Dean College student Andrew Price visited Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar this past November as part of his position with the Massachusetts Pirates. Read on to learn more about his experience abroad!

This past year I was the Assistant Director of Game Operations for the Massachusetts Pirates, an Arena Football League team located in Worcester, Massachusetts. My boss, Jacques Lambert, Director of Gameday Operations, does contract work with a number of professional organizations in various capacities such as consulting, production, and providing talent for national anthems. Jacques had been working on an opportunity with the BIG3 for over a year. When this project started to gather momentum, he asked if I would take a supporting role, which would involve travel. Obviously, I said yes.

The BIG3 is a professional 3-on-3 basketball league comprised of former NBA players that was created by Ice Cube and his business partners. The trip was a collective of six players and four support personnel (including myself). In partnership with Armed Forces Entertainment, a contracting company that works to bring celebrities and events to U.S. military bases around the world, we traveled to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and Qatar for twelve days visiting seven different bases representing different branches of the Armed Forces.

My tasks for the trip were to film and take pictures of the interactions between the players and the soldiers, coordinate activities, and make sure the players needs were met. At each base we had different activities set up that allowed the players to meet ranking commanding officers and learn about the purpose of their base. We visited different groups such as the K-9 Unit and the Ordinance Unit (bomb squad) and put on clinics for the soldiers at the base. Each base also had a 3-on-3 tournament where the BIG3 members would coach a team.

It was an amazing experience — to be able to tour these countries and interact with soldiers currently serving my country is something I will never forget.