CV’s ‘Foreign Legion’

Ray Peterson calls them his “Foreign Legion.”

Four exchange students, two from Ecuador and one each from Germany and France, added much to this year’s Central Valley tennis program.

“I’ve never had as much fun or enjoyed a group of kids any more than this one,” Peterson said. “They’re all great kids.”

One of them, Juan Montalvo from Ambato, Ecuador, will represent the Bears in the state Class 4A boys tennis tournament this weekend at CV.

Montalvo, Malena Izquierdo, also of Ecuador, Xavier Thomas, from France, and Jan Ingwersen from Germany, all had successful seasons.

Montalvo earned his spot in the state tournament by knocking off Lewis and Clark’s Ben Gullickson.

“He will be the state champion the next three years,” Peterson predicted. “He’s a very good player, and he is only a freshman.”

Izquierdo, who also played on the school’s volleyball team, played No. 1 singles for the girls and highlighted her season with a fifth-place finish in the Inland Empire Tournament.

“I am so proud because there were so many good players in it,” she said.

The hard courts that most tennis is played on in this country took some adjustment.

“We just have clay courts at home,” Montalvo said. “This is very fast. But it’s the same game.”

Another adjustment was playing on a school tennis team.

In each student’s home country the school day is an all-day affair. Eight classes – all of them core courses with no electives. The only after-school activities available are homework, homework and homework.

“In France we don’t play tennis at school,” Thomas said. “You can go to a tennis school. Otherwise you have to belong to a club.

“We go to school from 8:30 in the morning to 6 p.m. That’s why you cannot play sports.”

“We don’t have sports like this at the high school level,” said Izquierdo, who lives in the capital city, Quito. “We play, but it’s just for fun or it’s for a club.

“I used to play tennis a lot when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was on the national team for kids, but it was nothing competitive or nothing big. Then I started to play volleyball.”

Ingwersen originally turned out for soccer, but changed his mind when he saw that tennis was coed.

“We play a different game of soccer,” he explained. “We play harder; more physical. It was difficult for me to play this style.”

With France the butt of some very dumb jokes, this might not have been the most opportune time to be a French exchange student.

“Oh no,” Thomas said. “Everyone has been so nice to me. I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”

Each of the four has had to learn English on the fly.

“But you do not learn to speak,” Thomas said. “You only learn to write.”

Having studied English does not necessarily prepare one for the language spoken in this country.

“I learned a lot of stuff once I got here,” Izquierdo said, laughing. “Like slang.”

Ingwersen is taking on the additional challenge of learning French in an English-speaking classroom.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “Now, I have a hard time talking to my parents when I call them. Luckily my father speaks English. But I have to talk to my parents first and get used to speaking German again before I can call my grandparents!”

One of the benefits of playing a sport in this country has been to understand the way this culture frames much of its language around sports metaphors.

“You get to know people, and you get to know a lot of people when you’re involved in sports,” Izquierdo said. “You learn more about the culture.”