Volleyball Cultural Experiences: A Look Back at Atlanta and Louisville

Ashley Preston has continued the athletics department's initiative of providing the New Orleans Privateers volleyball team with cultural experiences. This year's edition saw the team take trips to Atlanta and Louisville which included stops at Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Park, the Muhammad Ali Center and the World of Coca-Cola.
 
At each stop this year, the young ladies had the opportunity to tour facilities and learn more about the history and impact each figure had at the time and the legacy that lives on today.
 
The first stop of the season was in Atlanta where the team got to learn the history behind one of the great leaders in Martin Luther King Jr. That included a trip to the Visitor Center where the team got to see exhibits such as the Courage to Lead which chronicles the path of Dr. King and the Freedom Road which encourages visitors to walk with figures of the Civil Rights Movement.


 
After the Privateers' win against South Carolina State to close the weekend, the team got to take a tour of the World of Coca-Cola. It started with historical artifacts and a presentation on the history of Coca-Cola in America and its reach around the globe.
 
Following a short video, it was on to the Taste Test Center where the ladies got to try different sodas from around the world.
 
"Growing up you always hear about leaders who make lasting generational impacts and forever change the course of history," said Assistant Coach Mauri Carver. "But to be walking the same streets they did and learning details that the standard curriculum leaves out is a different experience. More so, on a team of athletes from all over the world, this was one of the best cultural experience we could have given them. Martin Luther King Jr. is a figure they have heard about but for many of our athletes this was the first time they heard of the gruesome Black experience in America and how much of an impact Dr. King had."
 
"I have never been to either of these exhibits before so it was amazing to receive that experience," said Lani Alleman. "It allowed to me to better take in knowledge about history and from different perspectives about how the world was and how it is now. I am beyond grateful for those experiences and would recommend to anyone."
 
The next week, the Privateers headed to Louisville to take part in the Bellarmine Classic but before the matches, the team got to tour the Muhammad Ali Center.
 
After an introductory guided tour there was a 15-minute video chronicling the legacy of the great boxer and philanthropist. From there, the team got to tour the exhibits inside the Center and even got to train like Ali with a recreation of his training camp.
 
Other exhibits in the Center included a timeline delving into Ali's professional boxing career which spanned over two decades. There was also a short film projected onto a canvas which showed some of Ali's greatest moments.
 
Ty Salvant, who won a trip to Louisville through the Privateers' EmpowHer initiative, also got to experience the Muhammad Ali Center.


 
"One of my biggest takeaways from the Ali Center was the story about how his bicycle was stolen and through that he learned how to box so he took what was a negative at the time and turned it into a positive," said Molly Kehoe.
 
"It's so much fun to see everything Muhammad Ali accomplished and what I took away was don't settle because there so much that your sport can lead you to. He had boxing and he went to help people around the world through boxing," said Ryan Williams.
 
"This was a 10-out-of-10 experience. Getting the opportunity to learn more about his life and his spirituality was a great experience," said Micah Hall. "What inspired me was just seeing his grind and efforts to achieve his goals."

 
Last year as part of giving her team cultural experiences, Coach Preston and the Privateers got to visit Washington D.C. and took a trip to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
 
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