During her service trip, Broughton had the chance to play soccer and basketball with the children. (Photo by Tamsyn Stonebarger)
Making a Difference a World Away
Tuesday, July 5, 2022 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In late June, Florida women's basketball standout Zippy Broughton had the opportunity to join GatorMade for a service trip to Greece. Over the course to 10 days, the group was able to make a difference working with "The Smile of a Child," supporting children living in poverty, that have experienced violence, have health problems, or have been missing.
A week removed from the end of their trip, Broughton sat down to reflect about her experiences and the impact it had on her life.
A lot of people may know from social media that you were overseas in Greece, but can you talk a little bit about some of the service work you were able to do while there?
"We did a lot of house work and we worked at a couple orphanages for kids who might've been neglected or went through tough times at home. We helped organize, paint, of course played with the kids. A couple times we played a game of soccer or a game of basketball, very competitive, but it was worth it, getting to bring our spirit of service to the kids. We were also able to help at a shelter for the less fortunate and we prepared food for lunch that day."
You had the opportunity to go see some historical sites and incredible places, was there a favorite experience or place for you?
"It honestly wasn't the museums, I'm a bit of a hiker, so we went on a volcano boat tour, and I honestly don't remember the names of the volcanoes, but just going to the peak of the volcano and looking down at all of the different islands…that was a site to see."
You also had the opportunity to go on this trip with other athletes from different sports. Can you talk about the opportunity you had to interact with athletes from sports you might not see that often?
"The University doesn't know how big this trip helped student-athletes come together. A lot of us weren't familiar with other teams, but we left and made a pact with each other, like 'we're going to support each other this season, we're going to keep our group chat active and we're going to remain friends.' The comradery that came out of this trip is breathtaking. I can honestly call them my friends now which is something I'm thankful for."
You had a unique dynamic in Greece, assuming you don't speak Greek, in facing a language barrier. How were you able to overcome that challenge?
"So we learned the basic words, like thank you, which probably came out the most, but mostly they spoke good enough English for us to comprehend each other, so it honestly wasn't too bad."
We've got to get a foodie question in. I'm sure you got to eat a lot of Greek food during your time, so what was the favorite thing you ate?
"That's hard because we had quite the selection of things. Everything was amazing. The Greek salad, seeing what a real salad is with the vegetables, they were so fresh, but I would honestly say, and this might sound cliché or abnormal, but the feta. The cheese there was so good."
Looking back at the service aspect, you obviously had the chance to work with children in many different aspects. Was there a moment that you take away that was the most impactful for you?
"The most impactful for me was our first day, there was this one boy and he was so shy. He would hide behind the people and we were like 'we've got to break through those walls.' One of the football players, Donovan McMillon, I was just so amazed by how he made it his mission once we got there to get that kid to open up. They actually ended up playing the rest of the time of us being there. I love that moment."
As you look back on it, is there anything big picture you take away from the trip?
"The biggest thing I'll take is to experience different cultures. Sometimes we take for granted what we do have, sometimes we're unaware of what we don't have. Being able to share culture with different people and bring that aspect back here to the U.S., I'm very grateful for that.
What does it mean to have these opportunities at Florida, to know that there's more than just basketball?
"You said it right there, it's more than basketball. This University provided a great resource for us to do things and hopefully we made a great impact and we can continue this in the future for future student-athletes."
Last question for you…What can fans expect this season from Florida women's basketball?
"All I'm going to say is this, we have two mottos on our t-shirts this summer. One is unsatisfied. One is won't settle. I'll just leave it at that."
- #GoGators -
A week removed from the end of their trip, Broughton sat down to reflect about her experiences and the impact it had on her life.
A lot of people may know from social media that you were overseas in Greece, but can you talk a little bit about some of the service work you were able to do while there?
"We did a lot of house work and we worked at a couple orphanages for kids who might've been neglected or went through tough times at home. We helped organize, paint, of course played with the kids. A couple times we played a game of soccer or a game of basketball, very competitive, but it was worth it, getting to bring our spirit of service to the kids. We were also able to help at a shelter for the less fortunate and we prepared food for lunch that day."
You had the opportunity to go see some historical sites and incredible places, was there a favorite experience or place for you?
"It honestly wasn't the museums, I'm a bit of a hiker, so we went on a volcano boat tour, and I honestly don't remember the names of the volcanoes, but just going to the peak of the volcano and looking down at all of the different islands…that was a site to see."
You also had the opportunity to go on this trip with other athletes from different sports. Can you talk about the opportunity you had to interact with athletes from sports you might not see that often?
"The University doesn't know how big this trip helped student-athletes come together. A lot of us weren't familiar with other teams, but we left and made a pact with each other, like 'we're going to support each other this season, we're going to keep our group chat active and we're going to remain friends.' The comradery that came out of this trip is breathtaking. I can honestly call them my friends now which is something I'm thankful for."
You had a unique dynamic in Greece, assuming you don't speak Greek, in facing a language barrier. How were you able to overcome that challenge?
"So we learned the basic words, like thank you, which probably came out the most, but mostly they spoke good enough English for us to comprehend each other, so it honestly wasn't too bad."
We've got to get a foodie question in. I'm sure you got to eat a lot of Greek food during your time, so what was the favorite thing you ate?
"That's hard because we had quite the selection of things. Everything was amazing. The Greek salad, seeing what a real salad is with the vegetables, they were so fresh, but I would honestly say, and this might sound cliché or abnormal, but the feta. The cheese there was so good."
Looking back at the service aspect, you obviously had the chance to work with children in many different aspects. Was there a moment that you take away that was the most impactful for you?
"The most impactful for me was our first day, there was this one boy and he was so shy. He would hide behind the people and we were like 'we've got to break through those walls.' One of the football players, Donovan McMillon, I was just so amazed by how he made it his mission once we got there to get that kid to open up. They actually ended up playing the rest of the time of us being there. I love that moment."
As you look back on it, is there anything big picture you take away from the trip?
"The biggest thing I'll take is to experience different cultures. Sometimes we take for granted what we do have, sometimes we're unaware of what we don't have. Being able to share culture with different people and bring that aspect back here to the U.S., I'm very grateful for that.
What does it mean to have these opportunities at Florida, to know that there's more than just basketball?
"You said it right there, it's more than basketball. This University provided a great resource for us to do things and hopefully we made a great impact and we can continue this in the future for future student-athletes."
Last question for you…What can fans expect this season from Florida women's basketball?
"All I'm going to say is this, we have two mottos on our t-shirts this summer. One is unsatisfied. One is won't settle. I'll just leave it at that."
- #GoGators -
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