2012 Italy Tour Review
It's been a week since our return from the beautiful country of Italia. All of our student-athletes have transitioned into summer vacation mode. I am still re-living each and every event from our wonderful trip. My favorite part of the entire experience was the people. The Italians proved to be lovers of life, food and fun. Our first hand experience was with our tour guide, Tamara, and our bus driver, Corrado. I am convinced our trip wouldn't have been half as successful without them. Tamara has an infectious laugh and the ability to infect others with laughter as well, with her little jokes (hiding Lauren's phone, stealing Liz's "bear" or translating incorrectly to Corrado). She made everyday it's own adventure with random and historical facts. I appreciate her now much more than I did during our tour. Ahhhhh, the magic sleeping bus, driven by Corrado. We need to get him to America to be the official driver for the University of New Haven. Each excursion began with a ride on the magic bus which unequivocally rocked each and every member of our travel party to sleep. We attribute it to his smooooooth driving. Corrado (also known as Fabio during the day and Luigi at night) would constantly match each one of us with his wit and sarcasm. I entered the bus one morning and the curtains weren't pulled back, I calmly asked, "What happened last night?" Of course the answer was returned with quick wit, "My discoteca, Luigi's Discoteca." Sure enough, his premonition came true. That evening returning from our game, UNH Women's Basketball hosted a dance party started with "Call Me Maybe" in the back of the bus, arguably one of the best moments of the trip thanks to Luigi's Discoteca. After two of our games we were privileged to break bread with the opposing team, coaches and managers. Each night infused us with Italian culture. With College Italia, the coaches had a back table with sports on the big screen while showering us with food and wine. Not quite the same as the Charger post game meals; fried artichoke & zucchini flowers, fresh mozzarella with prosciutto, hand made potato chips, gorgeous pizzas and pastas AND the best tiramisu I have EVER had. Not to mention, even with the language barrier, we were able to talk sports, strategy, life and have a ton of laughs. Meanwhile the players occupied the front patio and enjoyed talking music, dance techniques, Facebook and FUN. I was beaming with pride when I saw how well they were interacting and enjoying the differences and similarities of American and Italian Basket Players. With the Carugate Team, we had the opportunity to run a clinic for their younger teams. I imagined the kids would understand a few English words, especially since we were coaching basketball. NOPE! I was challenged as a teacher to find a way to get our drills and techniques across to the kids. It was an amazing experience to represent American basketball to these young aspiring players. They relished in the opportunity to learn from us and be around our players, we were like rock stars! I want to take this chance to thank each and every person who made the 2012 Italy Tour possible. It was an experience of life, food & fun! GRAZIE MILLE!