Lakeland Sports Information Director David Gallianetti is blogging the team’s trip to Prague.
In a few hours, the journey for the Lakeland College men’s basketball team begins as we head to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for nearly an eight-hour flight to London Heathrow, then a two-hour flight to our destination – Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. We’re scheduled to land in Prague at 10:55 a.m. on Sunday, and we’ll be here for six nights to play some basketball and take in all the amazing things this 1,100-year-old city has to offer. Now approximately 20 years removed from Communist rule, Prague is a hotbed of culture and history in Central Europe, and we’ve got plans to make the most of it during our stay.
The Muskies are scheduled to play three games, and will spend the rest of the time seeing the sites including the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, the Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall and the Communism Museum (to name a few). Some of the 44 people in our travel group will likely check out the 10th annual Fringe Festival, a nine-day mix of comedy, theatre and music with companies from across the world. We’ll also be there for the final week of the 66th Prague Spring International Music Festival, a showcase for the world’s best symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles.
The team making the trip has a roster of 11 student-athletes, including nine returnees and two seniors who recently graduated, Trevor McKown and Sam Schroeder. Coaches, family members and some Lakeland alumni and friends round out the group.
The trip is through Moose Tours, which has booked international basketball experiences for teams at all levels since it was founded in 1972 by legendary Lakeland basketball coach and athletic director Duane “Moose” Woltzen. Woltzen’s son, Scott, a 1982 Lakeland graduate, is president of Moose Tours today and will be joining the Muskies on this trip.
This trip is a throwback of sorts, and many alumni who played for Moose will remember that trips to major U.S. cities and international play were a staple at Lakeland under Moose. He took Lakeland teams on trips in 18 of his 23 years at Lakeland. The Muskies played in Denmark, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and Aruba.
One of Lakeland head basketball coach Aaron Aanonsen’s goals is giving his players the best college basketball experience possible. “We want to offer opportunities that aren’t possible with every program,” Aaron said. “Coach Woltzen made trips like these a priority, and I’ve spoken to our alumni who still talk about the value of those trips. We’re excited to be able to provide a similar experience for our players this year.”
Two of Lakeland’s 11 players have been to Canada, but no one has been outside of North America. “This will be a memorable cultural experience for these young men, and having a chance to do this with their teammates and members of their family will make it extra special,” Aaron said. “Playing against teams in Prague will be a unique experience on the court, and getting a chance to explore a city with such a long, rich history will be an incredible experience off the court.”
That’s it for our first installment. I’ll post again Sunday night (Prague is seven hours ahead of Wisconsin time) to recap the trip and get some early reaction from the players on their first trip to Europe. This is going to be fun!
It is currently 5:30 in the morning and we are waiting at our terminal to head back home to Atlanta. After a week full of non-stop sightseeing and traveling, it seems we are all sleepwalking through the airport and even the wonderful coffee of this country can’t help wake us up.
as extremely physical and coupled with their excessive size, the game became a little chippy from the get go. One of their best players even got ejected after throwing a elbow into the jaw of Branden Jovaag. Exhausted from a long week of travel, we did not bring our best effort and eventually fell to the team 87-64. It was amazing to play top tier competition though, as this is the team that represents the whole country of Costa Rica when competing for a bid to the Olympics and other international competition.
Halfway through our excursion through Costa Rica has our team feeling cultured and a bit tired. 
When the time to depart came it was hard to tell who was more upset we were leaving: the children or the players. After departing the center, we began our 4-hour bus ride to the famed Arenal volcano located in the rainforest region of the country. The scenery throughout the ride was breathtaking as we climbed through the mountainous terrain to views that were dubbed “postcard worthy” by Price Hamilton. We arrived at the base of the volcano to take some snapshots of the scenery and to explore the surrounding lake. 
Today we began our day with a whitewater rafting trip through the rainforest. With some views that seemed to be taken straight from the “Jurassic Park” series, we traveled more than 30 miles downriver that we all enjoyed except maybe for Alex Vital whose screams of terror from the rapids echoed throughout the forest. We ended our trip in a traditional lunch that included everything from chicken, beef, to fresh sea bass which I found to be extraordinarily delectable. 
We went to a local gym and had a brief practice to stretch our legs, work out, and finalize some things before our first game on Wednesday. The team then went back to the hotel where we had a team meal for dinner, and then were free to experience the city night life of Ireland.
Hello, my name is Wade Weldon. I am a basketball player at Oglethorpe University majoring in business administration. I just finished my sophomore year and my basketball team was given the opportunity to travel to Europe and tour the beautiful countries, France and Italy. I will be posting journal entries periodically throughout our trip.
Today, we woke up and took the metro to the Musee D’Orsay. We spent the morning touring this beautiful museum and enjoyed famous impressionist paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir. After touring the museum we took the metro to the famous Champs Elysee and enjoyed shopping and local dining. After lunch, we went to the Arc de Triumph. This historical architecture was built to celebrate one of Napoleon’s victories. The team climbed the arch and admired the great views of the city. Later today, we are scheduled to play our first basketball game in the suburbs of Paris against a local club/semi-pro team. I am very excited about this game because I have been injured for a few months and I’m ready to get back on the court.