University of Minnesota Athletics
World Traveler: Kelly Roysland
11/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
"I got a phone call when I was at home in Fosston (Minn.)," Roysland said. "They asked if I wanted to go to Australia with a Big Ten select team to play against different Australian teams."
A chance to play basketball, travel to the other side of the world, and meet other players within your league - one would be crazy to say no to an opportunity like that.
Every summer, the Big Ten takes one women's basketball player from each team within the conference to form an All Star team, led by the coaching staff of one school in the league, which was the Indiana University staff for the 2004 tour.
A few weeks after the phone call, Roysland was off to Grand Forks, N.D., where she boarded a plane to Minneapolis, and eventually made her way to Indiana University. Indiana's coaching staff held practice for two days at their school to prepare for the upcoming games in the "Land Down Under."
"It was interesting playing for the Indiana staff. I prefer our coach's coaching style over theirs, but it was a good experience playing for different people," Roysland commented. "Practices weren't that tough because we were just trying to get to know each other and how we play. There weren't really any set plays, we just had more of a free-lance motion offense because it was too short of a time to do anything too complex."
During her two days of practice at Indiana, Roysland roomed with Northwestern's Samantha McComb, a senior guard from Farmington Hills, Mich. "It was really awkward right away, because I didn't know anyone when I went there, but it was neat getting to know some of the players on a more personal level," Roysland said. "I didn't really get to know Samantha that well during practice because we only roomed two days together and we were so busy. But everyone got to know each other a little better the further we got into the trip."
After the two days of practice, the Big Ten All-Stars headed to the airport, where they hopped on a plane to St. Louis. From St. Louis, they took another flight to Los Angeles before they embarked on the 13-hour flight to Sydney, Australia.
"Australia is so beautiful, and the people were so nice there. I really liked their accents, and they really loved Americans," Roysland remembered. "The only unusual food that I tried was squash soup, which was pretty good. Other than that, their food was a lot like ours."
The Big Ten squad faced three different Australian club teams, and won each game handily. "The Australian players were very fundamentally sound and they played really good team ball. However, we ended up winning every game but the last one by about 30 points," Roysland said. "The last game we only won by about 15 points because they passed the ball really well and played very good team ball."
There were some differences in the Austrailian game that Roysland and the other Big Ten players had to adjust to. In Australia, the women play with a men's size ball and the lanes coincide with the international style. The game is split into four quarters instead of two halves, and the game officials didn't call the games as tight as the Big Ten officials that the American players are accustomed to.
Even though the team had made the journey to Australia to play basketball, they did make time for some non-basketball activities. The athletes were allowed to do quite a bit of sightseeing, along with playing the three games. During the trip, the team spent four days in Sydney and four days in Brisbane.
"We went to a lot of cool places like the Taronga Zoo, the Sydney Opera House, and Tamborine Mountain, where there is a rainforest that overlooks the Gold Coast and the town of Brisbane," Roysland said. "The beaches are amazing, and the weather was so beautiful."
Since the trip took place over our summer season, it was Australia's winter season, but the weather was still pleasant. The temperature in Sydney was in the 60's and 70's, while Brisbane was in the 80's. The players were able to get a little tan on the beach on a couple of the days.
After all the time spent sightseeing together and sitting together on airplanes, the team members got to know each other rather quickly. "Both in Sydney and in Brisbane, I roomed with Lindsey Bowen from Michigan State," Roysland explained "I got to know her the best out of anyone else on the team because we spent so much time together."
"It was fun playing with my teammates and it will be interesting next year playing against them during conference season," Roysland said. "At least I'll know how to guard most of them!"
After eight days of fun and adventure in the "Land Down Under," Roysland headed back to Minnesota on a series of six different flights, plus an hour and a half drive to Fosston before she finally made it back home.
Although this her summer trip didn't compare to the rush of being in the NCAA Final Four, she can add this trip to the list of places that the game of basketball has taken her to. It was certainly an experience she will never forget.
Written by Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant Cathy Behr Sophomore guard Kelly Roysland has had a lot of opportunities to travel because of her involvement in basketball. While in high school, her North Tartan AAU team, traveled to places like Michigan, where her team placed third in the nation, and Florida, where they claimed the national championship. With an all-star team in high school, she joined 48 other girls at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado where they played games and practiced together to get the Olympic experience. As a member of the Golden Gopher squad, she's been able to travel around the country, and was able to take part in the most famous journey in Golden Gopher women's hoops history, the trip to the 2004 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans, La. While the journey to the Final Four was a great one, Roysland's season of travels didn't stop there.
"I got a phone call when I was at home in Fosston (Minn.)," Roysland said. "They asked if I wanted to go to Australia with a Big Ten select team to play against different Australian teams."
A chance to play basketball, travel to the other side of the world, and meet other players within your league - one would be crazy to say no to an opportunity like that.
Every summer, the Big Ten takes one women's basketball player from each team within the conference to form an All Star team, led by the coaching staff of one school in the league, which was the Indiana University staff for the 2004 tour.
A few weeks after the phone call, Roysland was off to Grand Forks, N.D., where she boarded a plane to Minneapolis, and eventually made her way to Indiana University. Indiana's coaching staff held practice for two days at their school to prepare for the upcoming games in the "Land Down Under."
"It was interesting playing for the Indiana staff. I prefer our coach's coaching style over theirs, but it was a good experience playing for different people," Roysland commented. "Practices weren't that tough because we were just trying to get to know each other and how we play. There weren't really any set plays, we just had more of a free-lance motion offense because it was too short of a time to do anything too complex."
During her two days of practice at Indiana, Roysland roomed with Northwestern's Samantha McComb, a senior guard from Farmington Hills, Mich. "It was really awkward right away, because I didn't know anyone when I went there, but it was neat getting to know some of the players on a more personal level," Roysland said. "I didn't really get to know Samantha that well during practice because we only roomed two days together and we were so busy. But everyone got to know each other a little better the further we got into the trip."
After the two days of practice, the Big Ten All-Stars headed to the airport, where they hopped on a plane to St. Louis. From St. Louis, they took another flight to Los Angeles before they embarked on the 13-hour flight to Sydney, Australia.
"Australia is so beautiful, and the people were so nice there. I really liked their accents, and they really loved Americans," Roysland remembered. "The only unusual food that I tried was squash soup, which was pretty good. Other than that, their food was a lot like ours."
The Big Ten squad faced three different Australian club teams, and won each game handily. "The Australian players were very fundamentally sound and they played really good team ball. However, we ended up winning every game but the last one by about 30 points," Roysland said. "The last game we only won by about 15 points because they passed the ball really well and played very good team ball."
There were some differences in the Austrailian game that Roysland and the other Big Ten players had to adjust to. In Australia, the women play with a men's size ball and the lanes coincide with the international style. The game is split into four quarters instead of two halves, and the game officials didn't call the games as tight as the Big Ten officials that the American players are accustomed to.
Even though the team had made the journey to Australia to play basketball, they did make time for some non-basketball activities. The athletes were allowed to do quite a bit of sightseeing, along with playing the three games. During the trip, the team spent four days in Sydney and four days in Brisbane.
"We went to a lot of cool places like the Taronga Zoo, the Sydney Opera House, and Tamborine Mountain, where there is a rainforest that overlooks the Gold Coast and the town of Brisbane," Roysland said. "The beaches are amazing, and the weather was so beautiful."
Since the trip took place over our summer season, it was Australia's winter season, but the weather was still pleasant. The temperature in Sydney was in the 60's and 70's, while Brisbane was in the 80's. The players were able to get a little tan on the beach on a couple of the days.
After all the time spent sightseeing together and sitting together on airplanes, the team members got to know each other rather quickly. "Both in Sydney and in Brisbane, I roomed with Lindsey Bowen from Michigan State," Roysland explained "I got to know her the best out of anyone else on the team because we spent so much time together."
"It was fun playing with my teammates and it will be interesting next year playing against them during conference season," Roysland said. "At least I'll know how to guard most of them!"
After eight days of fun and adventure in the "Land Down Under," Roysland headed back to Minnesota on a series of six different flights, plus an hour and a half drive to Fosston before she finally made it back home.
Although this her summer trip didn't compare to the rush of being in the NCAA Final Four, she can add this trip to the list of places that the game of basketball has taken her to. It was certainly an experience she will never forget.
Written by Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant Cathy Behr
