A letter from S. Padmanabhan of The Madras District Basketball Association thanking Springfield College for the visit in 1865 during the Far East Tour. The letter was sent to the Cultural Affairs Officer of the U.S.I.S., believed to stand for the United States Immigration Service, and sent by S. Padmanabhan, the honorary Secretary of the Madras District Basketball Association. In the letter, the secretary praises the Springfield College Basketball Team, saying, "...and these happy band of basketballers from Springfield have really captured the imagination of the public and they have turned out to be real ambassadors in fostering goodwill and promoting understanding among the two great nations - U.S. and India."
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The Springfield College men’s basketball team was selected to embark on a 62-day, around-the-world goodwill tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The individuals on the trip included Head coach Ed Steitz, trainer-manager Tony Scolnick, and public information director George Wood, along with 10 varsity players: Ralph Arietta, Larry Buell, Jim Champlin, Ben Davis, Leon Drury, Rick Janes, Bill Scanlon, Reed Schultz, Bob Sisson, and Paul Wagner. The tour was designed to teach fundamentals of the game to youth, and play demonstration games, mostly against local competition. The tour included 111 clinics conducted by the team, which included 80,000 people in attendance. The team also played 26 games, winning all of them, in front a crowd of 65,000 fans.
Scrapbook is volume 1 of 4, pages 60 and 61
part of the far east tour scrapbook volume 1
