Sierra Pacific Girls Basketball are set to take a business trip to Washington D.C. to play in a tournament this school year. The trip will take place from Dec 11, 2024 to Dec 14, 2024 and then they will return Dec 15, 2024. The team will travel over two thousand five hundred miles, which adds up to about fourteen hours of flying there and back. Many are excited to see the activities and outcomes of this long-awaited trip.
Upon landing in Washington, D.C. around 4 p.m., the team will be expected to prepare for their upcoming games. The team will play two games during their stay. It is unknown which opponents the team are scheduled to play as of now. Their chemistry overall compared to last year has seemed to vastly improve on the court and off the court. The senior team captain, Andi Jones, would also agree.
“Compared to last year I feel we have gotten closer as teammates and even greater as friends,” Jones said.
Expanding on this year’s team chemistry, the team strives to help the community even outside of the gym. This can be seen during the acts of community service they commit on the daily. For example, the Veterans Day Parade in their city of Hanford.
Other than the intense competition of this journey, the girls plan to gain educational experiences as well. Most importantly, they will visit the White House. What makes this visit so significant is not many high school girls basketball teams get the opportunity to tour the White House. Many of the teams that do tour the white house are college teams.
“I think I’m excited the most to see the White House because I wanna see Biden or Kamala in real life”
This was said by junior, Kiana Adams, when asked what is going to be her favorite historic place during this trip.
The girls will go to many major historic sites on their trip too. Sites like the Lincoln Memorial, National Mall and Ford’s Theatre. These places are all very notable because they are central to the history and governance of the United States. Another reason it is such an honor to be at these sites is because they all offer various aspects of history, science, art and culture.
Museums will be visited by the team during their stay. It isn’t official what museums they will be visiting but here are some of the most influential ones located in Washington D.C..
The National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall in Washington D.C., is such a meaningful place because it has a gigantic collection of different types of media. Paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photographs, prints and drawings can be seen here. It showcases spans of history dating back to hundreds of years ago, which can overall be great information to gain for a group of teenagers.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, located adjacent to the National Mall in Washington D.C., was built to honor and educate people about the knowledge of this tragic event in history. It encourages its visitors to learn about the lessons of the Holocaust and remember the Jewish victims who were unfairly killed during the devastating time.
On the last day of this trip before their flight home, the girls are expected to pay a visit to the Arlington National Cemetery. This cemetery is so special because it is the largest one in the United States National Cemetery system. It is also one of two maintained by the United States Army. Over 400,000 people are buried here, making it very important for the team to honor the members of the Armed Forces who have died on active duty protecting our country.