DAHLONEGA – When the University of North Georgia men's basketball team took a trip abroad to Greece last summer, UNG head women's basketball coach Buffie Burson knew it wouldn't be long before her own players came calling asking when it would be their turn to go across the pond. 

The only other time Burson had ever taken a trip like that was when UNG made the jump from NAIA to Division II. She took her team to Hawaii for some summer scrimmages and a team getaway. The idea of returning to Hawaii was intriguing, but Europe was a whole other beast. 

Yet, when an email with the subject line "Go Play Spain" came across Burson's computer, she perked up. Spain? That might work. 

After all, perhaps the best player to ever suit up for Burson currently resides in Madrid. Former Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Player of the Year Julianne Sutton is nearing the end of a two-year mission with the Internal Mission Board in Madrid. She's lived there since 2022. 

When Burson first learned of an opportunity to play in Spain, she was excited about the chance to visit a former player. This was before a spot on the UNG coaching staff opened up, one of which Sutton applied to fill. 

Roughly a month ago, just 14 days before Burson and her team departed for Spain, Sutton was announced as the newest assistant women's basketball coach. Now a trip to Spain not only meant the chance to see an old friend, but a future coworker as well. 

So, Burson and current assistant women's basketball coach Amber Skidgel – who also played with Sutton and went to an Elite Eight with her in 2019 – began formulating plans to take their team to Spain. 

On Aug. 1, the team left UNG's Dahlonega campus for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The #SpainHawks were on their way. 

"We really wanted to take this group. We felt like this was a senior heavy group… we wanted to take them," said Burson.

The eight day trip would be split between two of Spain's most famous cities; Barcelona and Madrid. The first four days were spent in Barcelona. 

After taking the nine-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the team did not get much time to settle down before playing its first of two scheduled games on the trip. At 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, the Nighthawks took on Selection Catalana. 

While this trip was full of basketball activities, there were more important goals at hand for Burson and her staff. They laid out three goals for the team and themselves prior to training camps before the trip: connect on and off the court, don't waste valuable on-court preparation time and make memories.

"The connection part. That was one of our number one goals coming into training camp in July," said Burson. 

On day four of the trip, the Nighthawks not only connected with each other, but with the world around and before them. The team took an evening tour of the oldest active construction site in the world, Basílica de la Sagrada Família. 

The massive structure designed by Antoni Gaudí was originally intended to be a simple Roman Catholic Church, but its cultural and historical significance led to it being officially deemed a Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. It began construction on March 19, 1882, 141 years ago. 

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and architecturally significant structures in human history, the church would be the last stop before the team picked up and made the six hour plus road trip to Madrid. 
 

In Madrid is where Burson and Skidgel would reunite with Sutton and where Sutton would get her first introduction to her new players. 

"I think it was huge because she got to meet the players and be around them. So, when she gets back here, she's already familiar with all of them and vice versa," said Burson. 

Not only did Sutton dip her toes into the pool of coaching for the first time, the two-year resident of Madrid also served as a local tour guide for the squad. 

"Plus, she was just so knowledgeable and could speak the language. She took us to a little taco place that we would've never known about," said Burson. Her and Skidgel added that this place served hands down the best tacos they had ever or will ever eat. "So, they got to do some of those things that were outside the tour guide that was really cool. I think that it was fun for her and it was fun for us," added Burson.

The first day in Madrid also had walking tours of Madrid's Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and Plaza España. 

Day two in Madrid meant game two for UNG, this time against Selección de Madrid. A tough, physical and oversized squad that would provide a gut check for UNG.

"[They were] tough. It was what we expected," said Burson. 

"They were pros. I mean, they were huge, they were smart. They knew how to screen, slip, re-screen, make us pay. If we tagged here, they were throwing there. You know, just made us continuously scramble." 

The team's first game in Barcelona was "a blur" as Burson described it. No one had adjusted to the time change yet, it was early in the day on the second day of the trip, everything went by so fast. But the second game proved her team's ability to battle adversity.

"The team we played in Madrid was so physical and so smart, we could've gotten just whipped. I thought we fought back, we were physical with them even though we didn't have to do that. That was a good sign too." 

With the trip's final game complete, UNG had one more day in Madrid before returning to the states. Once business is completed, the door is opened for reflection. 
 

Day seven of the trip started with breakfast and a 9:30 a.m. tour of the Prado Museum, otherwise known as Museo Nacional del Prado. The rest of the day was left open for the team to explore and experience Madrid as they pleased. This meant plenty of shopping, walking, conversing, and, most importantly for Burson, connecting.

"I think the connection part, you just can't put a price tag on that," said Burson. "That's all the walks and excursions, and those two games that were so much adversity and all that. [It's] The training camps where everybody is at the beach and you're in the gym or the weight room for two straight weeks. I don't think it could've gone any better, I was really pleased with that."

For a team that battled through adversity to a 17-12 record last year but missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons, the connections made in Spain were not only deserved, but necessary. 

"Everybody at some point I asked, 'what did you think of this experience?' and they were all just like 'trip of a lifetime'," said Burson. 

Whether it be the late night dinners where drinks with ice were sparse, the long walks through Spain's beautiful and famed plazas, the day spent in Basílica de la Sagrada Família, the opportunity to face teams from another country, or (as Burson suspected) the "tons" of shopping that was completed during the trip, anyone could've chosen a number of options as they're favorite moment. For Burson, simple is better.  

"For me, it was all the conversations I was able to have with each player at different times and just talk about random stuff. [From] the freshman onto our transfer to the returnees that you've known for four years, but then you're talking about stuff you'd never get to talk about for that length of a time. That was probably my favorite part," said Burson. 
 

Some of our players asked what was my favorite part of our Spain trip. Without a doubt it was all the walks & random conversations everyday. #SpainHawks pic.twitter.com/PpGkDoW6Yh

— Buffie Burson (@CoachBurson) August 9, 2024

Make connections, don't waste time on the court, make memories. Check, check and check. Reflect on and appreciate the life you have back home as well? Also check. 

"I can't imagine going when I was 18 to 22 years old. To me, even at my age, there are still so many takeaways from the different culture and everything," said Burson. "Just to learn that and to see how other people live… it helps you to be able to appreciate what you have here."

Getting to take your entire team overseas in the heart of summer, is not an experience many head coaches across sports are fortunate enough to have. That's not lost on Burson either. 

"We're fortunate to be able to do it and we're grateful to everybody that gave money to do it. The players did raise a lot of that. We're also grateful to North Georgia to even allow us to do that. I've been coaching 30 years and that's the first time we did it so it was cool to be able to do that." 

The Nighthawks have since returned home and returned to class as school is officially back in session at UNG. Now, the team will officially begin practice on Monday, Aug. 19 in preparation for a season that hopefully reaps the benefits of the connections made on the other side of the world.