Student-Athletes Visit Australia

   Summer basketball typically takes dedicated ball players to many stops during the break from school each year. Between team camps to university campuses to travel ball teams playing almost every weekend in city after city, the journey can become somewhat routine. However, for three Allen County-Scottsville Lady Patriot players, the summer of 2018 will include a once-in-a-lifetime memory thousands of miles from home.

  Seniors Mason Towery and Sarah Sutton along with freshman Chloe Cook joined several of their peers from other high schools for a 10-day basketball trip to Australia. The girls were part of a travel team put together by former Monroe County coach Dwayne Murray. The goals were simple…introduce Kentucky girls to basketball in the Land Down Under, see the sights of a new country, and create memories.  

  “At the 4th Region banquet in 2017, coach Murray began talking to us about going,’ explained Sutton. “He talked with our parents and we decided to go. It’s seems like forever ago but it came in just a blink of an eye.”

  Sutton and Towery committed to the trip along with Barren County’s Bailey and Mallory Pedigo, Maddie Wood from Marion County, Addison Loy from Russell County, and Blayke Bingham from Logan County. Cook was a late addition, accepting an invitation to attend last December. 

  The first hurdle to overcome in the trip was facing the realization of a 20-hour flight to Australia---a short two to three-hour trip to Dallas-Fort Worth Texas before a 17-hour non-stop flight across the Pacific. 

  “I was nervous but an excitement also rushed over me,” Towery said. “It was kind of scary to think about the 20-hour plane rides. It’s not that I’m afraid of planes it’s just that 20 hours is a long time on a plane.”

  Sutton admits that flying concerns were not a problem. 

  “I’ve flown since I was a little girl but I was most nervous about being so far away,” Sutton added. “The thought of being halfway across the world was crazy and when it was daytime there it would be nighttime here.”

  Cook, on the other hand, had never flown. 

  “This was my first time flying and it starts with a boom,” Cook noted. “I was excited about seeing Australia but the thought of being in the air with nothing below but water and ground was very, very frightening.” 

  After a trip filled with movies, attempts to sleep, and finding ways to relieve boredom, the Kentucky group safety touched down in Sydney. Once the girls eyed the land, their first impressions took breathes away.

  “Oh my gosh, it was beautiful,” Sutton said. “Pictures don’t do it justice. It was so pretty. You saw people everywhere running and on the beaches. The beaches are kind of like in Florida but the water was so much clearer.”

  “My first impression was how friendly the people were,” Towery added. “Everybody was so nice. If you needed help they would help you. One night in Brisbane we were looking for something to do when we stumbled up these people. So we asked about something fun to do. They walked with us about a half of mile to take us to a gaming place that was really fun. Here, you wouldn’t find people that would walk with you and show you where to go, they might tell you but not show you. The hospitality was really nice.”

  “I was like ‘these people are really friendly or crazy,” Cook noted. “but, niceness came out of everybody.”

  The trio explained that the cuisine in Australia required some adjustments. 

  “The food was a little different,” Sutton said. “One day our tour guide got us lunch, Aussie food. It was a sausage roll, a meat pie, and some type of dessert called lamington. I tried it but probably want ever try it again, it’s done. It was interesting and different. I was so glad to get home and have a home-cooked meal.”

  “There wasn’t a whole lot of Australian food,” Towery added. “There was a lot of American food and Thi food and European food. It was a big mix. We ate a lot of burgers and chips.”

  “I enjoyed the restaurants but the Aussie food wasn’t my first choice,” Cook added. “Still, it was good to experience it.”

The trio toured various parts of the country during a whirlwind trip. However, basketball was the reason behind the journey. On the court, the Lady Patriots and their counterparts went 3-2 against their competition.

  “We should have been 4-1,” Towery said. “We lost by one and got beat by the second best team in Australia. The year before they were third in the nation., We played them without their three best players and they were really good. I understand why.”

  The girls note that playing on a “team” in Australia differs somewhat from our concept team play in Kentucky.

  “They have a lot of teams,” Sutton pointed out. “One player actually plays on three different teams, a school team, a club team, and a rec team.”

  “Another girl we talked to plays on seven teams,” Towery added. “High school basketball there is not as common as it is here. We have really good high school teams but they don‘t. They do have really good players that want to play on what they call university teams or here in America. The players there were amazed that we only play on one or two teams.”

  Cook pointed out that most of the opponents included kids closer to her age—14 or 15---rather than older 16-17-year-old players. 

Sutton, Towery, and Cook quickly noted that the basketball rules were not the same.

  “Their lane is a lot bigger,” Towery said. “And we embarrassed ourselves because on a throw in from our end of the court, we threw the ball into the backcourt. That’s not allowed in Australia.

  Sutton noted several additional differences.

  “We have 10 seconds in the backcourt, they have eight seconds,” Sutton said. “For free throws, you have three players on one side of the lane and two players on the other side of the lane. We also thought they were walking all the time. They get an extra step. That was a hard thing.”

  The girls point out that 20-30 years down the road, several memories will stand out. Friendships made amongst the players and their families on the trip will be at the top of the list. 

  “I knew most of the girls on the trip but we got to know their parents,” Sutton said. “it is something that was awesome. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.” 

  “The girl I roomed with was from Marion County,” Cook said. “She was actually on the trip without her parents so my family sort of adopted her into our family. We became such good friends. We talk every day. Getting to know our players and their parents were awesome.”

  Towery recalls the friendships formed but admits that seeing the sights will highlight her memories.  

  “I wouldn’t have wanted to experience the trip with anyone else,” Towery added. “Getting to see the sights was great. It was gorgeous. The water was gorgeous. The sunsets there are so amazing. The places were gorgeous. We got to pet koalas and kangaroos. How often do you get to do that? The sights and people I experienced it with were amazing.”

  The trip adds that the only changes they would make---if they could--would be a shorter travel time to Australia and a longer stay in the land. 

  Sutton adds that it was a great way to end her final summer as a high school player. 

  “I’ve been in the gym all summer and in gyms many summers,” Sutton said. “I wouldn’t have ever imagined ending my summer career in Australia. It was amazing.”