Special Blog Post - Basketball on tour

Now that our games are over I thought it timely to talk about how important the role of these games was. During the course of the tour each team played 6 games - and every school experience was completely different.
Our first games in Connecticut v Norwich Free Academy were a real eye opener to all - the whole experience of being in a school for the first time was very exciting and the boys revelled in their new found importance. Norwich is a large school, well known for its strong academic program and is set in a beautiful part of this country. Newspaper interviews, cheer girls, half time entertainment, the differences in rules between their games and ours back home and the fact that people were being charged for entrance just name a few! Whilst we did not hold our own on the court that day due to the intense tiredness of all from our travel we did really enjoy the chance to play in a beautiful school.
Our second set of games was a few days later, back in Connecticut against Nathan Hale Ray School, a lovely small school in a picturesque area. Just having a chance to have the boys practice together first gave us more of an edge, and that each of the older boys had been billeted before the games meant there was more at stake (in their minds at least!). Another big crowd turned up to watch and the atmosphere was fantastic - very different from our first school (less upbeat) - and we played much better and those guys with limited experience playing found it much easier. Our Freshmen drew, our JV side just lost by a point and our Varsity boys held their own for most of the game but struggled at the end to their second loss.
Our Junior Varsity and Varsity guys had their third games in yet another very different style of school, an inner city gym in the basement of the Hunter College High School in central Manhattan, New York. The JV side played really well and took out a strong win, whilst the Varsity side really struggled to play well together early in the game, hitting their straps after half time and just fell short.
Game 3 for our Freshman was against Sidwell Friends - a very wealthy school in Washington DC and the school which Barack Obama's daughters attend. Our boys again played with incredible passion, but fell just short of the win.
Game 4 for all was in Virginia - the Freshman side played Monticello High whilst the JV and Varsity side played Robert E Lee High. By this time we were struggling to believe how you could play in four places which were so different from each other. Our JV boys were fantastic in this game, playing with huge passion and taking out an easy win. The Varsity side played really well in parts, but not well in others, and struggled to gain any sort of foothold - going down easily.
Game 5 was our first in North Carolina in yet again another quite different style of school. This was a Christian School in a little town about an hour out of Raleigh, and the whole group were African American. Trinity were so very athletic, able to jump, play great D and very well disciplined. Our Freshmen just lost, our JV were soundly beaten but this was the best game on tour from our Varsity boys. But for a few minutes where the opposition could not miss from outside the three point line we might have got up, but missed out on the win.
Our last set of games was yet another very different experience as it was at Wake Crossroads Baptist Church, a base for boys who were being home schooled. Each of our teams won, the JV and Varsity teams easily and the Freshmen just getting up.
So all in all the doors that these basketball games opened were fantastic - our three billet experiences were fabulous and enjoyed by all and the friendship and fellowship shown by all our American hosts was something to be believed - so many of us have made friends for life.