Former Players Play Overseas

Aug 20, 2007

OLATHE, Kansas – Former Allegheny College women’s basketball players, Katie Kestler ‘07 and Meghan Vasilisin ‘07, joined seven other former Division II and Division III hoopsters as part of the Apemude Friendship Series held in Lima, Peru, for a seven day tour of the city and the opportunity to serve as ambassadors of United States women’s basketball.

“Overall, it was a great experience,” said Kestler. “I would have never made the journey to Peru If I wouldn’t have gone on this trip for basketball. It was great to tour different areas of the country and to learn about Peru’s culture in itself.”

Throughout the seven day experience, the team visited several of Peru’s most popular sites, such as the Incan ruins, the cities of Machu Picchu and Cuzco, the San Francisco Church, and the National Museum for the Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru. The team also had the opportunity to compete against local Peruvian basketball squads, in addition to holding clinics for local players.

“I was surprised at how serious they take basketball in the area, considering it is more of a soccer region,” noted Vasilisin. “I didn’t think that the girls would anticipate us coming as much as they did. They were extremely happy to learn from us about basketball and America in general.”

Both Kestler and Vasilisin valued the experience more because they made the trip together. “I think going with Katie made the experience 10 times better,” said Vasilisin. “I loved having one of my best friends there to share in the experience.”

“It was nice to finish off our playing careers together,” said Kestler. “Meghan and I have been playing together since we were 11, so it was very special to play for Team USA together.”

The chance to wear jerseys bearing “Team USA” was exciting for both players. “It was definitely cool to know we were representing the United States,” said Kestler. “Just by wearing those uniforms, we knew that playing the games meant so much more. We had younger girls coming up to us after the game to take photos with us.”

“Before the games I would think about it,” said Vasilisin. “The jersey had a different meaning because we were representing our country – not a lot of people get to do that.”

Overall, five institutions aside from Allegheny were represented, Baptist Bible College, Hollins University, Shippensburg University, Denison University, and Neumann College. Sara Lee, current head coach at Denison, served as Team USA’s coach.

“I would definitely do it again,” said Kestler. “Anyone who has the opportunity should definitely take advantage of it. It was a great experience.”

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