Dan Stinson .Vancouver
Sun. Last Updated: Tuesday 23 January 2001
The Richmond Colts senior boys basketball team gave away 105 basketballs and
20 boxes of clothing and school supplies on its recent visit to Cuba. The Colts
returned home with a renewed sense of appreciation for life in Canada.
So says Colts' head coach Bill Disbrow, who helped organize the trip to the
Caribbean's largest island.
"It was the best trip imaginable for both myself and the players,"
Disbrow says. "The basketball part of it was good, but I think the cultural
experience was the most enlightening aspect of it. It was a real eye-opener for
everyone."
The Colts visited Havana, Pinar Del Rio, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Varadero
on their Jan. 1-15 winter vacation and fashioned a 6-1 record in friendly games
in each city. Their only loss was to a national under-22 champion club side in
overtime.
Much more important, Disbrow insists, was the exposure to everyday life in
Cuba, which continues to suffer through a long-standing economic embargo by the
United States.
"By our standards, the people there have very little," he says. "I
could cite many examples of that. Typically, there was only one basketball per
team and the players wore very cheap basketball shoes that were held together by
tape. But not every player was lucky enough to be wearing shoes. When we played
in Cienfuegos, three players who were starters on the Cuban national under-17
team played barefoot. They didn't have shoes and couldn't afford to buy them."
Still, Disbrow says he never heard a complaint.
"These are wonderful people," he says. "Everyone we met
seemed to be very content. They're provided with the absolute basics of life,
but not much more. We visited some homes, but I never saw such things as a TV, a
Walkman or a computer. Then again, the people don't have to lock their doors at
night."
Disbrow says the cost of the basketballs was covered by a $500 donation from
Bob Wright, son of the late Ken Wright, a former B.C. High School Basketball
Association official.
"We were heroes wherever we went and mixed very well socially,"
Disbrow says. "When you meet the people of Cuba, it's hard to imagine doing
something like that [the U.S. economic embargo] to them. That's one of the
lasting impressions I took home."
The Richmond party included 13 players, two team managers and Disbrow. The
cost of the trip was $38,000 and the Colts players staged a number of
fund-raisers to help pay for it. After returning home, they found themselves
ranked No. 11 among the top 15 AAA teams in the province.
The Colts didn't do the themselves any favours in the rankings by losing to
the McRoberts Strikers, 91-79, and McNair Marlins, 53-50, in two Richmond League
games last week. They were the Colts' first league losses since 1992.
"Some of our kids were sick and we hadn't practised since Dec. 26,"
Disbrow says. "But I'm not making excuses. We were just plain awful and
will have to work hard to get back on track."
GAMES OFF: White Rock Christian Warriors and Kitsilano Blue Demons tried to
arrange a couple of exhibition games last week, but were unable to fit them into
their tight schedules. That means B.C.'s top-ranked AAA teams won't play each
other during the regular season.
High school fans will have to wait until mid-March and the 56th-annual B.C.
championship AAA tournament for a possible game between White Rock and Kits. The
Warriors have been ranked No. 1 in the province all season while the Demons
recently moved into No. 2 after winning the Chancellor Tournament at St. Thomas
More and defeating the Stelly's Stingers and Oak Bay Bays in exhibition games in
Victoria.
RED-HOT ASH: Ashley Burke set an Argyle Secondary School and Top-10 Shootout
Tournament scoring record when she drained 50 points in the Pipers' 97-93
victory over the Chilliwack Tillicums last Friday. Burke led Argyle to a
third-place tournament finish and was named a first team all-star. | 