Youth basketball team from Poland thankful for basketball opportunity in Peoria

EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Former Illinois Central College star Daria Mieloszynska loves Peoria.

She came from Poland to the U.S. and helped ICC win a junior college national title in 2003. She returned this summer by bringing eight youth basketball players from her home country to central Illinois.

“To me Peoria is like home. This is where I started my American dream,” said Mieloszynska , who transferred from ICC to the University of Texas and then had a pro basketball career in Europe.

She had an idea to make players in Poland better. It involved Peoria.

“When I brought eight athletes here, I wanted to give them the same experience (I had). The American exposure,” said Mieloszynska. “I wanted to show them the difference between American and European basketball.”

Ten years ago, Daria and her husband Sebastian Zwolak, a former European basketball player for Poland, met current East Peoria High School coach Jarrett Brown. They were hoping to start and exchange program.

The goal is to have European players could come here and experience basketball in the U.S. and then bring American players to Poland to get a taste of international hoops.

This summer, through their company Warrior Win Training, the couple brought Polish players to Peoria for the first time.

“To be honest, from the beginning, I thought it would be exciting,” said Egnacy Przyzrozny. “But it’s better than I expected.”

The 14-year-old Przyzrozny was one of the eight players brought to central Illinois from Poland for the two-week visit.

“They experienced basketball in a different way. The (American) game is more athletic for them,” said Zwolak. “I think it’s a great life lesson for them being here and experiencing the different approach.”

While in Illinois, the Polish players went to basketball camps at the University of Illinois, Illinois State, Bradley and Eastern Illinois. The players from East Peoria High School adopted them for their stay, showing them around central Illinois.

They eat with them, shopped with them and trained with them. It was an experience of a lifetime for all the teenagers.

“What we have done this summer is build long lasting relationships,” said Brown. “That’s what we wanted to do.”

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