FIBA team prepares for Athens trip

FLORENCE — A number of players in the Florence International Basketball Association had never left the state prior to joining one of the organization’s teams.

Now, on Monday, a select group will travel to the birthplace of modern athletic competition.

For the fourth time in the last six years, the 15-and-under FIBA team will compete in the International Children’s Games to be held in Athens, Greece, from June 24-28.

Florence is one of 38 teams vying for basketball gold.

“I think it’s probably one of the best cultural and educational experiences these kids will ever have,” FIBA president and CEO Carlos Washington said. “They’re excited to leave the country for one thing,
but to go to where the Olympic games began and see all that history is something they’ll never forget.”

Washington, along with the Florence Parks and Leisure Service, has spearheaded all four of FIBA’s trips to the ICG. The organization’s inaugural trip was to Cleveland in 2004 and it traveled to San
Francisco last year.

The only other out-of-country trip came in 2006 when a team traveled to Bangkok, Thailand.

“That was a beautiful experience, and the kids really enjoyed it because they were quite popular there,” Washington said. “I think we were sort of what everyone over there visualized when they thought of
Americans, so the kids signed a lot of autographs and had a great time.”

Games were held in England in 2005 and Iceland in 2007, but neither host city offered basketball as one of the events.

While Washington and the parents do engage in a number of fundraisers for the trip, one of the perks to being invited is that room and board are taken care of.

“All you have to do is get there,” Washington said. “The host city provides the rooms, the meals and any tours of the city that you could want. They really lay out the red carpet for these kids, and it’s
such a tremendous opportunity.”

After their initial visit in 2004, Washington realized that the team needed to play at a higher level. In 2005, they began competing on the AAU/USSSA circuit.

After coming in fourth in Bangkok in 2006, Florence took home the bronze medal last year in San Francisco.

“We want to try to keep the teams together for as long as possible,” Washington said. “These travel teams allow them to showcase themselves to not only other areas, but college scouts as well. We
have a number of seniors this year who have signed to play college ball.”

This year’s squad, made up of Bryce Thomas, Phillip Gardner, Kevin Adams, Dedrick Lloyd, Montrell James, Sawyer Elgin, Tanner Elgin, and Alan Parnell, will depart Monday at 5:30 p.m. from Charlotte,
N.C.

The team will fly to Munich, Germany, and from there to Athens. They will return home June 30.