UW-Green Bay prepares for tour of Spain
Aug. 15, 2006
Green Bay, Wis. - Summer may be winding to a close, but the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men's basketball team is still finding time to take a much-anticipated trip before the start of the school year.
This Thursday the Phoenix will depart on a 10-day tour of Spain where it will compete against four professional club teams and take in some culture in its free time.
"This is a tremendous cultural opportunity for our players to go over to Spain, experience a different country and meet some different people," UW-Green Bay head coach Tod Kowalczyk said.
"Basketball-wise, this will be a great team-bonding and chemistry-building opportunity, which I think is very underrated. It will give us a chance to experiment with some different looks as far as both personnel and X's and O's, which I think will be a good thing for our program."
The Phoenix will fly from Chicago to Madrid Thursday and take in a tour of the capital city. The team's first game will take place Saturday when it faces Mostoles. Sunday's itinerary includes watching a bullfight before busing to Valencia on Monday.
A guided tour of the city and a museum visit are on the slate prior to the team's second game against Lliria Tuesday evening. Following more sight-seeing during the day Wednesday, UW-Green Bay will take on Gandia that night.
The next two days will consist of traveling to Barcelona and sight-seeing in Spain's second-largest city. The team will wrap up competition Saturday evening with a contest against Prat at the site of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games prior to returning to Green Bay on Sunday, August 27.
"The competition will be a good test for us," Kowalczyk said. "From what I understand we're going to play against two outstanding teams, including one team that went to the final four of the European championship last year. I think we'll certainly be challenged over there by some really good teams."
All of the Phoenix players having been preparing for the trip throughout the summer by taking a course to learn about Spain and its culture and will earn credits for the work they have already put in and will while overseas.
Kowalczyk stated that the trip would not be possible without the financial support of a number of important people.
"We got a very kind and generous gift from Pat and Anne Murphy, and also the Phoenix Dunkers Booster Club," he said. "They have been raising money over the last four or five years to set money aside each year just for the purpose of this trip. Certainly a great deal of time and effort and thanks goes out to those two groups of people."
UW-Green Bay posted a 15-16 overall record a year ago, including an 8-8 mark in Horizon League play. The Phoenix returns 10 individuals from last year's squad, including all five starters.
