BLOG: Softball Trio in Italy with Beyond Sports Tours

Enjoy a series of blogs from a trio of UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball student-athletes that traveled to Italy with Beyond Sports Tours in mid-July. Recent graduate Brooklynn Maxwell, rising senior Grace Loftin, and rising junior Rhyann Jones traveled to Italy for nine days. Beyond Sports Tours was established in 2010 and creates mutually beneficial opportunities for U.S. student-athletes, international athletes, and international youth to enjoy a life-changing cross-cultural experience through sport. 

Recent graduate Brooklynn Maxwell wrote about the final days of the trip. 

July 15

Day 7 –  

Hi everyone I am Brooklynn Maxwell I played on the softball team for four years and just graduated this year. I’ll be taking you through the last three days here in Italy!

Today we had a reset day at the beach after six long days of traveling from city to city. We arrived at the Relax Beach Jesolo where we went to the water, tanned and ate more food and pastries! We spent our whole day there until we left that night to go out for dinner in Venice. We had a nice dinner and got to look around the shops and eat more of Rhyann’s favorite gelato! We ended the night with a beautiful view and a taxi back to the hotel!

July 16

Day 8 - 

Today we got to sleep in before we went to the World Cup to watch amazing softball. We all agreed to skip out on breakfast that day and just sleep more until we had lunch. They served us lunch before we left for the games and it was definitely interesting. It was a fish dish that wasn’t everyone’s favorite but not terrible. 

We then headed to the games where we got to see our favorite team Canada player Madelyn McKinnon and watch softball all day. We ended up staying there  from 1 until 11 at night. After the games, we were all tired and ready for bed. 

July 17

Day 9 - 

Today we traveled back to Milan and stopped at a town called Verona where we spent walking, eating good food and shopping. We didn’t do much after since we had a three hour bus ride back to Milan where we would play our last game. We played a team called Legnano and beat them 17-0. 

After we finished the game, we ate dinner at the field and then made our way back to the hotel. We showered and headed to bed since our flight home was the next morning at 5 a.m.

Thank you for joining us on our adventures in Italy!

Blog 1 - By: Grace Loftin 

Blog 2 - By: Rhyann Jones