Work, play will mix on China trip worth 3 credit hours
The University of Houston men’s basketball team lands in China late Tuesday for what amounts to a 10-day study-abroad program.
As part of the Cougars’ four-exhibition summer trip, a journal and camera will be standard equipment, just as much as a basketball and hightops.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” coach Kelvin Sampson said before departing on a 14-hour flight to Beijing. “For these kids, it’s something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
To document the experience — permissible via an NCAA rule that allows schools to take a foreign trip in the summer every four years — UH officials went through the compliance department to design a course that will allow players to receive three hours of academic credit for the fall semester.
Dr. Shayne Lee, an associate professor in UH’s department of sociology, helped to design the course entitled Culture, Sports and China. The course examines sports within the Chinese culture and requires the players to assess the cultural components of their lives as Division I athletes.
“This is a real course,” Lee told the team during a recent gathering to go over the course requirements. “You won’t have the excuse that you have for other courses that ‘this stuff is just not relevant to me.’ This course is built around your identity as Division I athletes.”
As part of the course, team members will be required to keep a journal with observations and personal experiences while on the trip. Those could range from dealing with the language barrier to trying the local cuisine or shopping in markets. On the basketball court, the players will observe what it’s like playing by international rules against an opponent, the Shuangxin Double Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association, composed of players who range from 25 to 34 years old.
All four exhibitions will be against Shuangxin, in cities throughout the eastern province of Anhui.
In addition to keeping journals, UH players will be required to give an oral presentation that includes photos, videos and news clippings and to write a four-page paper on the
book “Beijing’s Games: What the Olympics Mean to China” and another fivepage paper on their own experiences and development as athletes using the book “Outliers: The Story of Success.”
Beginning Friday, the Cougars will play on four consecutive days in the cities of Hefei, Wangjiang, Taihu and Tongling. The itinerary for the remainder of the trip includes sightseeing Yellow Mountain and the more than 900-year-old village of Xi Di Hong, both locations registered as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“A lot of times, you go over there, and guys want to stay in the hotel. And they come home, and people ask them about (the trip), and they know nothing,” Sampson said. “This is something they’ll brag about.”
Lee told the players the trip is “where the class begins … not where it ends” as they document and write about their experiences as collegiate athletes.
“You bring the class back with you,” Lee said.
Sampson said the timing was perfect for a longdistance trip, with the Cougars welcoming several newcomers this season. Many of the players have never been out of the United States, although guard Ronnie Johnson toured Italy while at Purdue and center Kyle Meyer went to Europe with Iowa. Sampson has taken past teams to the Soviet Union (in 1991, the same year it collapsed), the Bahamas and Russia.
“It’s not going to be all fun and games,” freshman point guard Galen Robinson Jr. said. “We have some homework to do.”
Said junior forward Bertrand Nkali: “It’s another civilization. I’m excited to learn about the country and make some memories.”
Meyer said he took Chinese classes in high school and hopes they will be useful.
“I’ll try to be a translator,” he joked.
Rob Gray, a transfer from Howard College, said he looks forward to seeing another part of the world.
“I just want to get my passport stamped,” he said. “It’s brand new.”