In basketball, the ball is sometimes called a rock. For Adela Valkova, the game has been her rock.

Going to college is hard enough on its own.

With that college being on a completely different continent, it gets even more challenging. Add in a battle with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and you get Valkova.

Originally from Prague in the Czech Republic, she has used basketball as a stabilizing force in her life. As a result, the 6-foot-2-inch Weatherford College freshman has not only settled in as a solid student, but also as one of the top players on a team that will make yet another trip to the postseason, an annual occurrence for coach Bob McKinley's team.

"At first I didn't like basketball at all because of my ADHD, but my mom said, 'You're going to play basketball,'" Valkova said. "She thought it would help me, and it did. After that first year I really started liking it. Now, it's my love.

"I didn't know how to rest. I was sleeping at school. When I started playing, it calmed me down."

The more she played, the more Valkova realized she could parlay her skills into a college education, but to do so she'd have to leave the Czech Republic. After a phone conversation with McKinley and Lady Coyotes assistant coach Brittnie Haley, Valkova said she felt a connection to WC even though she'd never even visited America, much less Weatherford.

"He told me all the history of the program, and I just knew I wanted to come here," she said.

There was just one more hurdle to overcome—her fear of flying.

"I'd flown, but not that far. This trip was 10 and a half hours, and I didn't sleep at all," Valkova said. "But it was worth it.

 "I'm going back home for the summer, and then back here in the fall. I hope I can sleep. Last time I watched a movie, "Game of Thrones," everything I could, and I didn't sit by the window."

Of course, there was also the cultural adjustment once she got here, she said.

"It's Texas, so I was expecting a lot of rodeo and beef food," she said with a chuckle. "I was also expecting the weather to be nothing but warm, and I was pretty close on that. Back home we have loads of snow."

Valkova is studying engineering. She wants to someday be a mechanical engineer or computer graphics designer—once basketball is over. However, she hopes that is a long time as she wants to play professionally, either in the WNBA or abroad.

"If I can get a deal here, good, but I would also like to play in Spain," she said.

When she's not playing basketball, Valkova meditates daily to help her control her ADHD.

"It helps me focus, calm down," she said. "I do it all the time before games now."

Her methods are working. She's the top rebounder on the team (6.7 per game) and a reliable offensive player as well (8.6 points per game).

Valkova and the Lady Coyotes will begin Region V Tournament play at Abilene Christian University Thursday, March 5.

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by Rick Mauch