleyball match, and when the time came for them to eat we would pause the match for about 15 minutes so they could eat. The last day of Ramadan they spend with their families and eat sweets all day. We were invited to a teammates home to try all the different sweets her and her family made.”
It is not all volleyball. The team takes time for small day trips.
“One day we took a trip to Prizren,” Garrison said. “It was a beautiful city below the mountains. Unfortunately it rained so we didn’t get to explore too much.
“We played in a tournament in Skenderaj. The tournament honored the attack on Prekaz. We were able to walk the memorial for the 60 family members that were killed on that day and see the home where they were attacked.”
Her season culminated with the Kosovo national championship.
“After we became champions, we took a trip to the sea in Albania,” Garrison said. “We stayed a few days in Vlorë. It was beautiful, but not much was open yet because it isn’t their summer season. We then moved North to Durres to meet a few more teammates, where we spent my birthday and our last night all together.
“This experience was very special to me. Since going from college to professional, I have experienced that most relationships are just transactional in this profession. I’m there to do my job and that’s all that matters. However in Kosovo it was very different. I now have a family there and people I will remember for the rest of my life. As excited as I am to come home, it has been very sad to leave my life in Kosovo. “
Garrison is in Piedmont for the summer. She will head to her next team in August.
“Thank you all for always supporting me,” Garrison said. “It makes this crazy dream I’m living a little easier.”
Garrison is the daughter of Darren and Lori Garrison of Piedmont.