Exciting Week Coming Up for the UNB Women's Basketball Team
Examinations will be over soon. Tired students will reflect back on the first four months of the school year and take the time to re-charge batteries over the Christmas break. The big push remains when the calendar flips to 2011.
For the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds Women’s Basketball Team though, there is tremendous Christmas incentive awaiting them. And it’s both on and off the court for the team, its coaching staff and personnel.
The UNB squad will be in Cuba from Dec. 16 to 23 on an athletic and cultural exchange that will involve a number of plans, excursions and basketball to keep them in shape for the second half of the season that arrives in early January. The Varsity Reds will play at least two games and have four practices during their stint in Cuba. The club will play games against a pool of Cuban junior national athletes, but there is more involved in this trip than a few games.
Much more.
“We wanted to reward some of our fifth year players (Amanda Sharpe and Leah Corby) for their dedication and commitment to the program, but we also want to use it as a recruiting tool,” said UNB head coach Jeff Speedy. “It’s a tremendous asset we can offer players in our program to make an international trip and represent our school and our country. It’s something we want to look at doing every five years, something similar at least. It’s a tremendous opportunity for our players now and for our players in the future to see what it outside the world we live in.”
The players will be involved in a number of extracurricular activities in Cuba, home to over 11-million people. UNB will meet and have supper with Canada’s Ambassador to Cuba, Jean-Pierre Juneau, and will participate in a nightly tradition that sees the shooting of cannons.
Speedy will also be interested in watching his charges when they arrive at a Cuban orphanage. That is where many will have their eyes opened.
“We are going to a local orphanage for an afternoon and are bringing some essentials such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, clothing and sporting equipment to the children,” Speedy said. “There will be some candy and food items. I’m sure this experience will leave a lasting impression on all of us.”
Adds Speedy, “I really think I have a responsibility to help teach our student athletes some ‘life lessons’ or to try to help them grow as a person. I think this trip will provide many opportunities to do just that.”
The Varsity Reds return home a couple of days before Christmas and will have a little bit of down time over the holidays before getting back to the gym. UNB practices again as a team on Jan. 2 before playing Jan. 8-9 in regular season Atlantic University Sport action.