11 year old John Venturi of Point Pleasant, NJ has traveled to Vienna, Austria to represent the USA in the 12U Junior Olympics from July 4th to July 14th. He has decided to take Basketball Spotlight along for the ride. John will be sending us updates on his international experience on and off the court. Here’s his second entry.
Hey America, its John from Austria,
The last three days have been a blur. We went back the Prater Amusement Park and visited the Shonbrunn Palace, Vienna Opera House and Mauthausen Concentration Camp. On each trip we travel with kids from different countries. Most of the kids understand English so it’s easy to make new friends. The palace is the royal residence. It is huge and has amazing gardens, fountains and sculptures. The Opera House was built in 1863 and destroyed during World War II. It was rebuilt in 1955. When our tour guide spoke softly from the stage we could hear him all the way in the back. The Concentration Camp is outside of Vienna. It was a prison where the prisoners were forced to work 12 hours every day until they were either too weak or too ill to work anymore. When that happened they were sent to another prison to die. Everyone here was very quiet. It was a sad place.
Our practices have become a little easier. We continue to work on our motion offense and man-to-man defense. We played an intra-squad game to get used to the international rules. (Don't ask me to explain!) I knocked down a couple of 3s and hit a runner in the paint. Hopefully, the intensity we show in practice will carry over into the tournament.
Last night we all attended the Welcome Dinner where speeches were made and gifts exchanged. In a couple of hours the Opening Ceremonies begin and play starts.
I'll check back with you in a few. What's up TEAM BATTLE?
John
