May 17, 2018 was a record breaking day for BIP. We hosted 9 teams on 4 different continents in single day. From Brazil to Botswana and Costa Rica to Europe, never before have we had so many teams traveling and playing volleyball in such diverse locations at the same time.
Cory Solomon was traveling with Washington State University’s volleyball tour in Vienna, Austria.
Paige Hill lead Loyola Chicago’s volleyball team in Venice, Italy.
Sarah Ammerman guided the Texas A&M women’s volleyball team on bikes through Maribor, Slovenia. Bikes have become the preferred form of transportation on European summer tours, especially in Slovenia. In Slovenia we believe that traveling, and life, is better on two wheels.
Kiki Kocar of Slovenia hosted the University of North Carolina volleyball in Milan, Italy.
Jirka Honzik and Goran Jovanovic lead the Ball State women’s volleyball team through cultural tour in Prague, Czech Republic. Here’s 5 reasons Prague should be on your travel bucket list.
In the Far East Erin Leaser and Joe Trinsey lead the BIP USA team in Vietnam to compete in the 12th Annual Binh Dien Tournament. The team played against top clubs from China, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Read their tour blog to see tournament results.
Meanwhile in the Southern hemisphere Radovan Gacic hosted the Howard University women’s volleyball team on a 12 day tour through Botswana and Zimbabwe. They hosting youth volleyball clinics, connected with local leaders, visited the embassy and did a safari drive through the Mokolodi natural resort in Botswana.
This trip was life changing for many. Junior middle blocker Olubunmi Okunade, reflects upon the adventure, “This was my first time going to Africa really and really experiencing and seeing how parallel cultures are from Nigeria to Zimbabwe and Botswana, seeing how everybody in Africa is really one. It was a great learning experience for me because I got to compare it to what I grew up with, which was a Nigerian strict household. Even though I was in Houston, my parents didn’t take away any of the culture from me.”
Brooke Rundle hosted Cornell College women’s volleyball team in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. The team surfed, hosted youth volleyball clinics and played the Costa Rica national team. This was the first of several Costa Rica volleyball tours for BIP in the summer of 2018.
Jeff Meeker, the head women’s volleyball coach at Cornell College had this to say about his team’s experience in Costa Rica, “It is hard to put into words the positive impact these tours have on our program and our players. Being able to blend the joys of international travel with competitive volleyball, service, learning different cultures and spreading our passion for volleyball is truly special.”
And finally Paty Figueiredo took the BYU men’s team on boat trip in Arraial do Cabo during their volleyball tour in Brazil. Head coach Shawn Olmstead reflects upon his team’s trip to Brazil, “both of our programs here at BYU have had the fortune of traveling with Bring It and Tim Kelly. Each trip has been a once in a lifetime trip for our student-athletes and staff.”