Harwood Union High School girls’ basketball team had an exciting April break. Eleven of the 12 2022-2023 varsity players traveled to Serbia and Croatia from April 18-28, led by coach Tommy Young, along with the varsity assistant coach Greg Titus and JV assistant coach Bethany Fuller.
While there, the team played three games versus local teams, participated in practices and clinics with local students and watched the Serbian National Women’s basketball team practice (one member of that team is a freshman at UVM, but was still in the states during this trip). The Harwood students also visited embassies in Serbia and Croatia, participated in Green Up Day in Croatia, visited schools, took historical tours, and explored the cities they visited -- Zagreb, Belgrade and Slovonski Brod.
“It was spectacular,” Young said. “It was such a great mix of meeting coaches and players, cultural stuff and learning history.”
He noted that, following the first game in Zagreb in which they lost to a good club, players from both sides met at center court after the game to talk about their cultures, similarities and differences. “It was really cool,” Young said, “a fun thing to watch.”
Another highlight was the team leading a basketball clinic at an elite math and science middle/high school. “That was a lot of fun,” he said.
Harwood students were able to go on the trip free of charge thanks to a partnership between PH International (formerly known as Project Harmony) and the Youth Leadership through Sports Program, which is funded by the U.S. State Department.
“I’d really like to thank the state department/Youth Leadership through Sports and Project Harmony,” Young said. “We were fortunate for this opportunity.”
