Category Archives: D-III overseas

Augie: A loss, but a learning experience

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HuddleThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Ben Ryan is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

Today we spend our last day in Jundiai. We ate breakfast as a team in the hotel. Then we had time to relax poolside and try not to get burnt in the hot winter morning sun or spend time in our rooms. Or we could take another adventurous trip to the market near the hotel.

Every trip to the market is a great experience to learn about the Brazilian culture from trying to communicate with the workers there by confused stares, hand signals and the narrow vocabulary of Portuguese we have learned (which for some just includes “obrigado” – “Thank you”).

We checked out of our hotel in the afternoon and drove from one side of São Paulo to the other which took two hours, which is about average to drive through the largest metropolitan area in the world that is home to 29 million people.

It is truly amazing to see how the people of São Paulo live.

Our third and last game in São Paulo was played in the Santo Andre sports club which housed a basketball and soccer stadium, it’s very easy to tell that these are the main sports and attractions here.

We lost hard fought game against the Santo Andre club team. With Nic and Kevin Schlitter not playing tonight we had some guys step up and contribute more.

We then traveled another two hours to Frango Assado, a restaurant chain that is attached to a roadside gas station. A local man helped us translate and order our food and in return we thanked him with an Augustana basketball T-shirt. After dinner we traveled a half-hour to São Jose dos Campos where we will rest up and leave for Rio de Janeiro in the morning.

Augie: Putting on a clinic

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ClinicThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Mark Roth is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

Wednesday in Jundaia started out with a trip to the supermarket that was an eye opening experience for all of us. With no one there to translate we had to struggle through the checkout without Portuguese being spoken (at least by us).

After our trip we visited Scola Divinito Salvador School. A small private Christian school, we learned that they were famous for their women’s basketball program. We had a practice with their middle school aged girls and it was a huge success. The girls and coaches loved our ability to teach new things. After passing out t-shirts we went to leave and were swarmed for pictures and questions. Before Brandon Motzel knew it he had 15 new Facebook friend requests.

It was an incredible feeling to connect with these people. Basketball is truly an international language. We then drove two hours to Rio Claro and were met by men. We played a physical game and lost by one in overtime. We didn’t get the job done. No excuses we must get tougher.

Augie: A win, with a side of chaos

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GoofyThe Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Mark Roth is blogging for the men’s team.

Well we’ve done it again.

We have our second win of this Brazil trip and have just one more to go! Today’s game was by far a highlight of this trip.

While we played a normal game, even more fun came after the game where we split up Brazilian players and Augie players and played together on opposing teams so that we could play with each other and against each other. The language barrier provided a bit of an obstacle because we couldn’t run plays or most of the time even tell who was on our team, but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

We played more five on five for about five minutes, and then the Brazilian coach decided to have us play a 10 on 10 game where we couldn’t dribble. Then it became really confusing. Imagine 20 girls running around speaking different languages having different uniforms on and having no idea what exactly you should be doing or what others are telling you to do. It was a blast! Chaos of course, but a blast.

After the game we had more socializing time with everyone. We brought t-shirts to exchange with the players and they had brought some for us! Of course in true Brazilian fashion there were many photos and hugs to go along with the exchange, but it was fun to get to have a token from Brazil and to be able to leave something from Augustana there as well.

We’ve also decided that when we return to the Quad Cities, along with balls and nets we will be sending old jerseys and practice clothes for them to have and use. The women’s teams here do not have a lot of money. Their nets are worn and very old and they only have about six balls which are brought to the games in a garbage bag. We want to be able to share our things with them and allow them to continue basketball here in Brazil. Many of these girls are very good and some even end up getting recruited to play and study in the United States, so being able to help more of them is something that we’re happy to do.

along with balls and nets we will be sending old jerseys and practice clothes for them to have and use. The women’s teams here do not have a lot of money. Their nets are worn and very old and they only have about six balls which are brought to the games in a garbage bag. We want to be able to share our things with them and allow them to continue basketball here in Brazil.

For tonight we will be heading down to the beach to grab dinner, go shopping, and see whatever else there is to offer on the beach at night. Tomorrow we will go to the Olympic Village to meet some underprivileged children and be able to interact, play games, and have some fun with them while we are here.

Can’t wait for what else Brazil has to offer!

Augie: Relaxing pregame

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GoofyThe Augustana basketball teams are heading to Brazil this week and will be blogging on the trip. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Mark Roth is blogging for the men’s team.

Well we’ve had a great couple of days here in Rio. After a fabulous buffet dinner last night in our hotel, today we have a relaxing day. The sun is out and we have a game so we’ll be hanging out by the pool, getting nice tans, and preparing to get a win.

The game is at about 3:00 p.m., so we’ll spend the day conserving energy and after the game we will go to dinner and walk down to shops and places on the beach. Next time I write hopefully we’ll be celebrating two wins here in Brazil!!

Augie: Men’s team takes the floor

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Alex Dziagwa DunkThe Augustana basketball teams are in Brazil this week and are blogging on the trip. Mark Roth is blogging for the men’s team and you can catch their blog posts on the D3hoops.com Daily Dose. Chaney Tambling is blogging for the women’s team.

What an unbelievable time for the Augustana basketball program. After about a 10-hour flight from Chicago to São Paulo we made it in one piece. Dan Jurgutis overcame his anxiety of long plane rides and Tayvian Johnson took the first flight of his life.

On our way to the hotel in Jundiai we got caught up in traffic in São Paulo. With 15 million people in the city of São Paulo we were able to see how busy the city can be. Just by looking out of the bus we could see the change in culture between the United States and Brazil. The graffiti in Brazil seems to turn into art on the pavement surfaces and there are many outdoor soccer complexes. We are used to seeing basketball courts or baseball fields built for kids to play on. Here it is clear the soccer is the main sport of Brazil.

After a brief session at the hotel pool in our Speedos, we took off for our first game. It was a great feeling to be playing with each other after spending so much time competing with each other in practices and open gyms. We played in front of a small crowd in an “any place, any time” style of game. The crowd came to life on a few dunks by Alex Dziagwa (above) and we were able to play as a team very well. (Augustana won 107-71.)

After the game, we ate a pizza restaurant; this was no American pizza however. With a wide arrange of toppings from potatoes and egg to dessert pizzas with coconut and ice cream, the waiters was bringing different pizzas to our table all night. They must have gotten the Augie basketball message of “stay together, keep coming” (with pizza that is)! We are going to get some rest and then get back after it tomorrow!