ROME & VENICE, Italy — When another opportunity arose for Sandpoint High head girls basketball coach Madi Schoening to further her experiences abroad, she didn't hesitate.

Schoening, who coached a team in the United Kingdom in 2023, received a last-minute invite to coach a high school-aged Nothing Beats Commitment (NBC) Camps team in Italy from July 9 through July 20. Thankfully, having summers away from her fourth-grade classroom at Washington Elementary was a big reason she was able to accept the offer.

"It was pretty much the exact same situation this time," Schoening said in reference to the 2023 trip to the U.K. in which the prior coaching staff fell through. "The director asked me if I'd be able to go and I said, 'Sure!' It was for a very reasonable price as a coach, and it's not an opportunity that comes about easily."

Before heading to Italy, Schoening headed to Black Diamond Campground in Auburn, Wash. to meet eight players from Oregon, Washington and Alberta, Canada for the first time. After two days of challenges through high ropes elements, group development activities, and a handful of practices, the team set out for their trip.

The team practiced and played against local Italian teams from Rome and Venice — which isn't always easy for multiple reasons. International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules pose a challenge, as do language barriers between referees, but so does finding local talent ready for a matchup. In European countries, it is more popular for teams and players to lower their intensity significantly in the summer, especially compared to the United States.

"A random school or club would usually open up the gym for us and we would just try to get as many girls as we could to play," Schoening said. "Our chaperone is Italian and was from there, so he really helped in setting up everything. It was cool to play in all these different little communities, and their families were showing up, which made for a fun environment ... a cool part of this game is that it is universal and you can come together despite differences."

In addition to the fun and games, Schoening and her players visited sites such as the Colosseum, the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and the canals of Venice. The black, sandy beaches in Ladispoli were another highlight, as were the day trips to Florence and Bologna. The food was also to die for, with gelato and black truffle pasta being among the team favorite's.

"It was jam-packed," Schoening said of the trip's itinerary. "We were walking a minimum of 10 miles a day. The thing that really stood out to me were the churches there. We went to the marble church (Santa Maria dei Miracoli) that's been there for [hundreds] of years. Pretty incredible."

Along for the entire experience was Madi's father, Ross, a standout basketball player for the Kamiah High Kubs back in the day. Ross served as the NBC Camps assistant coach. Sharing these moments coaching alongside her father, something Madi's never done before, was special.

"Italian basketball is super physical, every team full-court pressed us the whole time," Schoening said. "Two of our girls were 6 foot, 3 inches, so being able to coach height like that was fun, especially in terms of breaking a press. We had to make a lot of in-game adjustments, especially without being able to scout the other team. It was a different realm of basketball for us to both be in ... it was fun having my dad as my partner alongside me, giving me tidbits."

With Italy and the U.K. now checked off the list, Schoening is just two trips away (Barcelona, Spain, and Frankfurt, Germany) from having coached an NBC Camps Tour Team in all of the organization's established international locations.

    The NBC Camps team poses for a group photo with a team from the Basket Città di Ladispoli organization. Sandpoint's Madi Schoening and Ross Schoening are pictured, middle row, far right.