Foster excited for team to travel
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball players will have several chances to learn on the court over the next five days.
Coach Jim Foster hopes his players learn off of it, too.
The Mocs depart this morning for a trip to Canada and a threegame tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, and this year’s team will be the youngest of the five Foster has had since taking over at UTC.
Five freshmen will be expected to contribute from a roster that has just three seniors: fifth-year player Aryanna Gilbert and her sister Keiana, plus Anna Claire Norbit. Also new to the program is redshirt sophomore center Arianne Whitaker, an offseason transfer from Winthrop University.
“We’re very excited about going to Canada,” Aryanna said recently. “It’s going to be a good time to connect. We have a new group of kids, so it’s a good time for us to really bond.
“We’ve had some time to this summer, but Canada it’s just going to be us for five days. I’ve seen a glimpse of how good this team will be, but there’s still a lot for us to get together.”
The Mocs will use today as a chance to tour the city before games start Friday. The first is against Trinity Western University at 9:30 p.m. Eastern (6:30 p.m. Pacific), then on Saturday, they face VK under-17 at 10 p.m. Eastern. The final game is against the University of Fraser Valley at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday in Abottsford, near Vancouver.
The Mocs also will make trips to Grouse Mountain as well as Whistler. They will have the opportunity to take the famous Grouse Mountain Skyride, walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge and ride Ziptrek, the longest zipline in Canada or the United States.
With so many players lacking college experience, Foster is pleased the team will have a chance for game competition a few months prior to the season. The trip provides an opportunity for the younger group — which he constantly calls “talented” — to start learning how the Mocs will play.
“They bring aspects or dimensions that we now have more of,” he said. “It’s the when to, how to and why to that they have to learn.”
There’s also the opportunity to take in the city of Vancouver.
“They’re really going to enjoy it,” he said. “There’s a significant Asian population and a lot of diversity. It’s a great opportunity for these kids to realize how big the world is and see how well so many different kinds of people function together.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.