Oct. 7, 2009
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Where did you spend part of your summer? Did you visit a castle or cathedral in St. Andrews, take a bicycle tour of Munich or cruise the harbor in Sydney? Probably not, but members of Vanderbilt’s women’s lacrosse, men’s basketball and men’s golf teams spent part of their summers doing just that.
To further integrate Vanderbilt’s student-athletes into the general student body, Vanderbilt has long encouraged its student-athletes to travel abroad during the summer just as the rest of the student body has the opportunity to do. Many have taken advantage of the opportunity to do so over the years and have returned with memories to last a lifetime, but with few friends or anyone to share the experience with.
Such was not the case this summer when three of Vanderbilt’s teams made trips abroad to experience another part of the world together. Instead of being with a small group of students, many of whom had never met before the trip, the teams were able to share cultural experiences that they can reminisce about with each other throughout this season and the seasons to come.
The NCAA allows teams to travel abroad once every four years and it just so happened that Vanderbilt’s three squads decided to take their trips during the same summer. The lacrosse team spent a little over a week in Europe from May 29 to June 7 visiting Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. The basketball team was in Australia August 7-17 and the golf team was in Scotland July 25 through August 3.
While the idea of student-athletes and teams traveling abroad may be frowned upon at some institutions, the idea of giving teams a unique cultural experience is encouraged by administrators at Vanderbilt.
“I think the neat thing is that you get the sense from the higher levels here that it is not just about going over there and winning,” lacrosse Coach Cathy Swezey said. “They expect us to do that during the season, but they really want our girls to get the cultural experience.”
A cultural experience is exactly what the teams got. They toured the countries they visited, took lots of photos and left with many memories. The lacrosse team took guided tours in every city they visited, but according to Swezey nothing topped the bike tour in Munich, Germany. The men’s basketball team visited four cities, including Townsville, where the team visited the Billabong Wildlife Sanctuary and were able to feed kangaroos and other native species. The golf team stayed in Prestwick and St. Andrews, Scotland, visiting historic locations such as the St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral.
Many of the student-athletes who traveled abroad had never been outside the U.S. Providing them with an opportunity to visit another country is an educational opportunity that was not overlookedâ€â€Âeven for the men’s basketball team, which is one of the most diverse squads in the NCAA with four players who grew up outside of the U.S.
“I always enjoy and appreciate the cultural opportunity that our players have to see what other people live like, and what it is like in other parts of the world,” men’s basketball Coach Kevin Stallings. “I think that is very important for them as far as their education at Vanderbilt is concerned. It’s not the education you will get in the classroom, but it is still a very big part of their education in my opinion.”
Like Stallings, men’s golf coach Tom Shaw shares a belief that the trip was much more than just about athletics.
“It was a great learning experience,” Shaw said. “It was more than about playing golf, it was about having the experience, seeing the history, doing some bonding and just having the life experiences of being in a different culture and country.”
In addition to being immersed into a different culture, the teams had an opportunity to test themselves against international competition. The basketball team finished 3-2, while the lacrosse team went 2-0 and the golfers honed their skills on historic courses in St. Andrews, which is known worldwide as the “home of golf.” The teams all had success facing the unique challenges they are not accustomed to in the U.S. By adapting to the different styles found in international competition, the teams hope it will yield dividends for its upcoming seasons.
“Sometimes, in American golf, you get pretty good at being a one-trick pony and you just have one shot for one situation,” Shaw said. “In Europe, on any given shot, you can have multiple options. Being the kind of golfer you need to be to be a world champion, you have to have an entire arsenal of shots, so I think it showed them that, number one, I have to work on more shots to complete my game and number two, once I do that, I’m going to be even more capable of pulling out some shots that maybe my competitors can’t.”
Being able to experience international competition is beneficial, but it is far from being the most important aspect of the overall experience.
“I think that we get to spend a lot of our time together being intense and competing, and to be able to go over and take in a different experience with your team where it is not just about winning is important,” Swezey said.
The amount of time devoted to actual competition often pales in comparison to the amount of time that is spent experiencing the culture of another country.
“Fully embracing the experience is one of the reasons why we only played two games,” Swezey said. “I wanted the girls to have the time to take in Europe and not worry about getting ready for a game.”
Sports may not be the primary focus of the trip, but often times, teams find success in the season that follows the trip. In recent years, many Vanderbilt teams have taken trips and for the most part, those teams have gone on to have strong seasons. Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team traveled to Spain in 2007 and advanced to the Sweet 16. The lacrosse team traveled abroad in 2003 and won a school-record 12 matches the next year.
The men’s basketball team’s trip to Australia was its third international trip under Kevin Stallings. The 2000 team went to France and Italy and narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament. The 2004 team traveled to Spain and was one of the most successful teams in school history, advancing to the Sweet 16.
Traveling abroad is certainly not a magic formula for achieving success, but a lot of teams point to the chemistry a team develops during trips overseas as a primary reason for having a successful season.
“First of all just the amount of team bonding was very beneficial,” Swezey said. “To be able to experience such things as visiting cities and just taking in different cultures and be doing it with your teammates and best friends, there is something to be said for that.”
The teams inevitably become closer than they were before the trip because of the amount of time they spend together and the experiences they share. Sure players from the same team spend a lot of time together during the season, but it is unusual that they spend an entire day together as a team. Between classes, homework, etc., it doesn’t happen often that they are all together outside of practice, games or meetings.
For years, Major League Baseball players have left home to spend weeks together at spring training, and NFL teams spend time during training camp living away from their homes in college dormitories or in the same hotel.
In college, finding that time together can be a little more complicated, which is why many teams find international trips so valuable.
“Just playing that much golf together and being with each other 24/7â€â€Âthese guys were good friends alreadyâ€â€Âbut now they have shared experiences that they are always going to talk about,” Shaw said. “That is always going to be something they will remember.”
