Monday, September 20, 2010

Over the past two decades, the Valparaiso men’s basketball team has been recognized nationally for the number of foreign players that have been part of the Crusaders’ roster.  On Saturday, a quartet of current Crusaders attended the World Cultural Festival at the Valparaiso International Center, talking to community members about their native countries.

In its second year of existence, the World Cultural Festival featured food, arts and crafts, music, dancing and children’s activities representing cultures from all over the planet.  Ryan Broekhoff and Cameron Witt (Australia), Michael Rogers (Jamaica) and Hrvoje Vucic (Croatia) all attended the festival on Saturday, educating members of the Valparaiso community about their respective cultures.  The players also got a chance to take in some of the activities and goods representing other countries as well.

This year’s Crusader squad features five international players, as Kevin Van Wijk (Netherlands) joins the aforementioned quartet of international student-athletes.  Over the last 17 years, Valparaiso’s men’s basketball teams have had 17 different nations represented by 25 international players.