Our two week training camp concluded with a pre-season game in Eaton, Colorado on September 15. Following the game, our team was divided into two touring units and early in the morning of the 16th heading out for the first two-month tours.
The Stars and Stripes unit is led by tour manager Jesse "Nephew" Whintly and show player Ashley Wilson (shown here). These two veterans are accustomed to life on the road with HA. The rest of the tour is filled with rookies who will have to learn to operate on little sleep and deal with all sorts of variables including all sorts of weather, changing lodging conditions, different gymnasiums, different floor surfaces, etc. We hope that everyone adjusts and some thrive in the "HA life", but we also know from experience that some won't make it. Homesickness is a real phenomenon, even for 27 year old males.
Stars and Stripes performed their first show of the 2009-10 season before an enthusiastic crowd in Alliance, Nebraska on September 16 and are off to a good start.
Our Red, White, and Blue unit is led by Coach Lade Majic. They departed about the same time as the other unit, but had a much further drive to get to the first show last night in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Greeted by a large, energetic crowd Red, White, and Blue also got started with a good show.
The Harlem Ambassadors not only perform basketball shows, but also visit schools presenting the message to elementary and middle school students of staying drug-free and getting a good education. Red, White, and Blue is presenting three of these programs today in Staples, Minnesota. Stars and Stripes presented three yesterday in Rapid City, South Dakota and the Rapid City Journal produced a video that you can see at this link
http://videos.rapidcityjournal.com/p/video?id=6214635
