April 2024
Overseas salaries, La Copa de Reina, Game Day Routine
Welcome back to another edition of Dodson Diaries!
Thank you all for the continuous support of my newsletter. After the positive feedback about including the voiceovers, I will make an audio version of all my newsletters going forward. I highly recommend listening to it even while reading because I will add information not included in the written version!
This month, I am writing about overseas salaries, La Copa de Reina, and my game day routine. I hope you enjoy it!
Overseas Salary
“Why do WNBA players go overseas?” - new women’s basketball fan
Here’s why….
Many new fans were shocked to learn that Caitlin Clark, the number one pick in the 2024 draft, will only make $72,000 in her rookie contract. (I have linked an informative article Vox wrote on the topic here.) For this reason, you will find many WNBA players playing overseas because they make a lot more overseas than in the W. For example, when Diana Taurasi still played overseas, her Russian team paid her over a million dollars to sit out for the year, which she did happily.
To be clear, the average female overseas player does not make millions it can be more comparable to Clark’s WNBA contract or most likely less depending on different factors such as country, position, experience level, stats, etc. During my first year overseas, I made less than an average college graduate's starting salary of $58,862 (according to Bankrate). However, teams usually pay for your accommodation, visa fees, and flights. Unlike a traditional job, the majority of the paycheck can be saved and doesn’t have to go to expenses which is a positive.
Here’s a major downside of overseas payments though. You are only getting paid once a month and it is not uncommon for the payment to be late. In my contracts, I have a 10-day grace period, after which I can choose to sit out of games and practices. Even with these safeguards, you can be waiting a while for your money. My first year in Poland this happened to me. The 10-day grace period didn’t apply the last month since the season was over. I went home at the end of March. I didn’t receive my last check until more than 3 months afterward. At the end of the season, this is not uncommon to happen. I always joke with my mother that I’m fortunate I don’t have a mortgage and kids to look after, but that is why playing overseas you need to save. Especially for the 3-4 months in-between seasons when you go back home and have more expenses without a paycheck coming in for the foreseeable future. I have dealt with late payments for all three teams I have played for to varying degrees.
La Copa de la Reina
La Copa de la Reina or “The Queen’s Cup” is a mid-season March Madness-style tournament. Only the top 8 teams from the first half of the season get to compete. All games were on the same weekend in Huelva, Spain. My teammates who had played in La Copa told me how it was their favorite tournament, and I quickly understood why. The atmosphere was amazing and reminded me of how it felt during my collegiate days competing in March Madness. The gym was just the right size to make the arena a lively atmosphere. The fans were on another level compared to normal games. At Gernika we have loyal fans who cheer, but we are a small town and more reserved compared to other teams. All the teams had their own designated fan sections to cheer and the teams with larger fanbases such as Avenida and Valencia brought an electric energy during the games. The influence of the soccer style of cheering was on full display with the coordination of chants and drums the whole game. It reminded me of an atmosphere you might witness at top college football programs in the US. We played against Avenida, and even though the fans were actively rooting against us, it was a fun environment to play in.
Game Day
Routine is everything for me especially on game days. I don’t have any superstitions, but if my routine is severely changed I get very irritated. Through the years, my game routine has seen tweaks and improvements. My routine was heavily influenced by my college days when I started to understand all the aspects that needed to be thought of to be effective on the court. Below is a typical home day schedule:
9 am wake up
10 am breakfast
11 am shootaround
12:30pm lunch
2-3:20pm nap
3:40 pm snack
4:20 pm leave for gym
6:30 pm game*Away games are a little different than home games, but overall the same.
9 am: Wake Up
Once I wake up after I brush my teeth and wash my face, I always stretch for around 20 minutes. I got in the habit of stretching every morning during the pandemic, and it truly makes a difference.
10 am: Breakfast
My breakfast is virtually the same every morning oatmeal with berries and milk, sausages, and kiwi (if I have some.)
11 am: Shootaround
The shootaround lasts an hour. We usually do a lot of shooting and might go over the scouting for our opponent.
12:30 pm: Lunch/Pre-game Meal
Lunch is full of carbs and protein. I like to eat, for example, chicken breast, pasta, roasted potatoes and some veggies. I try to eat as soon as I return home from shootaround to let the food digest. It depends on when I schedule my nap if I am successful in that endeavor.
2-3:20 pm: Nap
I like to have time to nap for an hour and schedule more time to wind down for the nap by, for example, reading my poetry book.
3:40 pm: Snack
Once I get up from my nap I like to do a quick stretch and have my pre-game snack of a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich and fruit. A snack I have stuck with since college.
4:20 pm: Leave for gym
I like to be at the gym 2 hours before, so I can get some shots up before the rest of the team arrives. Then at around 45 minutes, we start a warmup as a team and play the game!
6:30 pm: Game
Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter! I am curious about which sections of the newsletter were your favorite. I will share which one was my favorite next newsletter!
Until next month :)
We love to see coffee culture Maya haha. 🩷☕️ I honestly didn't know too much about payment schedules/late payments overseas (aside from the salary gaps)—thank you for sharing more about this! Also loved reading about your routine because I kinda know it haha so was curious to see what you have/haven't changed! I love kiwi, such an underrated fruit. Stretching in the morning really does make a difference, especially as the joints/muscles get crunchier w/ age hahaha. And no more three hour naps! Naps are growing on me tbh...