Dec. 24, 2007
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One family will fly 7,000 miles for 14 hours only to have another 2,000 miles to fly. Another family will see their 22-year old son this holiday season for the first time since he was 18. The extents that Vanderbilt student-athletes and their family members will go during the holiday season in order to spend time with each other are nothing short of astounding.
Multiple time zones and thousands of miles between relatives, players such as Alan Metcalfe, Andrew Ogilvy, and Charles Hinkle rarely get to see their families at a time of the year when family is of the utmost importance. While most of us relax at home or worry about which presents to buy, these three players, along with the rest of their teammates and coaches, spend most of the holiday season playing basketball and preparing for upcoming opponents.
A native of England, Alan Metcalfe will get to see his mother and father during the holiday season for the first time in five years. He will drive east to Virginia, where he attended high school and lived with a host family, to meet his mother and father on December 27th. Metcalfe’s parents will fly approximately 3,600 miles from Manchester, England, to Washington, D.C. From there, they will travel to Virginia to spend three days with their son.
“It’s a trek really,” said Metcalfe, speaking about the travel process for his parents. “They don’t do it that often, but I don’t think they’ll worry about how long the flight will be considering they’ll actually get to be here. I’m excited to be with them this holiday season.”
Although located on the opposite side of the globe, Andrew Ogilvy has a similar predicament to Metcalfe. Ogilvy and his family hail from Sydney, Australia. The distance between Sydney, Australia, and Nashville, Tenn., is approximately 9,200 miles. In order to get from Sydney to Nashville, his parents will have to change planes twice in New Zealand and Los Angeles before arriving in Music City on December 28th. Ogilvy will travel to Alabama with fellow teammate Keegan Bell for several days before returning to Nashville to meet his parents. He knows that available time to spend with his family will be at a premium.
“They don’t get to see me much at all,” commented Ogilvy. “It’s going to amazing to catch up with them again.”
“A.J. is going to have his family with him for the first time which I think is really going to help him,” said Metcalfe. “He’s made a great adjustment, on and off the floor. He’s from a much further distance away.”
Some athletes do get a small opportunity to spend time at home with their families. This is the case for Charles Hinkle. Hinkle’s family lives in Los Alamitos, Calif. Hinkle will make the cross-country flight home to spend some time with his family before returning for basketball.
“I’m going home for five days,” responded Hinkle. “The day before Christmas, my family checks out the Christmas lights around all the houses. On Christmas Day, we all go to my aunt’s house and celebrate the holiday over there.”
From Australia to California, California to England, and everywhere in between, distance will not hinder the efforts of Vanderbilt student-athletes to spend time with their families. Although happy to have a break to spend time with their loved ones, the No. 17 ranked Commodores will return to Nashville eager to take care of unfinished business.
