DAKAR, Senegal – UCLA Women's Basketball has arrived at the first stop on its 2023 summer foreign tour!
The Bruins left Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday afternoon to start a 22-hour journey to West Africa. After a brief layover in Madrid, the team landed in Senegal late Monday evening on Aug. 21. The Bruins headed straight to bed to prepare for a full day on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
UCLA women's basketball gathered Tuesday morning to catch a ferry over to the Island of Gorée – the island was the largest slave-trade center for the Atlantic slave trade from the 15th through the 19th century, according to UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The Bruins toured the House of Slaves to make a powerful connection to the difficult history around the globe. The student-athletes saw the cells of enslaved people and the living quarters of the slave traders while touring the house that has been renovated into a museum; tour guides and speakers on the Island of Gorée made clear that this history is important and should be told as a complete story.
After the tour concluded, the Bruins partnered with NBA Africa and worked with the SEED Project to put on the Louise Jones Girls Empowerment Clinic at an outdoor basketball court on the Island of Gorée. UCLA's student-athletes spent time some basketball teaching skills to more than 30 local girls at the youth clinic. "With this basketball camp – I know we don't speak the same languages as the girls we were teaching – but I feel like basketball is a universal language," said redshirt-junior Izzy Anstey. "The way we were able to portray what we were thinking and what we were doing through a sport is such a special thing," Anstey explained. The team also got to exchange some cultural practices, dances and chants before the clinic concluded.
Read more about the clinic here.
The team had time to visit the art museum on the Island, and the Bruins were shown how locals make art with a combination of paint, glue and sand. The team also bartered at the local market with shopkeepers for gifts, trinkets and clothes before ferrying back to town.
The Bruins returned to the mainland to take bus tour of Dakar, driving around to see the sights of the Senegalese capital. The team saw the Place de l'independence – or Independence Square, and government buildings like the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Presidential Palace. The Bruins had the opportunity to shop at Dakar's famous Market Soumbédioune, one of the city's busiest art market. The team finished the tour with a stop at Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, a 171-foot-tall bronze statue that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
The team headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest and a break before dinner, which was on a pier overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. With full stomachs and full hearts, the Bruins left the beachside restaurant ready to stretch it down and turn in for the night.
Tomorrow, UCLA will take on the Senegal's national team at 12:30 p.m. GMT / 5:30 a.m. PDT at the NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal. The team will provide updates on Instagram and twitter.com/uclawbb throughout the game, so check there for a look into the competition against the Federation Senegalaise de Basket-Ball!
Until tomorrow, Go Bruins!
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— UCLA W. Basketball (@UCLAWBB) August 22, 2023
The Bruins have arrived!#GoBruins x #BruinSummerTour pic.twitter.com/fLFeUFRiln
The Bruins left Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday afternoon to start a 22-hour journey to West Africa. After a brief layover in Madrid, the team landed in Senegal late Monday evening on Aug. 21. The Bruins headed straight to bed to prepare for a full day on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
UCLA women's basketball gathered Tuesday morning to catch a ferry over to the Island of Gorée – the island was the largest slave-trade center for the Atlantic slave trade from the 15th through the 19th century, according to UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The Bruins toured the House of Slaves to make a powerful connection to the difficult history around the globe. The student-athletes saw the cells of enslaved people and the living quarters of the slave traders while touring the house that has been renovated into a museum; tour guides and speakers on the Island of Gorée made clear that this history is important and should be told as a complete story.
After the tour concluded, the Bruins partnered with NBA Africa and worked with the SEED Project to put on the Louise Jones Girls Empowerment Clinic at an outdoor basketball court on the Island of Gorée. UCLA's student-athletes spent time some basketball teaching skills to more than 30 local girls at the youth clinic. "With this basketball camp – I know we don't speak the same languages as the girls we were teaching – but I feel like basketball is a universal language," said redshirt-junior Izzy Anstey. "The way we were able to portray what we were thinking and what we were doing through a sport is such a special thing," Anstey explained. The team also got to exchange some cultural practices, dances and chants before the clinic concluded.
Read more about the clinic here.
We had such an amazing time putting on the Louise Jones Girls Empowerment Clinic today! Partnering with @nbaafricaofficial, we were able to work with more than 30 local girls' basketball players on the Island of Gorée!#GoBruins x #BruinSummerTour pic.twitter.com/WwA5kP2kXw
— UCLA W. Basketball (@UCLAWBB) August 22, 2023
The team had time to visit the art museum on the Island, and the Bruins were shown how locals make art with a combination of paint, glue and sand. The team also bartered at the local market with shopkeepers for gifts, trinkets and clothes before ferrying back to town.
The Bruins returned to the mainland to take bus tour of Dakar, driving around to see the sights of the Senegalese capital. The team saw the Place de l'independence – or Independence Square, and government buildings like the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Presidential Palace. The Bruins had the opportunity to shop at Dakar's famous Market Soumbédioune, one of the city's busiest art market. The team finished the tour with a stop at Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, a 171-foot-tall bronze statue that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
The team headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest and a break before dinner, which was on a pier overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. With full stomachs and full hearts, the Bruins left the beachside restaurant ready to stretch it down and turn in for the night.
Tomorrow, UCLA will take on the Senegal's national team at 12:30 p.m. GMT / 5:30 a.m. PDT at the NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal. The team will provide updates on Instagram and twitter.com/uclawbb throughout the game, so check there for a look into the competition against the Federation Senegalaise de Basket-Ball!
Until tomorrow, Go Bruins!