Italian athletes get a taste of American student-athlete life

Twenty swimmers and water polo players from Italy spent a week at Behrend this summer.

Twenty swimmers and water polo players from Italy spent a week at Behrend this summer.

Credit: Penn State Behrend

Penn State Behrend Athletics is typically busy all summer, hosting a range of youth summer camps. One group, in particular, really went the distance to spend a week at Behrend.

A group of swimmers and water polo players, age 12 to 18, from Trieste, Italy, had the chance to learn firsthand what it’s like to be a student-athlete at a U.S. college. For a week, they lived in Behrend’s residence halls, worked out in Junker gym, watched movies in Reed, ate at Dobbins Dining Hall, experienced American cuisine, and spent a lot of time in the pool learning from Behrend water polo coaches Joe Tristan and Gina-Bella Mata’afa.

Universities in Italy do not have athlet­ics programs, so it was an eye-opening experience for the visiting swimmers and water polo players, some of whom hope to study (and play) internationally one day.

The program is coordinated by Marco Vecellio, director of CollegeLife Italia, a college sports recruiter based in Rome. Vecellio said that Behrend has exceeded their expectations, describing the campus, facilities, and accommodations as first-rate. He paid Housing and Food Services what might be the highest compliment, considering the source: “The food is very good,” he said, “and we’re Italians, so we are very picky about food.”