Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
ICELAND, GERMANY, LATVIA...BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH BASKETBALL
When I was a young basketball camper, a coach once told me that basketball could take you places you never would have dreamed. 30 years later, I remembered this as I got off the plane in Reykjavic, Iceland to visit former Panther great Jakob Sigurdarson (pictured above) and his family. Jakob is doing very well playing professionally in Sweden and looks like he is in the best shape of his life. What a beautiful place Iceland is! And it happened to be really hot that day...70 degrees!
After visiting another lifelong icelandic friend Brynjar Karl who developed Sideline Sports (http://www.sidelinesports.com/) I was off the Berlin to run a two day camp for some of the 14-16 year old players in the city. The camp went well as we not only taught basketball, but shared some of the guiding principles and Christian values that we use in our main task of developing our student athletes here at Birmingham Southern! The kids worked hard and responded well to a different style of coaching! Berling is great city...As a history major, I was in awe as I biked around what is left of the Berlin Wall and many of the WWII memorials. I met some quality folks who are devoting their lives to serving the people of this great city.
After 3 days in Berlin, my next stop was Riga, Latvia. My intention was to conduct another camp for younger kids (pictured above), but the plan was stalled as a nasty stomach virus broke out at the dorm. After much prayer and consideration, we made the trip to Kuldiga and spent 4 days sweating, training, talking and teaching the game of basketball. I met some lifelong friends in Kristine and Ivo Zonne whose son Davis is the top point guard in Latvia as a 14 year old. It was great to see the beauty of Riga through their experiences growing up in the former Soviet Union.
In all, this was a wonderful experience as basketball once again has opened doors for faith, fellowship and friendship to be shared around the world. I look forward to seeing these young boys from the camps develop as student athletes and one day be leaders and productive in their communities. During the 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta, I couldn't help but reflect on how blessed our coaching staff is to get a chance to coach our young men here at BSC. I look forward to the coming season and hope basketball will open doors for them that it has for me all these years....
Coach Cole
Head Men's Basketball Coach
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