The Montserrat National basketball team will be arriving in Ohio on October 20th for a week of games and other activities and events. Montserrat is a tiny island in the Caribbean that has suffered major damage from a volcano that has erupted off and on since 1995. I first became involved with them that summer, right before the volcano erupted for the first time. I held clinics on the island and that eventually led to me becoming their national coach. We played in some tournaments, including the Bob Cousy Tourney in Boston, but due to the increasing volcanic activity I couldn't return until this past summer (the volcano had destroyed their capital of Plymouth as well as their only airport, but a new airport has been constructed). The island is getting back on it's feet now, and because of this I was invited back. The government there feel like the kids of Montserrat need to be involved in something positive and basketball is a great way to make that happen.

Myself and one of my former players at Paint Valley, Josh Anderson, went to the island in August and held a camp there. The government was expecting 30-40 athletes and we ended up with almost 100. While there we also chose a national team from the older group of players. All this led to a government approved trip to the USA. Only a couple of the players have ever been off the island or played on an indoor court (Montserrat has only 1 outdoor court) so this trip is going to be a huge deal for them. Several schools, businesses and organizations have stepped up to help out by donating vans to travel in and hotel accomodations, as well as several families volunteering to provide dinner for the team.

Anyway, below is our schedule for the week. Everything is open to the public and all are welcome. As I said, it's a pretty big deal for these guys and they'd be thrilled to have some people show up at their games.

Thursday, 10/21 - Piketon HS. Coach Lisath has invited us to an open gym to get some time on an indoor court before we play an actual game. We'll be there at 6:00 PM and Coach has generously offered to feed the guys afterwards.

Friday, 10/22 - The team will be a part of an assemby at Paint Valley at 9:30 in the morning, and we travel to Ohio Christian University at 7:00 PM for a game.

Saturday, 10/23 - We'll be at Rio Grande for a game against their JV team at 6:00 PM.

Sunday, 10/24 - We're at OU-Chillicothe to play the Hilltoppers at 2:00 PM. Coach Jason Smith is asking everyone to bring a pair of gently worn athletic shoes to donate to the country of Montserrat. Admission will be $4.00 with $2.00 going to Montserrat.

On Monday we're touring Ohio Stadium (the guys are going to be amazed) and we're going to OSU basketball practice at 3:00 PM. On Tuesday we're traveling to Morgantown to watch a West Virginia practice.

Anyone who'd like to help out in any way can contact me at kipperpop@hotmail.com. For more information on the team you can go to http://montserratbasketball.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far. I guarantee it's for a great cause.

Dave Shoemaker