|
A
Culture
Club
in
Kensington |
|
by
Brian
Heard |
Reprinted
from
The
Gazette.
The
Newport
School's
assistant
girls
basketball
coach
Allen
Edwards
refers
to
them
as
"my
kids."
In
many
ways
they
are.
They
are
high-school
foreign
exchange
students,
coming
to
America
looking
for
opportunities
on
and
off
the
playing
fields.
Part
of
Newport's
mission
statement
calls
for
the
Kensington
private
school
to
offer
its
students
a
wide
variety
of
educational
opportunities,
including
foreign
exchange
programs
and
trips
abroad.
It
was
no
wonder
headmaster
Colin
Stevens
jumped
at
the
chance
longtime
basketball
coach
Edwards
offered
him
two
years
ago,
a
chance
to
integrate
the
Newport
athletics
teams
with
foreign
players
through
his
Educators
Basketball
Association.
The
EBA,
of
which
Edwards
is
the
director
and
president,
is
an
organization
based
in
Boyds
that
started
out
in
1989
by
providing
support
services
to
youth
recreation
activities
in
the
Greater
Washington-Baltimore
Metropolitan
area.
But
Edwards
has
now
made
it
global,
with
Newport's
help.
"I
went
to
all
the
private
schools
in
the
area
to
find
out
if
the
schools'
programs
were
the
right
programs
for
my
kids,"
said
Edwards,
51.
"I'm
not
talking
bad
about
any
of
the
schools,
because
what
most
of
them
are
doing
for
the
community
is
great.
But
some
of
them
didn't
give
me
what
I
felt
I
needed
for
my
kids.
I
didn't
get
an
'open-arms'
response.
Some
of
them
said,
'Yes,
you're
bringing
them
over,
we'll
see
what
we
can
do.'
When
I
came
here
I
met
with
the
headmaster
Colin
Stevens,
who
is
from
Europe.
His
theory
on
education
is
stronger
in
some
ways
than
many
Americans
who
are
involved
in
education.
...
We
sat
down
to
discuss
what
I
wanted
to
do
with
my
kids.
I
said,
'This
is
the
school
I
want
them
to
come
to.'
He
said,
'That'd
be
great,
we'd
love
to
have
them.
All
I
need
from
you
is
their
transcripts
and
grades.'
Once
I
showed
him
their
transcripts
and
grades,
he
said,
'This
is
very
impressive.'
Once
that
conversation
went
on
with
Colin
Stevens,
I
had
four
of
my
kids
here."
In
two
years,
Newport
has
had
nine
of
Edwards'
"kids"
walking
through
its
hallways.
The
most
fertile
foreign
territory
Edwards
has
tilled
is
Russia.
There
are
currently
three
kids
from
Russia
at
Newport,
and
a
fourth
who
was
there
last
year
and
will
likely
return
next
school
year.
Edwards'
interest
in
basketball,
kids,
education
and
foreign
countries
stems
from
his
experience
in
all
of
those
realms.
He
was
born
and
raised
in
Brunswick
in
Frederick
County.
Though
he
was
an
all-state
caliber
basketball
player
at
Brunswick
High,
he
didn't
have
the
grades
to
attend
college.
He
ended
up
in
Viet
Nam
at
age
17.
Of
the
46
boys
and
men
he
went
over
with,
only
three
returned.
He
decided
he'd
been
given
a
second
chance
to
do
something
with
his
life.
Eventually
he
played
professional
basketball
overseas
in
Europe
and
Greece.
A
chance
at
a
National
Basketball
Association
contract
with
the
Washington
Bullets
fizzled
when
he
suffered
a
serious
knee
injury.
Edwards
turned
to
coaching
basketball
instead
of
playing
it.
Soon
he
was
giving
inspirational
speeches
about
the
importance
of
education
and
staying
in
school.
Then
he
founded
the
EBA.
Through
his
European
contacts,
including
former
Minnesota
Timberwolves
international
scout
Boris
Karebian
of
Russia,
he
started
opening
the
door
for
foreign
nationals
to
attend
Newport.
The
three
current
Russian
student-athletes
play
basketball
for
the
Tigers.
Getting
them
to
this
country
and
to
Newport
has
not
always
been
a
smooth
operation.
But
their
stories
are
all
interesting
and
interconnected.
"A
friend
of
mine
knew
Mr.
Edwards,
and
told
me
about
the
opportunity
to
continue
my
education
here
[in
the
United
States],"
said
Anastasia
Goncharova,
a
6-foot-1
guard/forward
on
the
girls
basketball
team,
who
was
the
first
foreign
player
Edwards
brought
to
Newport.
"I
knew
basketball
here
was
much
better
than
in
Russia.
So
one
day
Mr.
Edwards
called
me,
and
I
said,
'OK,
I
will
come.'
I
didn't
know
who
Mr.
Edwards
was
or
where
I
was
going.
I
fly
to
airport
and
nobody
came
to
meet
me.
I
was
there
for
three
hours.
I
was
thinking
maybe
I
should
change
my
ticket
and
go
back
to
Russia."
She
stayed
has
become
a
hot
commodity
for
college
recruiters.
Katya
Trubitsyna
is
a
5-10
guard/forward
on
the
girls
varsity
who
also
has
a
chance
to
play
at
the
college
level.
She
and
Goncharova
knew
each
other
in
Moscow
and
met
at
a
summer
tournament
in
the
U.S.
Trubitsyna
was
in
the
country
at
the
time,
because
her
father
worked
at
the
Russian
embassy
in
Washington,
D.C.
She
had
attended
Woodrow
Wilson
High
the
previous
school
year,
but
was
about
to
return
to
Russia
with
her
parents.
She
did
not
want
to
go
home.
Goncharova
told
her
about
Newport
and
Edwards,
and
she
got
into
the
program.
The
other
Russian
import
at
Newport
is
6-4
senior
power
forward
Dmitry
Anoshin,
who
plays
for
the
boys
team
and
is
a
college
prospect.
One
of
Anoshin's
youth
coaches
in
Moscow
was
Goncharova's
father.
Karebian
is
a
close
contact
of
Goncharova's
dad
as
well.
"I
got
a
call
at
about
four
o'clock
in
the
morning,"
said
Anoshin
with
a
laugh
of
his
move
to
the
U.S.
"I
didn't
understand
anything
[Mr.
Edwards]
was
saying.
I
just
kept
saying,
'Yes,
yes,
yes.'
"
Most
impressive
about
these
kids
is
not
their
play
on
the
court,
but
their
courage
to
live
in
another
country
and
their
performance
in
the
classroom.
All
are
standout
students,
something
Edwards
insists
upon.
Each
has
also
picked
up
the
English
language
very
quickly,
despite
not
knowing
very
much
of
it
before
their
arrival.
"I
bring
kids
over
here,
and
they
want
to
play
sports
here
and
go
to
college,"
said
Edwards.
"I
can
promise
every
kid
a
great
education,
but
I
can't
promise
them
a
[college]
scholarship,
and
they
know
that.
"I'm
in
a
position
to
give
kids
opportunities.
But
education
has
to
be
first.
Basketball,
or
any
other
sport
is
the
vehicle,
but
education
is
the
key.
...
There
are
some
people
out
there
who
think
of
Newport
as
a
'jock
school.'
But
I
would
put
our
educational
achievement
and
grades
up
against
anybody.
"My
kids,
especially,
I
would
put
up
against
anybody
in
the
country.
Any
time
you
can
come
from
some
other
land,
speak
the
English
language
correctly
and
understand
American
government
and
carry
all
A's
and
be
on
the
headmaster's
list,
that's
something
to
talk
about."
For
the
EBA
kids,
Edwards
is
like
a
father
figure.
In
fact,
several
of
them
live
with
him
and
his
wife
Kim.
Others
reside
with
other
American
families.
There
are
no
scholarships
given.
Edwards
and
his
organization
raise
money
to
cover
Newport's
$14,000
tuition
for
each.
Foreign
kids
need
a
visa
to
go
to
school
here
in
the
U.S.
There's
lots
of
paperwork.
In
addition,
Edwards
has
had
to
establish
and
maintain
good
relationships
with
the
embassies
of
different
countries
so
they
will
allow
the
kids
to
come
here.
The
effort
has
been
worth
it
for
himself,
his
family,
his
"kids"
and
those
they
touch
when
they
come
here.
"These
kids
can
make
a
difference
in
someone
else's
life,"
said
Edwards.
"These
kids
have
already
made
a
difference
in
the
American
kids'
lives.
And
the
American
kids
have
made
a
big
difference
in
their
lives.
It's
a
win-win
situation.
When
my
kids
graduate
from
college
and
go
back
to
their
countries
and
become
leaders,
which
I'm
quite
sure
they
will,
they'll
have
the
experience
of
knowing
about
another
culture.
Same
thing
with
the
American
kids
...
I
know
it
can
only
make
it
a
better
world
when
we
can
share
cultures
on
a
positive
note."
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