NEWS
Women’s Basketball on Tour in Spain
Summertime Gelato in Spain for the Davidson Women’s Basketball team.
With the help of World Sports Travel and a supportive community, the Davidson College women’s basketball team embarked on an eight-day tour throughout Spain this month, making stops in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona to explore the sites and play some hoops. Keep reading to recap all the action below!
TRAVEL & DAY ONE:
With air travel comes layovers and delays, and boy did the Wildcats have a long trip to reach Spain — Davidson endured a 24-hour travel day before reaching its final destination! The long hours surely did not stop the ‘Cats from being all smiles though.
The following day, Davidson hit the ground running (literally) after a good night’s rest by starting the trip with a scavenger hunt of the city. After splitting into teams and grabbing an iPad, each group set off to explore the city and answer trivia about Madrid.
The ‘Cats vs. the Madrid All-Stars.
Once all the iPads were handed in, the whole team was off to its next destination, which was a tour of the incredible Royal Palace. The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish royal family, although now it’s used only for state ceremonies. The palace contains 3,418 rooms and is the largest royal palace in Europe. Red-shirt senior forward Elle Sutphin took the honor of trivia show host and questioned her teammates and coaches about what was learned while on the tour!
The Wildcats capped of their first full day in Madrid by playing the Madrid All-Stars!
DAY TWO:
The second full day of the tour started with a bus trip to Toledo where the players were given a hybrid bus and walking tour of the city and learned a lot about its history before being given time to explore Toledo on their own.
Following a full day of exploring Toledo, Davidson changed into their Saturday’s best and attended a nice dinner featuring Spain’s most famous dish, paella. Paella is a rice dish originally from the Valencian Community. Paella is regarded as one of the community’s identifying symbols. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine.
After some exploring and traveling back to Madrid, the team attended a Flamenco show, which is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain.
Contemplating Picasso.
DAYS THREE & FOUR:
The Wildcats spent their third day traveling to the next destination, which was a four-hour bus ride to Valencia. Once the team arrived, they were off to the next event which was a Spanish Professional Soccer match between Villarreal and Betis soccer clubs!
The following day in Valencia, Davidson was taken on a tour of the city to learn about the third-most populated municipality in Spain and explore more.
The fourth day was rounded out by the Wildcats playing in their second game of the trip, this time against Valencia Select in another very cool gym.
DAYS FIVE & SIX
Davidson started its fifth day by traveling to its third and final destination of the tour, Barcelona. Once in Barcelona, the team reported to its next activity which was a guided bike tour all around the city where the ‘Cats saw many notable and historic landmarks!
The sixth day of the tour saw the Wildcats continue their exploration of Barcelona with a tour of La Sagrada Familia, which is an under construction church in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. The detail within the architecture was unbelievable.
The ‘Cats rounded out their sixth day with their final game of the tour against Barcelona Select, who gave us very cool gifts at the conclusion of the game, including shirts, hats, jerseys and cups.
The team with Gaudi’s Sagrada de Familia in the background.
DAY SEVEN & TRAVEL HOME
On the final full day of the trip, Davidson woke up bright and early to go take in the sights of the Picasso Museum through a self-guided tour.
Next on the itinerary was a trip to the Barcelona beach before the ‘Cats ended their final day in Spain with an amazing team dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the city.
The travel back to North Carolina saw much better timing than the voyage to Spain with the Wildcats returning to Baker Drive before sunset!
Throughout this trip, not only was Davidson able fully immerse itself in all of the deep culture and history of Spain, but the ‘Cats were able to become more united as a team as they spent day in and day out alongside one another. The Wildcats are tremendously thankful for this opportunity and look forward to the upcoming season!