NEWFANE — Ridiculously-rising gas prices and a faltering economy are great distractions to life outside the United States these days.
And other than those from Western New York serving our country in Iraq, nobody appreciates how good they have it in America today any more than three Newfane college-bound athletes who recently competed as members of Team USA during an international basketball tournament in the Dominican Republic.
Nick Vona, Trey Sherrie and Dave Shuey, all 2008 graduates of Newfane High School, played basketball and worked as youth basketball clinic instructors while on their week-long trip to the Caribbean region.
“It’s really a humbling experience to see the way things are outside of this country,” said Vona, who will attend Elmira College this fall. Sherrie and Shuey are headed to Hilbert College.
“There’s no traffic laws, no car insurance, no running water — a lot of poverty,” Vona said.
“The first day we taught a clinic to the kids, Trey handed them a wrist band and a shirt for souvenirs and they cried. We ended up giving them shoes and hats and it meant the world to them.”
The Newfane trio, all outstanding student-athletes for the Panthers over the past several years, received letters last winter from 365 Sports inviting them to take part in the trip abroad.
“We liked the idea and responded. Then they kept sending us information on it, so we agreed to sign up together and made the trip together in late July to Raleigh, North Carolina. From there, we flew to the Dominican Republic for eight days,” Vona said.
Forty people — 28 young men and 12 young ladies — made the trip as members of Team USA. The group was divided into three boys teams and one girls team. Sherrie and Vona played on the same team, while Shuey was a member of a different U.S. team.
American teams each played in four tournament games. Both teams represented by Newfane players finished 2-2 at the event. Vona, Sherrie and Shuey averaged about 10 points per game each in the tournament.
“We went down to play basketball, but in the end, it was all about those kids down there,” Sherrie said.
“They told us that on the average, families earn about $100 American dollars per year. It’s amazing how they get by.”
Shuey, a 6-foot, 6-inch criminal justice major, said he too was touched by the plight of the kids.
“It’s a pretty dirty country, so the kids are extremely grateful for everything we gave them,” Shuey said.
“There was this one kid who was rooting for the other team we were playing. I gave him a dollar one day, which put a huge smile on his face. For the rest of the tournament, he wasn’t just rooting for my team, but me personally.
“Handing out old T-shirts, shoes and shirts to the underprivileged kids down there — that was the most fun I had. I loved watching those kids smile. It made the whole trip,” Shuey said.
“As soon as I got back, I had a new appreciation for all the things that I have.”
Besides basketball, the trio went on a sight-seeing trip, including locations where the original “Tarzan” movies were filmed.
“We knew that this would be one of the last times that me and my two best friends would be together doing the things we love the most, so that made it special as well,” Sherrie said.
“And it was an eye-opener for all of us. I definitely came back with a better appreciation of where I live and what I have compared to others around the world.”
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Newfane trio competed, gave clinics in the Dominican Republic.
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