Springfield, Ohio – For Wittenberg University’s women’s basketball team, there will be time to relax during the 2014 summer break – just not right away. Not with a schedule that includes a 10-day training trip to Greece, which the Tigers are using to prepare for what they hope will be a breakthrough 2014-15 season.
Eighteen student-athletes will join Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz and Associate Head Coach Kelly Mahlum on a trek across the historic European nation from May 21-31. Following 10 days of practices on campus prior to last week’s final exams, the Tigers are more than prepared for the trip, which will include three games against Greek teams and numerous cultural and educational opportunities.
“The reason I committed to do this with our program every three years is that it gives the players in our sport a chance for another cultural experience,” said Jurewicz, Wittenberg class of 1998. “Most often our basketball student-athletes choose not to do study abroad because of the schedule that spans both semesters each year.
“I think Greece will be an amazing place for us to visit. It is one of the most historic civilizations in the world with so many great sites to visit and things to see. It will also be memorable for our student-athletes to play against strong international competition.”
Not only has Jurewicz been putting her team through workouts on the court in recent weeks, she has also conducted meetings to prepare for the trip. The team has read about Greek culture and discussed the historic and culturally significant sites they are scheduled to visit.
The Tigers will start and end their tour in the capital city of Athens. In between, there is a three-day cruise through the Greek islands, including Mykonos, Santorini and Crete and a stop on the coast of Turkey, and visits to Delphi, Olympia and Kalamata. Games will be played in Delphi, Kalamata and Athens against top local competition.
Jurewicz and her team have hosted two youth basketball tournaments, a shoot-a-thon fundraiser, and a mulch sale to raise money for the trip. Some of the student-athletes have raised enough money to pay for their entire trip.
The fundraising activities added to the student-athletes’ already busy schedules during the 2013-14 school year, but Jurewicz said there is great enthusiasm heading into the international excursion, which she plans to chronicle through the program’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.
“Student-athletes dedicate a lot of time to their sport,” Jurewicz said. “This is a great reward for all of the hard work they put into the season and their studies.”
Written By: Ryan Maurer