Mastodon Men’s Basketball prepares for tour of Portugal and Spain
Fort Wayne, Indiana – A Purdue Fort Wayne men’s basketball outfit travels to Portugal and Spain for an international tour and a study abroad tour from August 8-16.
The Mastodons will play three sports on the trip to learn and participate in the local culture.
Fans can visit GoMastodons.com for a blog documenting the team’s activities. @MastodonMBB Instagram AND twitter Accounts will also add. The Dons spend most of their time in Lisbon and Barcelona. Trip activities include a tuk tuk tour of Lisbon, watching an FC Barcelona football match and a bike tour of Barcelona. The ‘Dons will go Portugal Elite on August 11th, Mataro Select on August 13th and Barcelona Select on August 15th.
“Our team teaches Spain and Portugal in a three-credit class so they can really see this specialist study abroad experience,” said the coach. John Kaufman said.
Throughout the summer, the ‘dons learned about Spanish and Portuguese culture, language, history, architecture, art, business, law and much more.
The NCAA allows teams to travel abroad every four years to allow student-athletes the opportunity to experience cultures abroad. Mastodons traveled to Italy in 2018 and Canada in 2014.
Several former mastodons played professionally in Portugal and Spain. In 2022, ex-mastodon Frank Caines played for Beneficia (Lisbon) and beat another ex-mastodon Max Landis’ FC Porto (Porto) for the Portuguese 1.St Division Championship. DeAngelo Stewart played in Portugal for Vitória SC this year and Brent Calhoun played in Spain for Marin in 2018.
The tour also allows for 10 practices to prepare for the additional event.
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