Food in Lithuania

When we arrived the hotel restaurant served us a snack consisting of a turkey sandwich and potato balls which tasted like french fries. The evening meal started with a lettuce/apple salad, hot dogs in a sauce, boiled potatoes, bread, tomato and cucumbers. Don was delighted to find PEPSI in cans in a supermarket right across the street from the hotel! And YES this city has a McDonalds. Will it become as popular with the boys as it was last year in Argentina? I do believe so!!

And We Are Off!

We left San Antonio this morning at 11:30 and flew into Washington D. C. Dulles airport. From here we take a 7:00 evening flight to Lithuania with a short stop in Germany to change flights. We will spend four days in Lithuania playing two practice games one with Russia and the other with Lithuania. The flight from Dulles to Frankfrut, Germany will take 8 hours! The players were experiencing lack of space in our last 3 hour flight and I can't imagine how their long legs must feel.

Team Practices in San Antonio

The team held their last practice in San Antonio on Thursday, June 24, but my first time to watch them. It was wonderful to see the 9 players from last year's team and introduce myself to the additional 3. It is exciting to be a part of the TEAM again this year. Wow! I am amazed by their intensity and skill.

Trip to San Antonio

After my original flight on the morning of June 23 was canceled, I flew out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the afternoon and arrived by 8 pm in San Antonio. My son-in law, Scott and 2 grandsons, Landon and Owen took me to the airport. Thanks! Don picked me up and we met Don's brother and his wife, Dean and Cindy for supper at Papsitso. The fajitas were delicious and re-connecting with Dean and Cindy was wonderful.

Team Members Named

Named as members of the USA Basketball U17 World Championship Team were ’09 U16 gold medalists:
Justin Anderson (Montrose Christian School, Md. / Montross, Va.);
Brad Beal (Chaminade College Prep H.S. / St. Louis, Mo.);
Quinn Cook (DeMatha H.S. / Bowie, Md.);
André Drummond (St. Thomas More School / Middletown, Conn.);
James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian H.S. / Norfolk, Va.);
Johnny O’Bryant (Eastside H.S. / Cleveland, Miss.);
Tony Parker (Miller Grove H.S. / Lithonia, Ga.);
Chasson Randle (Rock Island H.S. / Rock Island, Ill.);
Adonis Thomas (Melrose H.S. / Cordova, Tenn.),
Topping off the roster are:
Michael Gilchrist (St. Patrick H.S. / Somerdale, N.J.),
Marquis Teague (Pike H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.),
Anthony Wroten, Jr. (Garfield H.S. / Seattle, Wash.)

Preliminary Round games

The USA U17 World Championship Schedule: The USA team is in Group A with teams from Argentina, China, Egypt, Lithuania, and Serbia. Group B includes Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, South Korea and Spain.

Preliminary Round schedule:
Friday, July 2 1:30 vs Argentina
Saturday, July 3 12:15 vs Lithuania
Monday, July 5 4:45 vs China
Tuesday, July 6 4:45 vs Egypt
Wednesday, July 7 2:30 vs Serbia

Quarterfinals on Friday, July 9
Semifinals on Saturday, July 10
Finals on Sunday, July 11

Time is approaching!

Hi! I'm Vicky Showalter, wife of Coach Don Showalter who will be heading up the U17 USA men's basketball team at the World Championship in Hamburg, Germany. Don leaves home (Wellman, Iowa) on Monday, June 14 to report to training camp in San Antonio, Texas. I will use this blog to keep in touch with USA family and friends while we are on the trip. I plan to post pictures, game results, and information about the team. Keep checking as I update.

Check out last summer's blog at www.usau16basketball.blogspot.com. The USA team won the GOLD medal in Argentina at the U16 qualifying tournament for the Americas.