A nine-day tour of Japan will highlight the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s basketball team’s summer plans as the Rainbow Wahine embark on the program’s first international trip in six years.
The Rainbow Wahine departed on June 4 and will split the trip between Tokyo and Osaka, with a day trip to Kyoto. The team will play two exhibition games—the first set for June 6 at the University of Tsukuba. The ’Bows will lead a youth clinic prior to their next game with Tokyo Healthcare University on June 8.
The trip will include cultural activities and sightseeing before the team returns to Honolulu on June 13.
“The obvious reason for the trip is for the team building and team bonding experience for these young women,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “The less obvious reason is the experience they’re going to get in a different culture in a beautiful place like Japan, and also spreading the aloha spirit to Japan, because this is an amazing group of young women.”
The Rainbow Wahine will take a 14-player roster led by 11 returnees. UH’s top six scorers from last season return, including All-Big West selections, guards Daejah Phillips and Lily Wahinekapu and forward Imani Perez. Three incoming freshmen—forwards Danijela Kujovic and Rebecca Moors and center Ritorya Tamilo—will also make the trip as part of the active roster.
“They’re going to get to know their teammates very quickly,” Beeman said of the newcomers. “I think it develops confidence, it’s going to develop relationships, and it’s going to help to form a glue to our program that we’ll see in March.”
The trip will be the program’s first international excursion since a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2018.
