The Final Chapter

I would like to thank everybody that has been following my blog and checking up on my recent trip to Europe. The trip has opened up my eyes to a whole new world including things such as food, culture and overall living style. I was able to get the best of both worlds experiencing basketball on a whole new level along with sites and sounds from across the Atlantic. Those sights and sounds will be with me for a very long time and I am thankful for the opportunity given to me by Drew Dawson and Roy Blumenthal with Global Sports Academy.

Basketball is a lot of fun when you can play along side a group of guys that are unselfish and knowledgeable about making winning plays all the time. It is crazy how a group of strangers can transform into a group of friends in less than ten days. I swear I might have slept less than 20 hours the entire trip. Coach Jordan Watson did a great job showing us another side to the game of basketball and how hard work and the right attitude can lead to great things. In the past nine days I have gained over a dozen friends and a thousand memories that will be instilled in my mind forever. The game of basketball has given me the opportunity to explore places I have only seen on the internet or heard about in school. I truly feel like I have gained more knowledge about Europe in the past nine days than I have in the past nine years going through classrooms and book assignments that I dread completing.

I feel like this experience has allowed me to expand my knowledge on the entire world. It has also given me a sense of refreshment and new found excitement for the game of basketball and bringing a consistent overall winning attitude everyday in whatever it is that you love to do.

The future holds whatever you fill it with so thanks again to everyone for following along!


- Zach Monaghan 

Time Flies When you go to London

Big Ben on the left, some clock on the right

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't written in two days, we've been very busy traveling and getting dubs.

Yesterday, we visited the city of Bruges affectionately known as "The Venice of the North." Bruges is famous for its many canals as well as its rich history. Bruges has been home to many famous artists in the past such as Jan van Eyck. One of the most recognizable buildings in the city is the Belfry. It is one of the tallest buildings in the city. Another beautiful building is the Church of Our Lady. Our Lady contains one of the most famous sculptures in the world, Madonna with Child, made my world famous artist Michelangelo. The city was filled with fantastic art and had a rich history.

At night we finished up our games for the trip with a big victory. We were the first team in the history of Global Sports Academy to go 7-0 on a trip.

Home to Queen Elizabeth & some dudes from U Portland!

Today we took the high speed railway from Brussels to London. The train hits close to 200 miles per hour and only takes 2 hours to reach London, England. London was an unbelievable city with plenty of great sights. The first spot we saw was Buckingham Palace, home of Queen Elizabeth II. The palace is a popular spot for tourists so we quickly moved on after a few photos. Just a short walk away is Big Ben, the clock tower that is part of Parliament. Across the street from Parliament was Westminster Abbey, one of the most famous churches in the world. The London Eye is directly across the water, a huge Ferris wheel that offers a fantastic view of London. I would have gone on the London Eye, but the line was all the way down the street! London is also home to the Tower Bridge, recently featured all over the news during the Olympics. Before we left London we visited the Nike Store which stood four stories tall. After some shopping I met some great hobos on the street. Never judge a book by its cover! They were great guys who told me lots of great stories.

I had a fantastic time on the trip and truly had a once in a lifetime experience. ;)

P.S. I had some help from my teammates writing this blog entry, due to the writing level of my Ivy League teammates, there are plenty of run-on sentences and all sorts of other grammatical errors. I will be posting one or two more times to summarize everything about my time here!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday Richard Concialdi

Today is my best friend back homes birthday!! Everybody make sure you wish him a happy birthday when you get a chance.

In other news my team traveled to Luik, Belgium today and were able to spend a few hours seeing the city and taking in some incredible views. A few of my teammates and I had to just pause and take everything in for a few moments. The people of the city are mainly french speaking and it is home to around 200,000 people. The city is also a major educational hub with over 40,000 people attending more than 24 schools.

You would think I am a professional photographer or something

We then traveled about 30 minutes to play our game against BC Ninane. The game came all the way down to the last possession and they missed a jump shot to tie it as the time expired. It was a close game the whole way and our biggest lead was probably around 12 points. Our post game meal consisted of some Belgian fries to go along with meatballs and some warm applesauce, just a little bit different than a Chipotle burrito.

After getting back to the hotel we were able to meet some pretty cool people from Mechelen. It is so cool to be able to experience hanging out with similar people from across the world! We were able to share stories and gain knowledge on things that I would never normally know about a place like this.

Tomorrow we will travel to Bruges which is the capital city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium.

Belgium to Holland

Downtown Iepers, Belgium

Sorry for not posting yesterday. We have played three games in the past two days and did not get back until super late last night. We have continued to play well as a team and are still undefeated with five wins! The two teams that we played yesterday were very good and both of the games were close throughout. I believe we ended up winning the first game 74-64 and the second game was right around the same thing.

Menin Gate, WW1 monument

In between games yesterday we were able to visit the downtown area of Ieper, which is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. During World War 1 it was the center of
intense and sustained battles between German and allied forces. Their was so many neat sites to see and you could tell how historically significant everything felt. We were on our feet continuously for most of the day so we were all very tired at night.

A combination of rowing and basketball being played in water

Today after breakfast we had a three hour drive to Amsterdam! Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Of course we were let out right in the center and were able to sight see and check out all the neat things the city had to offer! After a couple hours we hopped back on the bus and traveled to Leiden which is located in the Dutch province of South Holland. There we played against a team called Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, and had our best post-game meal by far! I swear it was some 5 star hotel stuff!

We are now back in Mechlen, Belgium for the evening and plan to maybe try some Belgium beer! Our tour guide mentioned to us today that there was a bar with over 3,000 different beers. However the past two days have been tough on our bodies so we will be coming back to the hotel shortly for a good nights rest finally. Tomorrow we are headed to Luik, Belgium for another day of sightseeing followed by an evening game in the city.

My time here is going by way too fast, especially with classes starting one week from tomorrow in Mankato. This is not a bad way to end out my summer though, thanks again to everyone checking this out from the states. Look forward to seeing y'all soon!

My team and I before taking a tour of Amsterdam!

More Belgiums, No Problem!

Our team in front of the Atomium

Today was a little bit easier as far as our sleep schedule, our bodies seem to be adjusted to the time change. We played our second game in as many days and were able to come away with another victory over the club Royal Nivelles by a score of 70-55.  It was a very physical game right from the beginning but we continued to play great team basketball and out last them. The town was about a 25 minute ride from Brussels and the team was in the top league in Belgium. Needless to say we were very excited coming out with a win being the underdogs on paper.

The day started out by eating some breakfast at our hotel in Mechelen. I was able to catch up with my friend George Marshall (Former Wisconsin Badger and current SDSU Jackrabbit!) for a few minutes. I remember playing AAU with him under the legendary coach Dale Monaghan and the powerhouse program of The Winning Edge, which is now just The Edge because I don't think we won enough!

Alec Wintering (U of Portland) at the waffle shop

After breakfast we departed for Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. The sights that we saw today were so neat it was awesome to take everything in. The best part of the trip was easily the Belgium waffles that we ate! Our tour guide gave us all the ins and outs of Brussels and we were able to drive by the palace where the king and queen live, talk about high security! We were able to walk around the Grand Place, which is considered the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels.

Grand Place in Downtown Brussels

After all of that we departed for our game which I previously mentioned. After back to back games we are all feeling a little sore and tired. Now it is time to get some rest as tomorrow we are traveling to Ghent, which is a city in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium! Hopefully we can keep this train moving and get our third win tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Day 1

Buildings in downtown Mechelen, Belgium

Pitzemburg in the blue, a great host for our first game!

Today has been a very eventful day to say the least. We arrived in Brussels around 8 a.m. today and rode our bus to the city of Mechelen, which lies on the major urban and industrial axis Brussels-Antwerp, which is about 25 km from each city. It is a city of about 80,000 people and it features unique architecture and historical art.

After some sightseeing we were able to get to our rooms and get a few hours of sleep. In between our practice and first game we were able to go to the grocery store nearby and see the types of food that the local people eat on a daily basis. It is awesome to see the way people across the world live and go about their daily lives. The people of Mechelen are very friendly and open to all of us which is really cool to see!

We had our first game tonight, it was a friendly against a team called Pitzemburg. All of the guys on my team are awesome! It is cool to see a group of ten guys that just met gel together and play as a team right of the bat. Clay Wilson from Princeton shot the lights out in the first half and got us out to a lead early on! Everybody chipped in and we were able to get a win under our belts by a final score of 98-70. After the game we were able to enjoy dinner with the guys from the other team and meet some of the local fans! It has been quite an experience to start out the trip.

Now we are off to check out the town and see what the night life has to offer out here! We have breakfast tomorrow morning and then we will be traveling to the capital of Belgium known as Brussels! The jet lag has not hit me yet, so I am sure we will be getting back to the hotel shortly tonight to catch up on some sleep.

Hopefully everybody's doing well back home, thanks again to everyone reading and following us as we look forward to having another fun filled day tomorrow and hopefully we can get another win!

America in the rearview

With the team at the Newark airport.  Here we go!

First off,  I'd like to thank everybody taking time out of their busy lives to stop in and see Europe from my point of view.

I'm currently sitting in the Newark airport getting to know my new teammates and waiting to board our flight to Belgium! I'm really glad we have some Ivy League players on our team to help with proofreading my posts!

This is my first time traveling out of the country and I could not be more excited to see what this trip has to offer. With great support from friends and family I think I'm ready to get this thing underway. It is truly amazing where the game of basketball can lead you and the opportunities that are created.

The posts to follow will be more in depth about the experiences that we are about to encounter. I thank everybody who has supported me throughout everything and hopefully my posts can show you what the rest of the world has to offer! (Or at least Belgium, Holland, and England).