Last summer, Ryan Starr, a senior at Neumann University, embarked on a journey to Israel to pursue a professional basketball career. Being of Jewish descent, Ryan knew that Israel was the place where he wanted to play, and he made it happen.
“It was a lot of work on my part to sign to an agency," Ryan recalls. “I looked up pretty much all of the players that had played Division 3 basketball that were signed to an agency and played in Israel then I hit up the agencies separately and just gave them my film and my information. It took about two months to sign an agent, after I signed an agent they took the brunt of the work, and reached out to the teams in Israel.”
Eventually the hard work paid off and Ryan was signed to a team in Tsfat, Israel.
However, Ryan's aspirations were swiftly interrupted by the tumultuous events of October 6.
"It was weird because it was 6 a.m. in America, 3 p.m. in Israel, so I was unable to get in touch with my family in the beginning,” he said.
The Hamas attacks shook the region, throwing Ryan and his teammates into a state of uncertainty and anxiety. With the season set to begin, their basketball aspirations were overshadowed by concerns for their safety.
Ryan and his team only got to play three scrimmages together, and the season was slated to start only three days after the initial attacks on October 6 which precipitated a war that has now claimed more than 30,000 lives.
“We were based super north, closer to the Lebanon border, and the attacks were in more southern to central Israel by Tel Aviv. So, I was a good distance away, but the size of Israel is only the size of New Jersey so it wasn’t too far,” Ryan recalled.
In the midst of chaos, Ryan and his teammates sought refuge in a bomb shelter in one of the apartments they were staying at.
"Originally what happened was we thought we were safe," Ryan said. "But there were bombs sent over from the Lebanon border."
Grappling with the grim reality of conflict, Ryan and his fellow American teammates formed a bond, finding solace in each other's company amidst the chaos.
“They have this thing called the iron dome where they shoot all the bombs down, so nothing really came down and impacted us too badly, but all the shrapnel came down and affected us a little bit. When that happened I got with my other American teammates threw all my stuff in a bag and got out of there as soon as possible and went into a bunker with the two other Americans on the team,” he said.
Ryan recalls him and his teammates playing 2k to pass the time and living off a box of pasta and some McDonalds while sheltered in the bunker.
“It was definitely a trying time but we definitely made do and we kind of all kept each other sane which is good,” he said.
After four days of tension and uncertainty, Ryan and his teammates were able to leave Israel, leaving their basketball aspirations shattered by the events. Reflecting on the experience, Ryan acknowledges its impact on him as a player and as a person.
“As a player, it doesn’t really affect me too much," he said. "But at the same time, it definitely affected me as a person. I just take every moment in life now and really just treasure everything I have and every person that’s by me.”
It was time to come home. Ryan now has his sights on coaching post-graduation.
“My plan was to use all the tread on the wheels, use all the gas in the tank playing-wise," he explained. “And when that was done, my idea was to come back here and get into coaching after I graduate, and that is still the plan now.”
Despite the challenges he faced, Ryan maintains perspective.
“Always stay calm," he advises athletes in similar situations. “You make your best decisions when you're calm.”
He considers his experience in Israel as a reminder of the unpredictability of life and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity and uncertainty.
