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Sierra Moore has played professional basketball on four continents, in countries as various as Argentina, Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia. She’s currently playing for Polonia Warsaw in Poland.
She spoke to Swish Appeal about her far-flung basketball experiences, beginning with AAU ball and her time as a collegian at Duke (2012-13) and Penn State (2014-16). She also shared some of her other passions, including mentoring younger players and cooking chili. Highlight from our chat include:
On her first experience as a pro, in Argentina:
I didn’t know where you could buy a SIM card to put in your phone, so you could speak to to your family and your friends when you’re just walking around. You had to be at your place with wi-fi and that was the only time you could speak to them. And you would wait all day until you got home. It was a big adjustment because you’re on your own. And when I was there, nobody spoke English. I knew Spanish, I wasn’t bilingual at the time, but I knew a little bit of Spanish. It was okay, but [they don’t speak] the Spanish that I was taught. It’s also hard when you’re around people that don’t speak the same language as you the whole entire day and the only language that you guys share in common is the language of basketball. And that’s all you’re focusing on, and sometimes you just need a mental break. I didn’t expect the housing and the facilities to be like when I was in college, but it got really hard for me and I had to tell my agent that I needed to leave when I was one week without water. And then I was one week without electricity. I realized that my well-being is more important than me just playing the game I love.
On averaging 42 points and 21 rebounds per game in Saudi Arabia:
It wasn’t like they had a full season because I think now it’s their seventh year of women being able to play sports. It was only there their fifth year when I went there. And it was a great opportunity for me because I was playing with women and girls that haven’t had that much time to play basketball ‘cause they never were allowed. And it gives you a whole different perspective, like, “Wow, they really appreciate this opportunity.” And their willingness to learn was so high. They were always listening to what I had to say, because I have been able to play since I started when I was four [years old] at the YMCA and…they only got to start when they were 25 [years old] because they weren’t allowed to until then. They were just starting out, so of course I’m gonna have a crazy stat line because everybody else is just learning. But I was so happy for them because even though we came in second place, you would have thought we won the world championship.
A special thank you to Thomas Prodromou of Flash Agency for arranging the interview.
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