18U basketball team from Belgium to visit Thomas University
Jul. 7—THOMASVILLE — On Monday, July 10, a youth basketball program based in Brussels, Belgium, will visit Thomasville, Ga. and Thomas University as part of their two-week long American basketball tour. The stop will be the fourth stop for 2023 for the group.
The group will feature two teams, Team Orlando and Team Miami, that will comprise a total of 21 boys basketball players, along with a staff of five. The YSE Belgium teams will play an exhibition against Cam Sports and Cam Sports South AAU Basketball Teams. The Cam Sports program is based out of Albany, Ga. The games will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held at the TU Gymnasium on the Thomas University Magnolia Campus. All games are open and free to the public.
Prior to arriving in the Rose City, YSE Belgium (Youth Sports Exchange) will have visited Atlanta, Athens, and Columbus, Georgia. Their post Thomasville experience will include Gainesville, Orlando, and Miam, Florida. For the group from Belgium, this will be their first time stopping in the Rose City, but it is not their first time playing in South Georgia. In 2019 and 2022, YSE Belgium played exhibition games in Ashburn, Ga. The group has also played games in the Atlanta region since 2016.
ABOUT THE TOUR
YSE Belgium started in 2006 with a team traveling to St. Louis, Mo. Since that time, additional teams have traveled to other U.S. cities, including a girls' team to the Chicago, Illinois area. In 2013, a second boys' delegation traveled to the Montgomery, Alabama area. Beginning in 2016, the Alabama team grew to two teams, Team Alabama and Team Atlanta. In 2019, the travel plans of the Southern group changed, when they rebranded as Team Orlando and Team Miami, and then began touring North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The then Alabama/Atlanta group, and now, Miami/Orlando group, has been coordinated by A.D. Drew, who is the former Director of Parks & Recreation in Tuskegee, Alabama and Turner County, Ga.
The tour has grown from one team and a game or two to two teams traveling to the United States and a full-blown tour that is managed by A.D. Drew, who now serves as the Director of Athletic Communications at Thomas University. Drew, along with YSE-Belgium Director of Operations, Mark Peeters, have spent many hours planning this year's tour. The pair have been working together each year since 2013, with 2020 and 2021 being the only years that the tour has not occurred, due to the pandemic.
Peeters' son, Nick, attended high school in Alabama at Crenshaw Christian Academy in Luverne. Ironically, Drew refereed the younger Peeters when he played basketball at CCA. Peeters other son, Welsey, played in the series from 2013-2015, and now is a member of the coaching staff of one of the teams that will visit the U.S. The elder Peeters' has coordinated the travel of the youths to the United State since 2013, when he first partnered with Drew. Drew and Peeters will continue to look for opportunities to expand the program in future years.
