Pre-Departure Recap

In two weeks, 13 Western New England College students, fellow sport management professor Dan Covell, and I will depart for Beijing and the Olympic Games, which will mark the inaugural program of the "Seminar Abroad" series of the Center for International Sport Business (next up: World Cup 2010).

Since we will be traveling on August 8, we will miss the Opening Ceremonies (spectacular as it promises to be, the high-priced tickets to attend in person would have been a budget buster!). We will, however, see and experience two or three weeks' worth of exciting events jam packed into just eight days! But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .

This whole adventure came about as an idea to introduce students to the Olympic Games, which made all the more sense since I spent 16 years with the US Olympic Committee, the last six as its director of international relations. Still, not knowing what level of interest there might be, I emailed a flyer in late fall 2007 to all students on campus, informing them of this "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity . . . and to my delight the response was swift and overwhelming!

While this trip would not have been possible without the help of so many people, I am especially grateful to my colleague and Management Department chair, Dr. Jeanie Forray -- who is a staunch proponent and veteran of many foreign-travel study courses -- for her insight and guidance from the conceptual beginning through the planning stages and beyond. I thank my friend and colleague, Dr. Bruce Clemens -- who has taken scores of students to Guatemala over many summers -- for his inspiration through his can-do attitude and infectious enthusiasm, and also Sport Management Department chair, Dr. Sharianne Walker, for her tireless devotion to our students, her unwavering personal support, and for always reminding me of the importance of having fun along the way!

Originally, I had intended to take a small group of only eight students, which subsequently grew to ten, then 12, before I finally settled on a baker's dozen . . . all of whom are visa-approved and passport ready! This past spring, we met about a half dozen times for students to get acquainted with one another, to meet the representatives from International Study Programs (the outfit that set up the cultural aspects of our trip), to discuss fund-raising ideas, and generally to get hyped up about going to the Olympics . . . in China!

Among the reasons cited by students for wanting to go on this trip were:

“Being exposed to one of the greatest events in history”
“Experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”
“Gaining a knowledge of different cultures”
“Building my resume while growing as a person"
“Learning about the Chinese culture and seeing the Olympics live”
“To learn, meet new people, and have fun”

Speaking of seeing the Olympics live, one early challenge was getting tickets to events, since the entire inventory available for the US market was sold out more than a year in advance of the games. Not to be deterred, however (and resorting to methods that shall not be disclosed), we managed to obtain tickets to basketball, track & field, soccer, boxing, beach volleyball, tennis, softball, baseball, badminton, and water polo.

Of course, we will take in the must-see cultural icons of the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace. Students also will have time to shop, walk through some of the city's fast-disappearing hutongs, pay a visit to the US Embassy, sample exotic delicacies rarely found in the West, and meet with fellow college students at Beijing Sports University. The real value-added proposition of this program, however, is that the students will have the opportunity to experience several out-of-the-ordinary events; for example, having a private audience with the presidents of the international sport federations for baseball and softball, being co-opted to "work" a private reception and awards presentation ceremony of the Truce Foundation at USA House, visiting the US Olympic Committee's high-performance training facility at Beijing Normal University, attending an invitation-only function at Japan House, visiting the by-invitation-only Visa Olympic Reunion Center, getting a cook's tour of the Olympics' Main Press Center, meeting the head of the sports department of the Xinhua News Agency, and being briefed by officials of Olympic sponsors Samsung and Adidas, among other possibilities.

Probably most fascinating for the students will be the chance to spend eight days in this most ancient of Asian countries, with a very different political -- yet quite familiar capitalist -- system, in a city of some 16 million people being descended upon by hundreds of thousands of visitors from every nation on the planet. It also will be interesting to see how successful the organizers' best-laid plans are in terms of games management, operations, and logistics, dealing with protest demonstrations, and the impact of the air quality on athletes' performance. No doubt, social commentators and historians will let us know whether -- and if so to what extent -- the Olympics changed China.

Speaking for myself, it will be an extraordinary treat to witness what certainly will be a watershed moment in China's history. Stay tuned . . . .