Columbus North graduate and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods women’s basketball player Madison White, left, poses for a photo with her Pomeroy teammates Abby Worley, center, and Brooklynn Jones, right. White spent 10 days in Europe last month after being chosen for an offseason development opportunity with USA Athletes International.
Madison White was given a rare opportunity, and she took advantage of it.
The Columbus North alum, who wrapped up her second year with the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods women’s basketball team earlier this year, was chosen for an offseason development program with USA Athletes International to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to play with international teams from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. She departed on May 15 and returned home on May 24.
It was a great chance to White to see the game of basketball on a global scale outside the United States.
“The whole experience was really great. It really broadened with what I know about basketball and other parts of the world,” White said. “That was really good and a cool experience for me in all aspects of it, too.”
White was chosen for the experience through her coach, Terry Bowe, who had been in contact with Ave Maria University (Florida) coach Alex Moorehead, who also is the USA Athletes International coach, about playing each other in a college basketball game for next year. That was when the conversation about the opportunity in Europe began.
White had a couple familiar faces on the trip with her because she wasn’t the only Pomeroy selected. Two of her teammates, Abby Worley and Brooklynn Jones, also were chosen to participate.
“It was an opportunity for the three of us,” White said. “(Bowe) said that one of our girls was the leading scorer and one of our best players, the other is a point guard and captain, and he said there was a lot of things I did that maybe went unnoticed on the stat sheets. It was a perfect way for us to bond together as leaders going into next season.”
White said most of the games were played in the Netherlands, so it made sense that most of the opposing teams she faced against were from there. She said she faced some teams from Belgium, as well. However, there were a few differences with playing those teams in Europe.
White mentioned that the shot clock is reduced to 24 seconds as opposed to 30 in college. It’s eight seconds to bring the ball into the frontcourt as opposed to 10, and the free-throw lanes were reduced by a person on each side of the lane. Also, the ages of the girls were much wider, ranging from as young as 16 years old all the way up to 25.
Following the games, White said she got to spend some time with the opposition socially by eating pizza or sandwiches together while sharing their lives in Europe and back home in the states.
“It was really cool. There were some different rules that we had to adjust too a little bit and that we exactly didn’t know super-well going in, so that was different. Also, being able to play against different playing styles and girls with different levels of competition was really good,” White said. “We were able to talk to them and hear different stories about their life and what they do, and the same for us. So that was also really cool to be able to talk to them after, too, and not only play but get to know them a little bit.”
While basketball was the main focus, White also had time to go sightseeing and see many of the vast European cultures. She visited some of the main cities in Belgium like Bruges and Antwerp, along with Cologne in Germany and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
White averaged 4.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and had a .421 field goal percentage in 24 games for the 16-11 Pomeroys last season. She said she’s enjoyed her time the past two years with the team and is hoping for an even stronger season next year.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. I think that it’s been really good for me. All of the different girls, all the teammates, it’s been really great,” White said. “We all get along really well and have a great connection, and we just keep working hard and getting better. Each season has been better, so we are hoping for the same in the upcoming season, too. It’s been really fun. I’ve really enjoyed it.”
