The South Alabama Women’s Basketball team recently completed a tour in Greece during the first week of August. The trip included visits to historical sites, opportunities for community service, and two games against international teams.
Head Coach Yolisha Jackson discussed the goals and outcomes of the tour. “The main purpose was the cultural experience, but also the team bonding, team building and the practices and competition,” Jackson said. She explained that NCAA regulations allow teams to take part in such trips every four years. “A lot of times, there are study-abroad programs, but our athletes can’t participate because they are student-athletes. This gives them an opportunity to participate in something like that and to kick off their season by doing a lot of team bonding and team building. We were also fortunate enough to do community service while we were over there, so we were able to give back.”
When asked to sum up the experience in one word, Jackson responded: “Magical. I thought it was magical for those young women to be able to bond like they did, and to be able to experience the things that they were able to experience. Taking that group was really special for me … They truly engulfed themselves in the experience. It was magical seeing them create lifelong memories and lifelong relationships from those eight days.”
Jackson highlighted kayaking as an activity that helped bring the players closer together off the court. “Kayaking. We had two different groups, but we were all there together. Them having to have that one other person in the kayak with them and communicate to get where they were going bonded us all together.”
She also noted how shared new experiences contributed to team chemistry: “Them being able to do new things together – there were a lot of firsts. We had kids who had never been kayaking or were experiencing the different foods. Whenever you’re able to do that with a group, you automatically bond.”
Reflecting on adapting during international competition, Jackson said: “Whenever adversity hits, you’ve got to get tighter. We’ve got to just focus on us. When [the game] started, we were focusing on the opponent, but then we channeled that back to, ‘What are we doing? How are we as a group combating that?’ Then, all of a sudden, we went on a run when we figured that out.”
Jackson believes these experiences will benefit her team as they approach their upcoming season: “The extra time that we spent around each other on the court learning each other is going to propel us. In this era of college athletics, being able to have longer practice time to get used to terminology, pace, drill names and how each person likes to play has already given us a step up leading into the season.”
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