For Women United by Pola Henderson pola@jettingaround.com
Sports have always been about identity for me.
Or at least since my expat life began.
I live in Paris, where I am ‘Pola from Chicago’ to French people. But I wasn’t born in Chicago, nor the United States for that matter. So who am I? ‘It’s complicated,’ I answer when someone asks the question. I identify as Polish-American, even if I no longer live in my passport countries.
Poland is where I have roots, and that never goes unacknowledged. But America is where I spent most of my adult life. It’s the place that shaped who I am today as much as (if not more than) my Polish upbringing. That includes sports affiliations.