DePaul University Athletics
Oui Are DePaul: Blue Demon Softball Embarks on European Adventure
8/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
Aug. 9, 2013
CHICAGO - DePaul softball has an epic adventure lying in front of it. The Blue Demons set off today for a 10-day trip taking the group through both France and the Netherlands, sightseeing while tracing the footsteps of St. Vincent de Paul himself and participating in international competitions.
Head coach Eugene Lenti, who is leading a trip like this for the first time with his squad, couldn't be more excited for the experience.
"I think it's really important we get into the culture and what's happening there," said Lenti, who enters his 33rd year in Lincoln Park in 2013-14. "The girls have all taken a class on St. Vincent de Paul and it's going to be exciting to visit all those spots where he grew up or made famous during the French reformation. To me, that's exciting stuff because the team is really going to find out what DePaul is all about. It's the origins and where the whole philosophy of de Paul came from."
"Seeing all the sights with the team is going to be a great thing too, it's a great bonding opportunity."
From an educational standpoint, the trip is unique in that Fr. Ed Udovic will serve as docent in the first three days through Paris. A Vincentian priest, Udovic has a Ph.D. in church history from the Catholic University of America and has written extensively in the area of Vincentian history, spirituality and leadership. He has also led numerous heritage trips to Vincentian sites throughout France.
"We're all going to be wearing our little headsets and he's going to be talking through his and we're going to be listening about what St. Vincent did and St. Louise de Marillac," said Lenti. "It's going to be pretty cool and he's going to stay with us at least through the first game in Amsterdam."
The final five days of the trip occur in Amsterdam, where DePaul will get a chance to practice and compete against Dutch competition. In the capital of the Netherlands, the team will get a chance to tour the Anne Frank House, take a canal cruise and see many other sights in town.
Outside of the Dutch portion, the DePaul men's and women's basketball programs have conducted similar trips in the past and, in telling stories about their experiences, have reported nothing but good things to Lenti.
"Everybody said they had a great time, for one, and just the experience of hanging out together in a foreign country and learning their culture and being immersed in their culture is really a significant thing and has a great impact on the upcoming year as well," said Lenti. "Both [men's coach] Oliver [Purnell] and [women's coach] Doug [Bruno] have told me some great things about what's happened to them on those trips."
The trip would not be possible, however, without the aid of the university as well as supportive alumni and friends of the program.
"First off, you have to have the support of the school and Father Ed [Udovic] has done a great job of finding a significant amount of funding for the trip for us," said Lenti. "The other part of it really did come from great alumni support."
"The response was tremendous in regards to them donating money to the trip, and that's something that's been typical of DePaul softball. People who aren't even going on the trip, or would have a chance to go on the trip, have made some of the most significant impacts towards us having this opportunity. There's been a lot of great donors, former players and parents of former players that have made significant contributions. It was really a great thing to see the outpouring of support from our alumni and their parents too."
Stay tuned to DePaulBlueDemons.com for continued updates from Europe, as the team will be checking in with a series of blogs and photos from their trip across France and the Netherlands.
