‘I Felt Like a Superstar’ – Inside Men’s Basketball’s Unique Trip to France

THE SCENERY IS as vast and sophisticated as the culture itself.

Draped in the shadows of Paris’s Sacré-Cœur Basilica, the city’s highest point, in its Montmartre district, Albion head men’s basketball coach Jody May takes in an endless sprawl of Renaissance, Gothic and Provincial architecture that dots the city below.

It is Ascension Day, a public holiday in France honoring Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven and a time to partake in festive and leisurely activities.

Fireworks blare off in the distance at the famed Eiffel Tower, a timeless monument commemorating French prowess.

There are restaurants and shops lined with street performers, tourists and locals who are each admiring the view and vitality of one of the world’s most famous cities.

“It’s an eclectic place with a lot of people there to soak it all in,” May said about the district. 

“We’re really blessed to have an amazing experience like this and be a part of French culture.”

Earlier in the summer, May and his team had the unique opportunity to enjoy a week-long experience in France. Funded entirely by alumni and donors to the program, the squad was able to explore historic sites and play in two basketball games against French competition.

However, the uniqueness of the experience is rooted in the city of Albion’s relationship with the French towns of Noisy-le-Roi and Bailly, which neighbor each other and are about 15 miles west of Paris.

IT BEGAN IN 1997, when a member of the Albion Chamber of Commerce was exploring the educational and cultural opportunities of the international Sister City program.

The program, Sister Cities International, is an organization with goals to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation” with places around the world that have similar sized communities.

In the first 10 years of the partnership, more than 500 Albion residents and students participated in youth and adult cultural exchanges and internships while students and adults from Noisy-le-Roi and Bailly came to Albion.

Since 2007, Albion College has been a part of the Sister City program with exchange students coming from both areas. 

Ten years later, May wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for his program to immerse themselves in French culture through the Sister City relationship. The women’s basketball program followed suit in 2021. While the original plan was to have the men’s team go every four years, the COVID-19 pandemic and administration changes forced the program to hold off until 2025 to go again.

After a week of preparation at Albion that included practice and team building activities, the 13 previous lettermen as well as four coaches/staff embarked on their journey on Saturday, May 24.

They flew out of Windsor, Ontario to Toronto and then directly to Paris on the roughly seven-hour flight. Once they landed the next day, cabs picked them up as they made the 35-minute drive to Noisy-le-Roi. 

What awaited in the town was perhaps the main reason why the trip was so unique.

BECAUSE OF THE Sister City connection, committees from both towns organize people to stay with host families when residents visit each country instead of hotels.

After a walking tour of Noisy-le-Roi, the team met their hosts.

While some players were initially skeptical of rooming with strangers, they were immediately welcomed in as the families made them feel comfortable with home-cooked meals and friendly conversation.

“When I first met my host family, I felt embraced,” Kurt Rhodes, a rising junior on the team said. “They treated me like their own and catered to me like I was their own child or sibling.”

The host families cooked every meal for their guests. Even the food Rhodes ate was a cultural experience for him.

“The food is very portioned in France,” Rhodes said. “It’s not like America where there are big portions. You have your main course with vegetables and a side dish. That's really it. My favorite meal was this mozzarella ball with balsamic vinegar, a side of tomatoes and a sandwich with some type of meat and green sauce. That was amazing.”

THE ADVENTURE INTO Paris began the next day. Almost everywhere they went, the team took public transportation – mostly using the double-decker train system that is popular in France.

Their first stop was exploring the Eiffel Tower, even going all the way to the top of the monument. After a scenic boat ride on the Seine River and some free time for shopping, they practiced in the evening before their first game the following day.

On Tuesday, the Britons spent the day in Paris again and visited the iconic landmarks of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Arc de Triomphe. They also took in the Marais District, which houses the city’s art museums.

Their game that night was against Gennevilliers, a professional team competing in France’s fourth division with much older players. Hanging tough in the first quarter, the Britons struggled in the second leading to a 44-26 halftime deficit. However, Albion cut the lead to single digits early in the fourth quarter but lost 81-64.

One of the players on Gennevilliers also served as the Britons’ tour guide during their trips to Paris.

On Wednesday, the team toured the Palace of Versailles – the opulent former residence of French royalty that contains 2,300 rooms – including the famed Hall of Mirrors.

It also has lavish gardens that surround the property where the team had a picnic lunch.

“Versailles was my favorite site,” Rhodes said. “It looked the best, and there was so much history behind every single room in there. They had a whole room full of paintings of the wars that led up to independence. There was so much history tied in with America as well, so it wasn’t just learning about French history.”

Returning to Noisy-le-Roi that evening, the team participated in a 30-minute ceremony at a cemetery unveiling a plaque in memory of Patrick Hanlon. Hanlon was a soldier from Albion who was the first from the city to die in action during World War I.

“The town really wanted to do something in his honor with the whole Sister City connection,” May said. “French people are very appreciative of the sacrifices American soldiers made in both World Wars, and they made sure people from Albion were there when the honorary burial took place.”

Thursday was Ascension Day, so host families took their guests on various excursions around Paris and bonded more together. May’s host family took him and his wife, Julie, to the Basilica while others went back to the Eiffel Tower or stayed local and played paddleball – a popular game in France similar to pickleball.

Their second basketball game – this time against the Noisy-Bailly club team – was at night. Playing in front of a thunderous local crowd while some host families attended and wore Albion shirts, the Britons led 42-40 at the half and trailed by one with less than a minute left in the contest. A buzzer-beater attempt fell short, and Noisy-Bailly won, 88-87.

“The facility reminded me of Kresge [Gymnasium] – old and small with lots of echoes from the loud noise,” May said. “Basketball is really important in France, and if they can watch a college team from the U.S. they’ll be there and enjoy the experience.”

Before the game, the French, American and Albion flags were held at halfcourt as both countries’ national anthems were played.

Some children even wanted photos with the Albion players after the contest.

“It was crazy,” Rhodes remembered. “I’ve never had that before. 

“I felt like a superstar.”

Albion’s final day in France was spent in Normandy, the city where the infamous D-Day invasion occurred that proved to be a turning point for the allies in World War II.

After touring Pointe du Hoc on the beach where the landings took place, the team experienced the Normandy American Cemetery. While there, two American men who had landed in Normandy on D-Day were present and commanded the attention of visitors.

Taps was played at the end of the day with the lowering of the American flag to honor the fallen heroes. The team then had dinner and ice cream in Honfleur, a neighboring coastal harbor town lined with cobblestone streets, as the sun set.

The team spent their last night with the host families before departing the next day.

A bond was formed with their hosts as strong as the iron that binds the Eiffel Tower together.

“My favorite part of the trip was seeing the interactions between the players and host families,” May said. “You learn differences between cultures, but you also learn similarities and how basketball can bring people together and establish a relationship that lasts a long time.

“It’s a trip that’s completely different than any other team can have. It’s a unique experience, and you’ll always have those lifelong relationships with your host families.”

Rhodes says he still connects with his host family via What’s App. Robert Ryan, an Albion assistant coach and former Briton player, reconnected with his host family from 2017 when he went as a player.

The connection that the city of Albion has with Noisy-le-Roi and Bailly will remain strong. The relationship will be celebrated at the annual Festival of the Forks in the fall in Albion, and a mural is set to be commissioned in downtown commemorating the Sister City connection.

Noisy-le-Roi’s mayor is also set to visit Albion in the fall.

“We have great student-athletes representing Albion,” May said. “Our guys did an unbelievable job at representing our country, school, families and program. I got a lot of positive feedback of how our players acted from the Sister City.

“I am really proud of how they carried themselves, and I hope we can see the successes from the trip pay off this season.”