Meetthefans joining UConn women's basketball team for trip to Europe: 'Really excited'
Aug. 14—And the team's four exhibition games abroad could also mark the first time Paige Bueckers steps onto the court for a game in about 500 days.
A group of about 40 UConn donors and fans will be the first people to get live, in-person sneak peeks of what the Huskies will look like in 2023-24 as they travel with the team next week on its European trip.
For some, it's their first time following the team overseas. While others already had plans to travel to Europe this summer and have made it a priority to attend the Huskies' games.
"We just feel very grateful to be going and having an opportunity to see three countries that we've never visited before; and I guess the icing on the cake is seeing and interacting, hopefully, with the UConn women's team," said longtime UConn fan and donor Richard Cartun.
Donors and fans attending the trip were in charge of coordinating their own airfare while UConn's travel agency for the trip, Anthony Travel, is providing housing, accommodations and activities once they're overseas. Cartun said the whole group is meeting at the Amsterdam airport before flying together to Croatia to begin the trip next Tuesday.
The group of fans and donors will have their own itinerary of activities but will likely cross paths with the team for meals and travel. Plus, they'll be in the stands for all four of UConn's exhibition games during the 10-day trip.
"We're looking to see, you know, how Azzi Fudd is doing because she had an injury last year. And Caroline Ducharme who was kind of up and down. And Paige Bueckers is back," Cartun said. "... It's just so much fun to watch them play. They really play the game that I think Dr. Naismith intended for people to play it that way."
Cartun and his wife Ellen started going to UConn women's basketball games during Rebecca Lobo's sophomore year. The two got their sons into basketball by bringing them to both the women's and men's basketball games. The Cartuns have season tickets for both the women's and the men's basketball, football, men's soccer and hockey at UConn.
"The best thing that's happened to me other than meeting my wife is converting my wife into a basketball fan," said Cartun, who lives in Avon. "And it just was always fun and exciting to go to UConn games even before they started winning national championships. And, you know, once the women got the first one in '95 and the men got their first one in 1999, that just you know, put them on a completely different level. ... But clearly, UConn is the basketball capital of the world, and we feel very fortunate to be part of it and be able to see the student-athletes compete night after night at a very high level."
Deb Faucette has been going on summer trips with the UConn Foundation for the past 20 years. Faucette, who graduated from UConn's School of Pharmacy in 1980, says she's been on between 12 and 20 trips with the Foundation all across the world. Not only do the trips introduce her to new UConn alumni, but she's able to explore all new cultures and countries.
"I basically now only travel on UConn, alumni-organized trips because it was such a wonderful experience for me the first time, not only do you meet other UConn people, but you rediscover friends," she said. "... Also because I explain to people that if you really want to go on a stress-free vacation, this is a way to go because the only thing you really have to decide is what am I going to wear? What am I going to drink, or eat? And what do I want to buy? And everything else is taken care of for you."
Faucette went to Rio and London during the Olympics (UConn coach Geno Auriemma was coaching the U.S. women's basketball team in both Summer Games). She also went with the Huskies to Italy in 2017, during the program's most recent trip abroad.
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During one trip to Venice with the team, Faucette remembers some of the players creating, and singing, a rap song for the alumni on the trip to thank them for their support. One of her first trips was attending a cruise along the Rhine River where Geno and Kathy Auriemma were the hosts of the trip. Faucette says the Auriemmas were great hosts and made sure everyone felt included by inviting them to sit with them during meals and taking time to talk with everyone.
"I could not have been more welcomed and felt like part of something when I knew absolutely nobody and that was over 20 years ago," Faucette said. "... Every trip I've been on, and I've been on a lot with Kathy and Geno, you know, I'm always impressed by the fact that they make it personable for everybody that goes. So, whether you're a first-time goer, or you've been on it before, they just spend quality time with everybody. And, you know, you just become part of this bigger family. And it's just, you can't wait for the next one when you're done."
Faucette, who grew up in Massachusetts but now lives in Florida, is excited to see the new Huskies debut on the court next week in Croatia.
"The cool thing about it is being able to see all the new players at UConn that are either just starting out, just you know getting to know the team before the actual season starts," she said. "Then watching them grow as people and players throughout the year, it's a real satisfying, rewarding and neat kind of thing to watch that."
Eric Livaich, on the other hand, will already be in Croatia when the Huskies arrive next week.
He and his family try to make the trip to Croatia every other year to see his grandma and extended family in Pirovac. Livaich's father grew up in Croatia before moving to the United States.
Liviach grew up in Wethersfield as a UConn fan. His freshman year in Storrs was in 2004 when both the men's and women's programs won the national championship. He's since passed down his UConn fandom to his own kids by taking them to the women's games.
"I mean, just the way that they play, it's just they move the ball well, they just always play hard," he said. "They've just always been unselfish teams, and they always play hard. So, it's very entertaining to watch. You know as teams change, they always have that similar kind of mindset, year to year, it seems like."
It just so happened UConn's trip lined up with the same time the Livaich family would be in Croatia this summer. Despite the three-hour drive from Pirovac to Zagreb (where senior point guard Nika Mühl is from and where the Huskies are playing their first exhibition game), Livaich plans on attending the game with his wife, their two kids, his dad and his sister and her husband. The day of the game on Wednesday also happens to be his wife's birthday.
"I'm really excited because I love going to Croatia and I love going to their games," said Livaich's daughter, Natalie, who turns 9 next month. "So going to a game in Croatia is combining them which makes it even more exciting."
