It is not every day you see Wales being represented in America’s collegiate basketball leagues, but Porthcawl’s Emily Stradling is flying the flag.

“There weren’t many girls playing basketball in Wales at all,” said the 20-year-old.

“So in terms of it being competitive (enough) to enter a national team – and at the time I was playing football too – I got to a point where I had to make a choice in terms of which one I wanted to do.

“Basketball was kind of a new thing for me and so I think maybe it’s that excitement of playing it that made me choose it.”

Stradling’s decision proved a good one, as she was called up to the Great Britain Under-18 squad when she was 16.

“Playing in the WBBL [Women’s British Basketball League] at Cardiff Met and playing other women’s teams, you hear what their experiences were, so that’s how I learned about college and my parents had been in contact with a recruitment agency,” said the 5ft 10in guard.

“It happened really fast from there. I just think that’s how basketball has worked for me, it’s been go with the flow.”

College sport is huge in the United States, attracting large crowds with matches often televised, something that Stradling – who attends Mercer University in Macon, Georgia – thinks is an attraction for British students.

“I don’t necessarily think people think it’s within their reach because we haven’t seen it and it definitely has a different feel to it,” she said.

“If you look at anything that’s going to pay your way, the scholarship potential is obviously far, far greater and you also get to go to a different country, which is a cool experience too.”

Despite receiving offers from several colleges, Stradling had no expectations or much prior knowledge of basketball scholarships abroad.

“I’d heard of people getting one previously, but a lot of the players I knew in WBBL were either Americans who played college and then came over or were from somewhere else in Europe,” she said.

“Then there would be girls who were a couple of years ahead of me when they started getting the scholarships. I thought about it but then they weren’t Welsh players.

“There’s a difference again between participation levels and competition in England versus Wales.”

‘There’s a reputation and there’s money’

For Stradling, Mercer is a very different sporting environment from what she had experienced in the UK.

“I was one of the ones who was really committed to it and not necessarily because I had a goal of going somewhere else, but my family has an expectation of what it means to be in a national team. You know how much you work for that,” she said.

“I’ve always been the type of person that goes 100% and wants to do stuff every single day. But once you get here [to the US], there’s not that choice. It’s laid out for you because you’re basically getting paid in the form of your scholarship to be here.

“The reason there’s such a focus on winning and so much pressure is because your coaches are all being paid.

“There’s obviously the personal aspect of it – I always want to do as well as I can and I’m all for winning – but then there’s also the fact that this is a serious institution, there’s a reputation and there’s money involved.”

Stradling will finish her course in graphic design and communication studies next year but has the option of staying for another year on a graduate programme.

Her basketball future depends to a large extent on whether she decides to come home or remain in the States.

“I think if I was to get back into playing in the UK I’d probably have a better chance than I do now of making GB again,” she said.

“I played GB and I played it one year, I probably should have played a second year before I left.

“I felt when I first made GB that it was a big achievement to be recognised from Wales in the first place, pretty much being the first Welsh girl to be doing that ever or in a very long time.

“Things are changing now. There are a lot more girls playing in Wales and so the potential to do that I think would be great for girls coming through in the future.”

Stradling is waiting to see what kind of basketball season she can expect in these very uncertain times.

Covid-19 cases in America have recently passed six million, nearly a quarter of the global total.

“That’s definitely one thing that I wasn’t expecting to be as bad as it was,” she told BBC Sport Wales.

“I guess my expectations versus the reality once I got here were a little different.

“We’re sticking to outside spaces for the most part, if it’s not with someone who’s on our team and we need to be wearing masks. It’s not the normal social experience.”

The university basketball season would normally start in November but there is a chance it could be delayed until January, with a decision yet to be made.