5/28/2008 – Bruin Women’s Basketball Team Constructs ‘Court for Kids’ in Ghana
NEWBERG, Ore. - With 15 straight winning seasons, five Northwest Conference championships and NCAA National Tournament appearances since 2000, and a school-record 25 wins and an NCAA “Sweet 16” appearance this past season, the George Fox University women’s basketball program has built a national reputation as one of the finest programs in Division III. From May 12-22, the Bruins went to work on their international reputation as well, as two of their coaches and nine of their players partnered with the “Courts for Kids” organization on a construction project in western Africa.
The Bruins helped build an outdoor concrete court that will be used for basketball, volleyball, and tennis by students at the Sonrise High School in the town of Ho, Ghana, about 175 kilometers northeast of the capital and coast city of Accra. The team also conducted basketball clinics for the high school students, who ranged in age from 12 to 18, as well for younger children at the local Village of Hope orphanage.
“Most of these children had never played basketball, so we instructed them in the fundamentals and rules of the game,” said Megan Dickerson, the Bruins’ assistant coach who spearheaded plans for the trip. “The girls’ soccer team at the school also challenged our players to a soccer game - their team is pretty good and they took it to us! We purchased shin guards to wear for the soccer game and then left them there for the students. We also took soccer balls, volleyballs, and basketballs to donate to the school.”
Construction of the court had begun before the George Fox team arrived, as the local students had leveled off the area where the concrete was to be poured. Basketball goals and nets were purchased in Accra, and a net system that can be raised or lowered for volleyball and tennis had also been obtained.
A couple of different circumstances combined to make the Bruins’ mission trip a reality, according to Dickerson.
“About a year ago, my sister, Meri Tracy, was teaching at Crook County Christian School in Prineville (Ore.), and she was looking at some possible short term mission opportunities,” Dickerson explained. “Sonrise was a partner school with CCCS, and the western Africa school was looking for an American teacher, so she went over there to teach for a year.
“Meri soon sent me back some photos of their athletic field, which wasn’t much more than a big patch of weeds. I told her about a man I used to work with in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Derek Nesland, who had left the FCA to start his own organization called ‘Courts for Kids’ that goes around the world building sports courts for children. She wondered if I might bring a group over to do that at Sonrise.
“About that same time, I was conducting a workout with two of our players, Jaime Hubka and Mandee Spotts, who told me they someday wanted to go on a missions trip to Africa. I mentioned the possibility of going to Ghana to build a basketball court for this high school, and they were very excited about it, so we discussed it with Scott and the rest of the team members, and the plans just took off from there.”
The work team flew first to Amsterdam and then to Accra before making about a four-hour trip to Ho. Sonrise is a boarding school, so the group was housed in dorm rooms while they constructed the court, which took about four days. They then returned to Accra for a short time of relaxing on the Gold Coast beaches and doing some sight-seeing.
“One of the things we did was take a tour of the Slave Castle, a historical site that tells the story of the slave trade in Africa,” said Dickerson. “It is an actual castle that was used to house the slaves who had been captured before they were shipped off to other parts of the world, and was also used as a church and place of worship. It was a great learning experience for us.”
“There was also a big rain forest nearby that had a suspension bridge over one hundred feet off the ground. We got to find out who our bravest players are!”
Members of the Bruin team who participated were Dickerson, head coach Scott Rueck, and players Jaime Hubka, Kaleigh Ramey, Mandee Spotts, B.B. Gardner, Elise Kuenzi, MaryAnne Samples, Kelsi Leach, Lindsay Keener, and Jordan Westering. Steve Spotts, Mandee’s father and team photographer/videographer, went along to chronicle their trip.
This was the Bruins’ second mission trip in three years. In 2006, several members of the program went to Mississippi to help with the Gulf Coast cleanup following the devastation of the area by Hurricane Katrina.