Top of the morning to all my blog readers!  I’m here blogging today because I wanted to brag about my action-packed St. Patty’s Day and how much I learned about Irish culture! Although I didn’t get the chance to go to Dublin with some of my fellow scholars like I planned, Galway still had a lot to offer. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated much differently here than in the United States, and I wanted to share my once-in-a-lifetime experience with you guys.
My eventful day started off early in the morning around 10 o’clock. I met with some college friends and also some of my national league teammates (Titans) at a local café in Galway. We sat around and talked, grabbing a bite to eat to give us some energy for the day. Whilst having a chat they asked me if I knew what St. Patrick’s Day was all about. Being uninformed about the symbolic meaning behind it, all I could really say was “Something to do with a Saint named Patrick, leprechauns, and a day to party.” As a consequence of my lack of knowledge and such a pathetic response, my Irish teammates laughed then decided to give me an informative lesson on the importance and symbolic meaning of St. Patty’s Day. They were able to explain to me why this day was important to them and their culture. According to them, St. Patrick’s Day meant a lot more than a “day to party,” even though that’s all they seemed to want to do lol. Long story short, they explained how St. Patrick was a symbolic Saint to them because he brought Christianity to Ireland, established loads of churches and schools, and apparently he “drove the snakes out of Ireland.”  After my lesson, we all went out for a few drinks and I got to enjoy the rest of the day, bar-hopping at local bars in Galway and also got the chance to experience the local parade that went through town.   
After thinking about it, this brief 10 minute talk between my teammates and I made me open up my eyes and think a little more about other cultures and their values. It also made me realize how lucky I am to have the opportunity to be in a different country learning new things every day and having the chance to experience what other cultures have to offer firsthand. I’ve always wanted to spend this special day in Ireland and thanks to SCL, I can now cross that off my bucket list!

Just to follow up on last week’s post. Yes, we won our game versus Maree. It wasn’t pretty to watch, but we did get the W. There is a lot of work to do for our team to reach the level we want to get to and hopefully with hard work and the development of good habits, we’ll be able to get there by March! 

This week was a little different than the other weeks, as we didn’t get the chance to coach any of the kids in Galway. We attended an ‘Ethics Seminar’ Monday night designed to promote an understanding on how to coach children. Interestingly, several coaches from various sports attended the class and some great discussions were brought up throughout the evening. 

Thursday morning, Tim and I left Galway to head out to Belfast to meet with the USNI group and play in the ESPN tournament. At our arrival, we were directly taken to Dr. Brennan’s home where she cooked us an amazing home cooked meal. Spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread and everything! Following supper, we had practice with the Uslter Elks for a few hours to prepare us for the tournament. 

Head over to the Thursday night. It’s 2:30 am and we’re awaken by some kind of siren. Tim and I look at each other and decide whether this is a fire drill, a prank or a bomb scare! The latter option seemed like a possibility considering we were in Belfast. We headed down the emergency stairs, went outside and gathered around with the hundred other hotel guests. A few minutes later, the fire department arrived and informed us everything was under control. There was NO bomb in the building. Some kid had decided it would be funny to pull down the alarm at 2 in the morning! 

We played in the ESPN tournament over the next few days and had a great time. Playing in 6 games over a 2 day period was rough on the body, but we survived! 
Thanks to USNI for a great weekend! 

Will

Hello everyone! This past week provided a nice change of pace. We won our preseason game against cross-town rival, Maree. The game showed us a lot of what we need to work on, like boxing out and playing defense. I had my first presentation for one of my courses on Monday which went extremely well! My professor was pleased with my group. We attended an Ethics Seminar on Child Protection on Monday night. This was excellent as it provided us with a lot of information regarding dealing with children and what do in potential troublesome situations that we may encounter. 

Thursday we headed up to Belfast. We had a wonderful dinner at Gareth and Deirdre’s home and had a chance to meet the girls. We practiced with the Ulster Elks Thursday night in preparation for the Belfast Invitational that weekend. We won all 4 of our first round games, won the semi-final, and unfortunately lost in the championship game of the ESPN sponsored tournament. However, it was great to play with the guys up there, especially our fellow Victory Scholar, Darryl Shazier, or Shazzi as the girls were calling him. 

Friday night was great after the game, as myself, Will, and Darryl got to accompany Gareth and his family to dinner at TGI Friday’s and celebrate Gareth’s birthday. He insisted we not sing happy birthday to him, but his daughters decided that he really had no say in the matter. Hence this photo. All in all it was a great weekend and I sincerely would like to thank USNI Sport, the Ulster Elks and everyone involved for hosting us in Belfast for a great weekend of hoops and Northern Ireland history. Talk to you guys soon! – Tim

One of the things I like about the University of Limerick is that it has a big campus. It has an awesome walking bridge over a huge river right in the middle of campus and neat pathways to get from building to building.

 

However, a downside to having a big campus is that it is about a 15-20 minute walk everywhere. NC State has a big campus as well but over there I was able to cut my travel time to class by using my Razor scooter. Yes the Razor scooter was my thing. So over here I needed to invest in some way to make my travel time shorter.

 

My teammates told me about a Facebook page called “UL Swap and Sell.” It is a page where students post things they are trying to sell or items they are trying to buy. I logged on and found a post about a bike being sold. I immediately placed a bid on it and a couple days later I received one of the best investments I’ve ever made.

 

I ride that bike everywhere now and it makes my travel time to class only 3-5 minutes. I ride it to class, to coaching, to practice, to the grocery store and to everywhere in between. It has freed up more time in my day and now I cant remember what life was life without it.

 

 

Victory Scholar: Staats Battle

Present University: University of Limerick

US League: ACC

Club/Community Partner: UL Eagles

Alma Mater: North Carolina State University

Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland

 

We’ve progressed so much throughout the season, and we can see it both during games and in practice. Currently on our first winning streak of the season, we will play in the Shield Final in a couple of weeks!

 

This season made me think a lot about how it’s important to set goals in your every day life. One of my goals for the season was to help make the team better in any way I could – and to have FUN! I think it’s important to remember that especially in tough times, it’s all about competing at your best and trying to progress every day.

 

Scott and I also try to instill that same thought into our underage teams as well. While it would be nice to win every single game and competition, realistically it’s not always going to happen. It’s amazing to see how much the underage girls have progressed throughout the season and with each training session. It also made me think about my experiences at a young age, and the coaches that helped to instill that same philosophy into my outlook on sport. I was blessed enough to have coaches such as Barbara Nelson, Kevin Smith, Harry Adams, and Ken Beaty – coaches that had us constantly focused on getting better every day, even if that meant practicing on our own in our driveway. Especially how I was lucky enough to have my best friend and teammate living right next door! My best friend, Shannon, just finished her playing career at the University of Michigan, and we used to have the most intense one-on-one games in the driveway between our two houses, just trying to make each other better. While our teams progressively got better as we got older, I attribute it to the fact that we continuously worked hard on our skills.

 

The smallest details can make the biggest difference – both on the court and off the court. Just a little food for thought.

 

I’d also like to give one of my 12u girls a shoutout – thanks Jodie for inviting me to your birthday party!! 

What’s up?
The last seven days have been very interesting! The second week of school was pretty much over by Tuesday afternoon. Our International Management class ended up going to Sligo on a team building field trip (see pic). We spent all of Wednesday afternoon at the Boda Borg trying to decipher a bunch of puzzles. Following the team building exercises, we headed to the pub where a few of us spent a good part of the evening playing Wii bowling and tennis. 
Aside from our Sligo trip, we spent the majority of the week coaching kids from several schools as well as kids from the Titan Academy. My first stop this week was at St-Pat’s school. I ended up coaching the 10 year old kids with Titan’s Head Coach Matt Lint. After an hour of coaching, the kids seemed as if they had learned a lot and had a lot of energy during the entire session. 
On Saturday morning, I headed to St-Mary’s college to coach the kids at the Titan’s Academy. I ended up being alone to coach the final session of the day where approximately 44 kids had showed up. The kids did a great job following instructions and the entire session ran very smoothly. 
First game is Sunday afternoon. I’ll let you know how it went next week!
Will

Hey Guys! It was a great week in Galway. School got underway, including a team building day we spent with our Masters program up in Sligo. The day consisted of a multitude of activities and puzzles that were both mentally and physically challenging. Some were borderline impossible, but it was a lot of fun working together and getting to know other students in our program. These events were followed by a night out in Sligo with the other Management programs, as well as a few professors. 
I had my first group meeting this week to put together a presentation for class tomorrow. Unfortunately, one of our group members didn’t show for the meeting. However, part of being involved in management is going to be dealing with such issues, so myself and the other group member dealt with it as necessary delegating to the missing member what they would have to do. I’m confident about the presentation tomorrow. Saturday was a great day at the Titans Academy. We had a tremendous turnout from the younger players in our club. It really is great to see their passion and desire to get better. They truly are getting better each week! We have our first scrimmage today and I’m psyched! It’ll be great to see how we measure up against another team. Wish us luck! – Tim

One of my very first blogs was about my first time playing Gaelic Football and Hurling. I haven’t had the chance to play them since I wrote that blog but I have been able to watch them regularly. Some days I get picked up for coaching at this place called the Sports Pavilion. The Sports Pavilion is about a two-minute walk from my apartment and it is a restaurant that overlooks multiple sports fields. The fields are always busy with games and practices for Hurling and Gaelic Football. I love all sports and since I am only in Ireland for a year, I’ve decided to try and experience first hand these two sports as much as I can. Whenever I get picked up at the Sports Pavilion now, I always go early to watch these teams play. They really are two very interesting and unique sports to watch. I’ve caught up on a lot of the rules and how much skill is required by the players.  Some of my players that I coach play these sports as well and I hope my schedule works out one day where I’ll be able to watch them play.

 

 

 

 

Victory Scholar: Staats Battle

Present University: University of Limerick

US League: ACC

Club/Community Partner: UL Eagles

Alma Mater: North Carolina State University

Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland

 

After my SuperLeague match in Dublin against Christine’s team on Saturday night, I had a chance to hang out with Christine and her family for dinner. While St. Paddy’s wasn’t until Tuesday, we also had team trials for the College Select Team in Dublin on that Sunday – hence me staying in Dublin for so long!

 

The pace of Dublin’s city center was substantially faster with the amount of tourists in town for the holiday (me included), and I marveled at the amount of languages I heard while walking along the street.

span>On St. Paddy’s Day, we were in the thick of the parade and had the chance to witness one of the biggest celebrations I had ever seen. We also had a mini Scholar reunion as half of the group was able to make the trip to Dublin – and it was the first time some of us had seen each other since Thanksgiving! 

 

 

In NC at least, we typically celebrate Paddy’s Day on the Saturday before since it isn’t formaly recognized as a national holiday. It was an experience of a lifetime to be in Dublin for Paddy’s Day and to just witness the amount of national pride both from Irish and tourists alike. I also had the chance to learn more about the holiday: St. Patrick is one of the most well-known saints and apostles of Ireland, and is credited with bringing Christianity to the country. As tradition has it, he also “banished the snakes” out of Ireland – as there are no snake species living on the island!

 

Almost every city here had their own celebration for Paddy’s Day, complete with parades and festivals. In the Dublin parade, I also noticed several high school bands and college bands from the U.S. – imagine having the opportunity to travel to Ireland to play in the Dublin St. Paddy’s parade?!

 

Also – I have to give photocredit to Katie Ganser for this awesome picture on the day of the parade!

Hey everyone.

Just finished week number 4 here Galway. Tim and I started school this week and had a few interesting situations at school. Our first class was scheduled to begin at 10am on Tuesday, but didn’t start until 10:30am. Our professor decided showing up a few minutes late wasn’t much of an issue. It seems as if every professor is on the ‘arrive whenever you feel like’ schedule! 

Aside from going to school and having two practices this week, I also coached the ‘Bounce’ session as well as a group of 11 year olds at St-Patrick’s School. The bounce program is finishing up this week and the kids are beginning to love playing some basketball! A few of them actually showed up to the Titans Academy Saturday morning enthusiastic and looking forward to becoming better basketball players. 

Tim and I also got the chance to meet Darryl for the first time a few days ago. It was great meeting another USNI athlete. We had much to talk about and are looking forward to playing with each other in an upcoming tournament in Belfast. 
Got to head out and do some readings for class!

Talk to you all next week!

Hey guys! Another great week in Galway. First off, I’d like to thank Will for posting the awkward picture of me. I’d also love to thank Deirdre Brennan and Stephen Crothers for their clever “short” jokes in the comments they’ve made on the various photos. I get it. 
But it really was a great week, as we started school, which was slightly different from college in America. Chronically late professors and twenty minute coffee breaks are not as much a part of college in America as they are in Ireland it appears. Nonetheless, classes were great and it was fun getting to know everyone in our program. Had a decent amount of reading to do for the coming week but nothing to overbearing.

As for basketball, we began official training for the Titans of the National League. Practice was good. Everybody was a little rusty but the intensity was there which is always good. We coached the Bounce camp a couple times this week and then had some of those same kids in the Titans academy on Saturday. It’s amazing how far these kids have come and to see their continued interest and love for basketball is truly incredible. We also coached at St. Patrick’s, a local school where we will be coaching when we can fit it in around class and practices. (the picture attached is from St. Pat’s). 

A few NFL games have come in which I’m thrilled about. Made sure I got all my reading done so I can stay up late and watch the Jets game : ) Got another full week ahead of us with training, classes, coaching, and who knows what else. -Tim Coyne

It turns out that I have a lot of connections in Ireland. In the beginning of my Victory Scholar journey I didn’t know anyone in Ireland except for the Sport Changes Life team and I hoped to meet new people throughout my stay in Ireland but what I didn’t know was that the Sport Changes Life team would become my family and that I would always have the feeling of family around me. It is now the middle of February and I have found more connections than I could ever have hoped for. It seems like almost every week I find a new link between my life here and my life back in America.

 

For example, in January, I went to visit my former NC State teammate, Scott Wood, in Spain. He plays professionally there in a city called Murcia. When I got back to Ireland, I was telling one of my UL Wolves teammates about my trip and he goes, “Wait did you say Murcia? I’m from Murcia!” Scott is in his 3^rd season in Murcia and my UL Wolves teammate said he would go to Scott’s games all the time last year.

 

Another example is last week I was talking to my UL Eagles teammate about his year playing Prep School basketball in America. He was telling me about some of the big name players he played against and he mentioned the name Malik Abu. I immediately sparked up and told him that Malik was my teammate last year at NC State! He had never put two and two together and we were amazed about how small of a basketball world it felt like.

 

These are just two recent examples of the basketball connections that I’ve found but there are plenty of more connections that I could have written about. It is awesome to see how the game of basketball forms relationships all around the world and how it can bring people closer together and make the world feel like a smaller space. Life is full of surprises. 

 

a href=”../../../apply”>Why not apply for Victory and surprise yourself.?  

 

 

 

Victory Scholar: Staats Battle

Present University: University of Limerick

US League: ACC

Club/Community Partner: UL Eagles

Alma Mater: North Carolina State University

Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland

 

When Conniebob and Alpal come to a different country you know things are going to get interesting. They arrived last Saturday morning and were here all week! We did a lot of touring but I will try and give you a brief synopsis or else we would be here forever.

 

The first day they came in we headed down to Doolin right near the Cliffs of Moher. On our way we stopped in Ballinasloe to visit our cousins! As I have learned very quickly being in Ireland, everyone has a million cousins so I was not surprised when my mom told us we were going to try and meet cousins from each side of her Grandparents family. I can’t go into much detail but we are definitely related. They were lovely and very funny (as I expected). The next day we went to the Cliffs of Moher! It was a beautiful day this time and it didn’t rain!

 

After our adventures we came back to Dublin for the rest of the week. We did the Hop-on Hop-off Bus tour that I fondly have renamed Hop-on (nap) Hop-off. We did some of the museums in Dublin as well as the Kilmainham Jail. It was fun to be a tourist in the city I have been living in for 8 months (finally haha). We got to have some very nice dinners and I’ll have to say I ate better last week than I have all year!

 

Mom and Dad also got to see Jen and I play in the College Final for Trinity and win the championship (finally holding up that number 1 finger). The day before they left they got to see Katie and I play together for the first time in 5 years! Although we didn’t end up winning, it was a very special experience. 

 

I cannot even count the number of times I cry laughed on their trip and it was great to have the family back together again. We missed our baby sister but she had that weird thing she had to go to called class. It was a trip I will never forget. I would end this blog with the Irish toast my mom tried to remember at every meal but surprise surprise I don’t remember it either! 

 

PS. Mom isn’t in the picture because she was locked inside the car…I’ll just have to tell you to ask her that story if you are curious.

 

Victory Scholar: Christine Ganser

Sport League: Patriot League

Present University: Trinity College Dublin

Alma Mater: College of Holy Cross

It was another great week for us here in Galway! We didn’t have the Titans camps this week, but we did have the Bounce program which has come a long way. Also, I have posted a picture from a clinic we ran at an outdoor camp in Doughiska. We did a camp out there the previous week and had to recruit kids to come. This time we showed up at the court and there were already a bunch of kids waiting to play! Basketball is relatively new to these children and it’s great to see their interest in the sport. 
Joe was kind enough to take us down to Killarney and Friday and we ended up going to a wedding. It was very nice of Joe as well as the bride and groom to invite us to such a big event in their lives. Naturally, Joe had us all over the place meeting a ton of people at the wedding, then hiking in our nice clothes, stopping at the Muckross House, and showing us all over Killarney. 
I’m looking forward to the start of classes this week, as well as the official start of the National League training with the Titans. I’m sure this Master’s degree is going to be a challenge but I’m anxious and ready for it. Talk to you guys soon!

Already another week spent in Ireland! Man, lots of stuff happened this week. Tim, Matt and I coached the ‘Bounce’ program twice and saw alot of improvement in the way the kids have been working on the court. For those who don’t know what the ‘Bounce’ program is, it’s basically a program created to help overweight children develop better habits in their lives. When I say habits, I mean anything from daily food intake to increased daily physical activity. 
Mid-way through the week, our good friend Joe Coughlan asked Tim and I if we wanted to make a trip to Killarney Friday morning. Of course we said yes. A few hours later Joe lets us know that we’re also invited to a wedding in Killarney (more on that later). 
Friday arrives, Joe picks us up at 7:30am and we head straight to Killarney. A few miles away from our destination, Joe takes our bicycles out of his van and tells us to bike to the church. Please keep in mind that we’ve never been to Killarney. We end up getting on our bikes, head on a bike path and try to make our way to the church. 
A couple hours pass and we finally meet up with Joe outside the church after the wedding ceremony. He tells us the reception is at 5pm and we should be heading there pretty soon. 
We get to the reception, get to meet the bride, groom, family members and countless other people! We had a great time and met some interesting individuals. Following a pretty good meal, we were once again dragged into another adventure by Joe. We hop into the van and head for the mountains of Killarney. We saw a bunch of lakes, a few mountains, ‘Ladies View’ and what Joe called ‘some incredibly big waterfalls’. As you can see by looking at the picture pinned to the wall, the falls aren’t that big! But seriously though, we did have a great time and the falls were actually very nice to look at. Felt like we were in an Irish Springs commerical even though we ended up hiking in the mountains of Killarney in our formal wedding outfits!

At Ehoops, kids get the chance to play their favorite sports that they normally enjoy playing. But they also try out different sports that they might not otherwise get the chance to play. Last week, we put it to the Short Strand girls for which new sport that wanted to try. The scholars were pumped when someone suggested volleyball.

My skills accumulated from past beach volleyball battles, middle school gym class a dozen years ago, and having had volleyball players for roommates qualified me to teach some of the basics of playing. Jon, James and I taught them how to pass, bump, set and serve. When it came to underhand serving, the girls’ community leader Lance explained to me that the technique was just like a pass in Gaelic football, a popular Irish sport. The girls picked up the familiar method right away and were serving in no time.

After mastering the basics, it was time to play. We had a huge group game that came down to the wire. It was all tied up and game point was at stake- the scene was set for crunch-time, end-of-game heroics.

The other team quietly snuck off a serve to try and catch us off guard and ace us for the win. Well, they definitely caught ME off guard. Unsuspectingly, the towering serve nailed me right in the forehead. What would have been a perfect header in soccer sailed back over the net and hit the ground for the win. Once I got over the shock of what just happened, I celebrated like we won the All-Ireland final! If only we had it on film to send to SportsCenter Top 10.

The girls really enjoyed trying volleyball. And the end, it wasn’t about perfecting the technical skills of playing. Maybe they’ll forget the specifics of bumping and setting. But all of us probably won’t forget that hilarious last point anytime soon. Ally called my epic point the point of the night. And he was right, for having fun while trying out a new sport was really the ultimate ‘point of the night.’

Who would have known when I left my old squad at the University of Dayton that I would find a home with a whole new sporting community. Through the four years that I was at UD, I had built some of the greatest relationships, and I wasn’t ever sure that I could replicate this in only one year abroad.

 

I mean, through the ups and downs of Dayton life, I had joined a family. Simply put, I went through some of my best and some of my worst times with that squad, and some of those boys will be family forever. Bringing the comfort of belonging while tasting the bittersweetness of departing into a new community, one which had existed quite some time before I had arrived, was always going to be challenging.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love nothing more than to get to know people and form bonds. However, I really didn’t know what to expect in this instance. I came from an environment where I had developed a heightened level of certainty after four years, yet now I had so many questions….I was a rookie again.

 

Flash forward from my arrival, introduction, and first practice with the lads to today; I walk through campus with a newfound sense of belonging in the midst of my Irish environment, constantly muting my phone to avoid the incessant banter flowing through the group chat on Whatsapp.

The element of being part of something bigger than your individual self is a fundamental part of operating in almost any team. However, it can be immediately felt in certain environments much more easily than others. Why is this? Well, the only explanation that I can conjure at this point is that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of 2 teams at the University of Limerick this year, and both squads were filled with a great deal of genuine people.

 

These are people who are mutually and sincerely as interested in my life and my story as I am in their own personal journeys. These are people that understand that you are in a new environment, and do everything possible to make you feel like one of them. These are people that embody the Sport Changes Life spirit through so many more things than just sport.

From Galway, to Cork, to Waterford, to Limerick, the memories made around the Éire have been as great as ever. This is not just players that I am referring to, the coaches and all staff were just as responsible for this family environment as any player.

In just 6 months, I have made some friends that I will surely never forget, won a bit of hardware #fairfaxcup, and been a part of some unbelievable moments, like literally, unbelievable….I would not expect you to believe some of the things that went on in these places; if this is what I am due for spending my most recent months exploring abroad, I could never take back a second.

#goodvibes #ulwolves #victory #inspire

 

Victory Scholar: Jonathan Nelson

Sport League: ATLANTIC 10

Present University: University of Limerick

Alma Mater: Dayton University

 

Hey guys! My name is Tim Coyne. I’m from New York and I was fortunate enough to receive a Victory Scholarship through USNI Sport which allows me to pursue a Master’s Degree in International Management at NUIG while playing basketball for the university as well as at a professional level in the Irish National League. In addition to playing basketball and going to school, I will be coaching, teaching basketball at camps and clinics, and participating in multiple community outreach programs not only in Galway, but all over Ireland, including Northern Ireland. 
I played Division III basketball at St. John Fisher College where we were nationally ranked, reached the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III tournament, and won 2 Empire 8 Conference championships during my tenure there. I graduated from St. John Fisher in 2009 with a degree in Adolescent Education and American Studies. Upon graduation I was bartending in Rockland County, NY, while starting Graduate School at Dominican College, pursuing a Master’s in Educational Technology, of which I am about 12 credits shy, and plan to finish upon returning to the States. While attending grad school and bartending, I passed my New York State Teacher Certification exams, worked as a substitute teacher, received my CrossFit Level 1 and CrossFit Rowing certification and began working as a fitness coach at CrossFit Nyack. Furthermore, I completed a course that allowed me to become a New York State certified Emergency Medical Technician. 
I’m thrilled about the opportunity to live in Ireland(as I have roots in Galway), play basketball, coach, and work within the community. The few weeks I have been here so far have been amazing! I love working with the children and have had a pleasure getting to know my coaches, Matt Lint and Joe Coughlan, as well as the rest of the guys on the Galway Titans. Their enthusiasm, along with that of the kids I have the privilege of coaching, has made the transition to life here extremely fun and exciting. I can’t wait to see what this year brings!

First post since arriving in Ireland a couple of weeks ago. My name’s William Archambault and I’m one of 4 USNI Scholar Athletes that will be pursuing a Master’s degree while playing professional basketball as well as participating in various community outreach programs in Galway, Ireland. 
Here’s a little info about myself. I graduated from Davidson College in 2010 and was one of the members of the team that went all the way to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament in 2008. Many of you might know one of my famous teammates, Stephen Curry, future all-star point guard for the Golden State Warriors. 
After graduating from Davidson College, I had a short stint in China, were I played for a professional travel squad. Following my trip to China, I was hired by my old high school, where I ended up teaching Physical Education or what most of you probably call P.E for about 6 months. 
So as you can see from my picture, we’ve already started reaching out to the community. Running basketball camps in Galway have been very interesting, especially since Galway TITANS coaches Matt Lint and Joe Coughlan are always around trying to push the young kids to reach their potential!
I’ll let you all know how this week is going next Sunday! 
Will

This past Saturday, I watched some of my U18 Old Leighlin’s girls play in their county Gaelic football game. It was a quintessentially Irish experience: so cold, windy, and rainy that I spent most of the game watching through the front window of the car!  Thank goodness for windshield wipers and heating. I loved being able to support the players and admire the way their athletic capabilities translate seamlessly from the court to the pitch. These girls are so competitive and aggressive, making them both a joy to coach and to watch. I left the game with a better understanding of that bizarre pass some of the girls send to each other during our basketball practices: holding the ball in their left palm and punching it with their right fist, almost like an under-handed volleyball serve. It’s clearly a habit they’ve picked up playing gaelic! 

 

Victory Scholar: Lillian McCabe

Present University: IT Carlow

US League: Atlantic 10

Club/Community Partner: ITC Basketball

Alma Mater: Davidson College

Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland

Jimmy Ward is simply a genuinely great guy, and has had a huge impact on my experience here in Ireland this year. He is on both my midlands team and college team and his love of the game is truly remarkable.  He makes many sacrifices to continue to play the game he loves such as traveling over and hour and half for training and even has driven me and teammates rides to games the airport when I went home for the holidays.

 

At 34 years of age jimmy is still able to rack up a score sheet like he did in the college finals, but this blog isn’t about the gaming winning shot he hit in the big game that capped off our ITC over Galway or how he was the MVP of the college finals. This is about the guy who was at the hospital with his mom who was about to have serious surgery a week prior to the game on Wednesday.

 

This is about a guy when after hitting that shot and celebrating with the team he went and coached a youth team then heading back to the hospital with his family. Jimmy is a true feel good story and no matter what the circumstances always comes off cracking jokes having a laugh and making people smile.  Whenever our team or IT Carlow group is training or going out or a bit of craic the immediate question is “Is Jimmy coming!?”

 

His goofy child like charisma is rare and always brings up the energy and moral no matter what is going on. It really is a beautiful thing.  It also goes to show how good karma grants good things to good people. I’m thankful I’ve gotten the privilege of meeting and knowing James Ward and look forward to our future adventures in Ireland and around the world.  He has not only been an inspiring role model but more importantly a better friend. You’re the man Jimmy!

 

Victory Scholar: Patrick Connaghan

Sport League: Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference League

Present University: Institute of Technology Carlow

Alma Mater: University of the Sciences

 

When people imagine the glory of coaching, they probably conjure scenes of drawing up last-second plays for game winning shots. I imagine writing a practice schedule.

           

Over these past 5 months in Carlow, I’ve really come to love the act of planning practices. I spend time before each coaching session writing out a detailed plan. It’s a fun puzzle – first I might think of a play or certain drill I want to do, then I try to break it down into its component parts before putting it all together. I think that it’s really important for a coach to put this level of thought into the structure of practice. I want each drill to be intentional and productive. When players understand the importance of doing something, they are more likely to do it with urgency and full concentration.

 

On the flip side of this, I’ve found that one of the biggest challenges for me is improvising. While I prefer the comfort of a rigid schedule to follow, I recognize that taking a flexible approach to coaching a session is just as important as being organized about it. Recently I had to adjust a practice meant for a full team to suit the mere three players who showed up that day.

           

This balance of showcasing a skill and challenging a weakness is something I love about my role as a Victory Scholar. I continue to grow as a person, while also sharing my skills and passions with those I coach.   

 

Who would have known that Trinity Basketball would be invited to a tournament in Paris?! Yes, I went to Paris. I still can’t believe it – we ate croissants every chance we got, toured, and played a bit of basketball!

 

In Paris, there is quite the elaborate public transport system that we were not terrible at (with the help of our French teammate, Chloe), but unfortunately still got lost the occasional 3x a day…ending up in the wrong city for our championship game…eventually making it to the gym and ended up winning the whole thing! With 10 minute half’s (15 minutes for the final game), and a three-point arc a step back from the free throw line, we managed to adapt quite well!

 

After playing on Saturday, the girl’s team went to see Notre Dame at night where a mass was going on. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place to come into after a hectic couple of days. We stopped to get dinner where I slightly forced the girls to order escagot (snails)! They were pretty good and we were all happy to have checked that one off the list!

 

I came a day later than the group due to class (such a dedicated student, I know), and wanted to stay an extra day, so Chloe invited me to stay at her house as she lives right outside of the city! I had dinner with her Mom, grandma, sisters, and brother where I attempted to put my 5+ years of French class to use, but apparently didn’t remember a single word of course.. The next day was my time to tour and enjoy the day in Pariii! I went to the Eiffel Tower and Musee du Louvre.

 

Chloe had helped me map out every metro stop and direction to help to get around, and finally I was off on my own! 🙂

 

It was a cloudy Monday morning so not many people were out – and so I walked up from the metro mentally preparing myself to see the Eiffel Tower. I turn a corner and there it is – I’d seen so many photos (and most importantly from Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Paris movie) of it is and couldn’t believe I was standing in front of it.

 

This whole 7 months away has given me so many amazing opportunities to do things, to meet great people, and be a part of so many meaningful events, games, and daily interactions. Having the chance to reflect today offered me a great deal of appreciation for all of what I have, and what more I can continue to give to others.

 

Needless to say, joining the Paris squad was ‘great craic’ getting to know the girls and guys teams better, playing some basketball and seeing the city!

 

So – Trinity Basketball continues for the league final on Wednesday morning!! Tune in Online for the early birds back home – 7:30am. You can find the link to watch on www.basketballireland.ie

 

Also – and very important to mention – as St. Patty’s Day is coming up, ALL the scholars will be coming to Dublin (oh gosh) as well as my Canisius College trainer AKA second mom, Erin!! CANNOT WAIT, and I think she may be a bit excited for the trip as well…She will be here for our League Playoff game for the Oblate Dynamos on Saturday the 14^th!

 

So much happening! 🙂

 

Victory Scholar: Jennifer Morabito

Sport League: MAAC League

Present University: Trinity College Dublin

Alma Mater: Canisus College