Cooper Union in Sint Maarten

Cooper Union in Sint Maarten:

The Cooper Union men’s basketball team was in Sint Maarten from Wednesday, November 2^nd to Sunday, November 6^th. The team was on this island in the Caribbean to play and support local teams as well as to hold a basketball clinic for underprivileged kids near Philipsburg, all the while serving as representatives of our institution.

Carlos (the driver) and the entire team, all in his van.

The players left for the airport on Wednesday before the sun rose and touched down in time for the meet-and-greet between the Hawks and the three island basketball teams that they would play during their stay. Light rain showers were on and off during this small event on a rooftop, but that didn’t dampen the excitement and the anticipation in the air.

After a good night’s rest, the Cooper Union men played and won 58-48 against the St Maarten Juniors— a team made up of the best young players on the island under 19. The game was played on Thursday night in a gym with no air conditioning while it was a cool 85+°F outside. Our team was not as accustomed to the heat as the rival team, and the island teams play without the 35-second clock, but the tough Cooper men did a great job overcoming these obstacles and used their intelligence to succeed.

Friday night was the second game in the same gym, played against the St Maarten Seniors— a group of men aged 19+. The game had a late start and the Cooper Union players were starting to get hungry, but they pulled off a victory 68-60 against taller and stronger opponents than those they played the previous night. Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy scored an amazing 31 points for Cooper Union, making him MVP for the game.

Unfortunately, the team had to say goodbye to Yev the next morning. He was expected at an awards dinner held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on Saturday evening; Yevgeniy had been selected to receive the Same Scholarship award. He couldn’t have left for a more worthy reason. Congratulations, Yev.

Steven and Kishawn

Grant coaches Caleb.

Group Photo for the Basketball Clinic

The basketball clinic was held on Saturday morning. Ten energetic Sint Maarten boys, all around 10 years old, showed up bright and early to learn from the Cooper Union men’s basketball team. Some of the boys showed up wearing only socks. When asked why, they admitted that they had no sneakers to wear.  Despite this difficulty, all the children practiced their layups and foul shots and did other exercises, and everybody had a big smile on their face the entire time. More than half of these children left with a basketball as a reward for their hard work, and all of them got a new Cooper Union “CU in St. Maarten” T-shirt.

A few hours after the clinic, the Cooper men played against the team from the University of St Maarten. Without Yev, the team knew that they had to step up their game. And boy, did Captain James Collins step it up! He matched Yevgeniy’s 31 points and got 19 rebounds even though he injured his ankle near the end of the second quarter. James led his team to victory with a score of 74-56, and the Cooper Union team was undefeated in Sint Maarten.

Cooper Union vs. University of Sint Maarten

Between games, the players worked hard; they took organic chemistry exams (proctored by Dean Baker), they wrote lab reports, and they studied hard. When they had the time, they also explored the island and enjoyed the beautiful Great Bay beach of the Dutch town Philipsburg, as well as the beach at Orient Bay in Saint Martin (the French side of the island).

Dean Baker and his interviewers.

Dean Baker gives a speech at the French Beach.

The trip was a success. The Cooper Union team won their games and did a great service for the kids in the community. They also made the local news when Dean Baker was interviewed at a radio station on Thursday morning and then again for Voice of our Children News, a local cable television station, on Saturday.