SALT LAKE CITY – Aside from an unblemished 9-0 mark to open the 2016-17 season, the University of Utah women's basketball program wrapped up three months of training with 20 Chinese coaches as part of the Pac-12 Globalization Initiation.
 
Utah, along with Arizona State, the Federation University Sports China (FUSC) and the Chinese Scholarship Council reached an agreement to allow 200 Chinese coaches on the two campuses. They worked with men's and women's basketball, track & field, swimming and cheerleading to learn more about the NCAA and college athletics.
 
Women's basketball spent much of the summer preparing for the arrival of the Chinese coaches, which included scheduling English classes, coordinating which practices and games they'd be able to observe, as well as basketball specific classes. The basketball courses were designed to educate the Chinese on everything from offensive and defensive strategies to NCAA legislation and recruiting processes.
 
Rachel Messer and Kendall Rodriguez of the women's basketball staff served as ambassadors for the program scheduling and coordinating, and spent a minimum of 30 hours per week with the Chinese coaches.
 
"It was a really humbling experience working with them," Rodriguez said. "Learning about their culture, their resources in their respective provinces, and how their high school basketball system is so different from ours."
 
These coaches were hand-selected by the FUSC administrators and came to America on specialist work visas. Each coach was from a different part of China, as some were rivals in their respected competitive leagues.
 
As part of their English training, the Chinese coaches selected an "American name" for themselves. Some of the names chosen were Star, Tigger, Sunny and Summer.
 
"We learned so much while we've been here," said Tigger, one of the Chinese coaches, with a smile. "The coaches here are so knowledgeable and take it very seriously. I have many ideas for camps now, and the players are always focused and want to work hard for the coaches."
 
Pac-12 Global was founded on 2011 to promote the Conference and its member institutions on an international level through student-athlete exchanges and sport.
 
Utah returns its full attention the season with Pac-12 competition tipping off at the end of the month.