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Show 6 SPORTS Tuesday June 4, 2013 UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS WEDNESDAY: Track Utah @ NCAA Championships All Day Eugene, Ore. THURSDAY: Track Utah @ NCAA Championships All Day Eugene, Ore. FOOTBALL Kickoff times for four of Utah's games were announced last week. All remaining television selections and start times for games hosted by Pac-12 institutions will be announced 12 or six days in advance. Non-conference road game times and TV will be released by those institutions or conferences, including Utah's Sept. 21 game at BYU. The expectation is that every Pac-12 football game will be televised this season. AUG. 29 Utah State 6 p.m. FOX Sports 1 SEPT. 7 Weber State 12 p.m. Pac-12 Networks SEPT. 14 Oregon State 8 p.m. FOX Sports 1 OCT. 3 UCLA 8 p.m. FOX Sports 1 www.dailyutahchronicle.corn WOMENS BASKETBALL Trip gives Utes chance to bond Dominic Garcia STAFF WRITER Taking advantage of the NCAA rule that allows college teams to take a trip abroad once every four years, the Utah women's basketball team spent io days in Europe during the month of May. During the trip, the team got the chance to see the capital cities of three different countries: Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark. In addition to sightseeing, the Utes played a game in each country. In Sweden, the Utes faced the professional team Sallen Basket. Norway gave them the opportunity to play against the Norwegian national team, and while in Denmark, Utah played a hybrid of the two top teams in Denmark, Falcon and SISU. The trip also provided an opportunity for sophomore guard Awa Kalmstrom to show her teammates her home in Sweden. "She got the chance to play in front of her family and friends, which was exciting for her," said Utah head coach Anthony Levrets. The Utes didn't hold any practice sessions before their trip to Europe because Leverets wanted his team to be able to adjust to the teams during game play. "We knew nothing about the teams we were going to play," he said. "This was great chance for the younger players to get some minutes as well." One major adjustment Utah had to quickly adjust to was playing with FIBA rules as opposed to NCAA rules. For example, PHOTO COURTESY UTAH ATHLETICS The Utah Utah womens basketball team spends time after a scrimmage with their Danish opponents, a team composed of members from Denmark's top two teams, Falcon and SISU during their trip to Europe. FIBA uses a 24-second shot clock, which Levrets said forced the Utes to play at a faster pace and shoot more often. This resulted in Utah scoring more baskets as it beat each opponent by more than 20 points. "I love the fast game play," said forward Taryn Wicijowski, who played under the FIBA rules as a high schooler in Canada. "It forces the player to be in better shape and make quicker decisions." While the basketball side of the trip was important, Levrets wanted the occasion to be about more than just what happened on the hardwood, giving the team the chance to focus on the experience of being in Europe. "This is an experience that can't be replaced," he said. "It is a chance for the athletes to experience another culture other than their own." The team got to tour castles and other landmarks while learning about Europe's history. "They learned the other side of (U.S.) history and how World War II affected these countries as well as our own," Levrets said. In addition, the team got the chance to visit with a group of See WOMENS Page 7 BASEBALL Despite struggles, team ends season on high note Griffin Adams STAFF WRITER FILE PHOTO/The Daily Utah Chronicle Students compete in an intramural soccer match, one of the many intramural sports offered on campus. Student refereeing a 'thankless job' Austin Heywood STAFF WRITER Multiple factors contribute to the outcome of any sporting event. Size, talent and team chemistry are just a few. There is another factor most players don't think about until something goes wrong during a game: officiating. Referees are responsible for enforcing the rules, giving proper penalties when those rules are broken and keeping players under control. On every level from professional to intramural, refs have to deal with the attitudes of players who don't agree with their calls. One such disagreement, in nearby Taylorsville, recently made national news. During a recreational soccer game, a 17-year-old goalie punched Ricardo Portillo, a community volunteer ref, for giving the player a yellow card. Portillo was taken to a hospital where he slipped into a coma and died a week later. This tragedy calls into question the general attitude of athletes towards referees, including intramural referees here at the U. "I think the intramural program is great," said Caleb Redington, a senior in parks, recreation and tourism. "For me, the ref situation is one of the worst things about it. I want someone over my game who has played the sport before and who isn't just watching and getting paid." Redington has played several intramural sports and feels that inexperienced officials can cause problems for players. "I would never attack a ref, but if the calls are bad it can escalate the tension between players to the point of a fight," Redington said. "I would pay extra to hire more experienced refs." Despite concerns some intramural athletes have with the professionalism of student referees, intramural sports coordinator Julian Gomez, says that officials are thoroughly groomed for the job. "We haven't had any major issues between student referees and players in the time that I have been here," Gomez said. 'All of our staff goes though a conflict resolution session as part of our main training. As a backup to the referees, every sport has a supervisor that would step in if an incident was imminent." All student refs must pass a two-week training that includes watching video, working on a court or field and officiating scrimmage games before the season. Some student refs have experience playing the sport and some do not. Even for those who have played competitively in the past, they quickly discover that being a player is much different than being a referee. "Videos explaining where to stand and See INTRAMURAL page 8 Going into their second season in the Pac-12, expectations for the Utah baseball team were not very high. In 2012, the Utes finished in last place in the conference and were only able to muster 14 wins overall. However, with a year of experience and a flock of new players coming into the program, Utah was able to pick up 21 wins while showing signs of life against Pac-12 opponents in 2013. "The number one thing for me this year was that we had a really good group of guys," said head coach Bill Kinneberg. "They played hard and they practiced hard. They did good things on and off the field. I expected them to come to the ballpark and improve and that is exactly what they did." Going into the season, Utah welcomed 12 fresh new faces to the team, many of whom played significant roles throughout the season. "There were a lot of new players this season," Kinneberg said. "We lost io or II one-run games. As the players gain experience, they will eliminate small mistakes and could come out on top of those games." Despite the inexperience, the veterans on the team noticed a difference in the play of the younger players as the season progressed. "We had a few starting freshman in our lineup who were very consistent," said senior outfielder Tyler Relf. "They were big parts to our team and exceeded the expectations we had for them." While there were many things throughout the season to celebrate, certain moments stuck out to players more than others. Facing Stanford's ace and MLB top prospect Mark Appel, Utah dropped the series opener 6-4, but the Utes were able to put that aside and win the next two games to steal the series. At the time, Stanford was ranked 17th in the nation. "Going into Stanford's ballpark and stealing two out of three \i‘ - CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah outfielder Tyler Relf throws to the infield during the April 6, 2013 game against Washington State in Salt Lake City. The Utes won 2-1. games was pretty special," Relf and a big win in the last game of said. the season against 9th ranked OrConquering Stanford on their egon, the Utes gained confidence home turf was one of the sea- that they belong in the Pac-12. son's top highlights, but those "We are just a really young highlights were countered with team, but we are gaining a lot of low points as well. While the experience," Carroll said. "We Utes were able to win an excit- have the mentality that we can ing extra-inning game against win in the Pac-12." BYU at Spring Mobile Ballpark Kinneberg and the rest of the in their first meeting of the sea- team know that there is a lot of son, they dropped the next two work to be done before 2014. games against their rivals down "We are anxious for our rein Provo. cruiting class coming in put to"That was definitely the low- gether with the guys we have light of the season," said fresh- coming back," Kinneberg said. "It man third-baseman Dallas Car- starts new The expectations will roll. "I mean, it's BYU. We always be a little higher, and we have a want to beat them." lot more work to do. We have a Despite dropping the series long summer of work ahead of us against the Cougars, Utah closed and it starts now." their season on a high note. With g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu a road series sweep of Kansas Twitter: @GriffDoug |