Basketball without borders
Written by Karlina Jones, Posted in Events, Living
Members of the men’s basketball team recently shared their love of the game with international students.
An informational session included basic drills lead by players, taught the Temple sporting song and basic cheers for students to use when they attend games this season.
“I think it was a great opportunity for the players and international students to come together,” Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Larry Dougherty said. “The players taught the students the chant. I hope to see more international students at games cheering on the team.”
Head coach of the men’s basketball team Fran Dunphy held an hour-long seminar for several international students this past month. The informational session was lead by a few of the men’s basketball players, who provided instruction about the fundamentals of basketball.
The session was intended to help international students who are unfamiliar with the sport gain an interest. This effort, Dunphy said, aimed to diversify the spectator attendance to include students from different cultural backgrounds.
“I was approached by the international office to run this program, similar to what the football team did,” Dunphy said. “In the class, we talked about basketball in the United States, [and as] an international sport. The players interacted with the international students, showing them everyday drills.”
Fourth year urban studies Ph.D student Fanny Tremblayraci said she “got a kick” out of the seminar, because it brought back memories from her own experience playing basketball. She grew up in Quebec and studied abroad in Taiwan during her undergraduate studies, during which she participated in the sport.
“I really enjoyed the session with Coach Dunphy, the coaching staff and the players,” Tremblayraci said. “I was happily surprised when I saw that we would be doing drills and I really loved it.”
Team members said they enjoyed the seminar as well. Small forward position Nicholas Pendergast helped instruct international students.
“It was really fun,” Pendergast said. “When I was coaching them, the whole group seemed really into it and ready to learn. I would do something like [the seminar] again, because I love teaching people that want to learn more about the game.”
