It’s just like Athens, says Greek volleyball player
A GREEK international volleyball player has swapped one marina in the southern part of Athens for another in Hartlepool.
Temperatures of late have been hotter by the North Sea coast than in her homeland due to the recent heatwave and Eirini Kokkinaki is feeling very much at home.
Eirini, who has a glittering sporting CV having played for the Greek national team and club powerhouse Olympiacos Piraeus, is enjoying her new office balcony at Tranquility House overlooking Hartlepool Marina.
The 26-year-old has embarked on a new career in HR with Orangebox Training Solutions, where she has already made a huge impression, while combining her studies at the University of Sunderland.
Eirini, born on the Greek island of Crete, originally studied business administration as a teenager at the University of Athens and had a degree by the age of 21.
Alongside progressing her education, Eirini developed a fantastic career in volleyball.
As well as playing for her country’s senior team, she shone at international Olympic and European youth level while winning six Hellenic Championships and six Hellenic Cups with Olympiacos. She also won the
CEV Women’s European Challenge Cup in 2018. However, last summer she embarked on the second year of her Masters at the University of Sunderland and that has led to her grabbing an opportunity to step into employment for the first time with Orangebox in Hartlepool.
She said: “I have played for Olympiacos professionally since the age of 18 and I have loved it but I decided I wanted to change my life.
“I believe people have multiple identities and I felt I had completed my life as an athlete. I had another dream and I have just started the cycle. It’s really exciting.”
Eirini still plays volleyball for Sunderland University in the BUCS League and National League.
Life is clearly a bit different in the North East to Greece.
She lived in Palaio Faliro, renowned for a polished seafront and a popular mooring spot for yachts boasting bars and restaurants.
Eirini added: “When I saw the view from the office building, the colours and the view, I felt at home and I wanted to spend my days here.
“Hartlepool Marina is very similar to my neighbourhood in Athens.”
She said Orangebox was her first interview for a job and she loves the vibe at the workplace.
She said: “I want to succeed, achieve my action plans and I hope I stay here and be liked. I only started here in June, I have met all the people and I really like it.”