A look into the Fudd’s travel for UConn women’s games

The Fudds sat in the stands at Hinkle Fieldhouse and watched the Huskies defeat Butler on Jan. 3 without Azzi, who was sidelined with a knee injury.

The next day, the couple drove about two hours from Indianapolis to Cincinnati for UConn’s game at Xavier. They spent a few minutes with Azzi inside the lobby of the Huskies’ hotel that night. Their visit was brief, but it was their only alone time for the week. 

The constant travel just for small moments alone with their daughter is normal for the Fudds during basketball season. Since Azzi began playing in AAU and high school basketball leagues, Katie and Tim have made it a priority to attend all of her games, whether home or away.

Now, with Azzi playing at UConn, the priority remains the same — even if she’s not playing. 

Azzi sat out 21 games total — including 14 games straight — this season with a knee injury, yet Katie and Tim still attended and traveled to the majority of UConn’s games during that span. The star sophomore returned to the court on March 4 for the Big East Tournament quarterfinals with her family sitting in the first few rows at Mohegan Sun Arena and cheering her on.

Whether you’re at a UConn game in person or watching on TV, Katie and Tim can often be easily spotted. During broadcasts, the camera pans over to the couple for their real-time reactions while a commentator talks about Azzi. When the parents sit behind the team’s bench during away games, they’re often in the background of coaches’ on-court interviews. 

Katie and Tim aren’t the first Husky parents to be regulars at games and many have traveled a long distance to see their daughter. Katie Lou Samuelson’s father sometimes made the cross-country trip from Los Angeles to the East Coast for games. Same with Evina Westbrook’s mom from Oregon. Aaliyah Edwards’ parents travel from Canada every week to make as many as they can, too.

For the Fudds, this started as a tradition in their own families growing up and has now become their everyday lifestyle during the winter. From coordinating their travel early and managing the time away from their jobs to getting the best airline deals, they’ve made it to nearly all of UConn’s games over the past two years, not only supporting their daughter but also her teammates in their journeys on the court.

Because even if Azzi is sitting out with an injury and even if they only get a few minutes after a game with her, they want her and her teammates to know they’ll always have family in the crowd, no matter what.

CT Insider talked with Tim Fudd about why and how the Fudds travel to nearly all of UConn’s games. The Fudd’s road trip in January is captured in a vlog made for CT Insider.

“At the end of the day, when (Azzi) walks away from it and looks back on this experience she’ll remember us being there and enjoying that experience with her and being on that journey with her,” Tim said. “I think that’s something she’ll appreciate once she’s far removed from it, 15, 20 years from now.”

Family Tradition

Both Katie and Tim grew up playing basketball. Their passion was similar to Azzi’s.

Katie played at both NC State and Georgetown before getting drafted by the WNBA’s now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs. However, her pro career never got off the ground due to injury. Tim played at American and professionally overseas in four different countries.

There were countless games, points, and memorable big plays, but the one thing that meant the world to each of them was having their parents in the stands watching and supporting them at every game.

Tim knew if his mom was in the crowd that he’d be getting more than just an extra fan.

“If she came to my home games, I was gonna get a home-cooked meal,” Tim said. “She’s bringing me my favorite cake or something like that and that was a thing. That was my norm.”

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— TFudd23 Twitter

It was always more than just the extra support. Having their parents at each game, meant a piece of home was always with them.

So, when Katie and Tim’s daughter Azzi started following her own basketball dreams, they knew they wanted to carry on the tradition.

“We go to her games and offer her that same support because at the end of the day, there’s nothing like having people that you trust and love be there and supporting you when things are going well, when things aren’t going well, holding you up in an invisible way,” Tim said. “You’re there to support her. Love her. Encourage her and to be a force of love and support if you will.”

They attended every game at St. John’s College High and every AAU game. Sometimes they were on the sideline coaching Azzi and her teammates, and at other games, they were in the stands yelling and cheering along with the other parents.

But their support always goes beyond their daughter. They make it to their two sons’ games and attended as many of Azzi’s friends’ and former teammates’ games, too.

They want to be a part of all their kids’ journeys and watch them grow into “the best version of themselves.”

During Azzi’s senior year of high school, the family rented an RV and drove from their home in Arlington, Virginia to Knoxville, Tennessee to see Azzi’s former Team USA teammate and future UConn teammate Paige Bueckers play against the Lady Vols. They watched Bueckers, a freshman at the time, check back into the game after rolling her ankle and make a dagger 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to give the Huskies the rival victory.

The Fudds briefly considered buying an RV and road-tripping to all of Azzi’s college games. But after dealing with a faulty generator and having to wait 45 minutes for a repair, they changed their mind.

Once Azzi officially committed to UConn, Katie’s parents came up with a better solution.

The grandparents bought a house near Storrs to serve as a home base for the family during the season. They’d save money instead of getting a hotel every time and could host others for meals instead of always eating out while they were in town.

Katie’s parents live in the house from November through April, trading in the harsh Minnesota winters for the slightly calmer ones of the Northeast. Not only do Katie and Tim stay there during home games, but it’s become a place to escape for Azzi and her teammates when they want to get off campus or eat a home-cooked meal.

The Fudds will cook big meals for the team (Tim says he always offers to smoke chicken wings and ribs) and even host some of the players’ families too. Tim said Inês Bettencourt’s parents stopped by this fall, traveling from Portugal to see their freshman daughter.

“Home-cooked meals are also a way to give that love and support that just gives you a little bit of a reminder of home,” Tim said.

Katie and Tim understand not all of Azzi’s teammates get the luxury of having their family close by and at games. Some, like Bettencourt, have to wait until major breaks in the schedule or for the offseason to see their family overseas. The Fudds take pride in being there for everyone.

The family has a color-coded calendar at home. It has Azzi’s schedule, her younger brothers’ schedules, the schedule of the high school team Tim coaches, Katie’s schedule of who she’s training, and the schedules of some of their friends and former players who play nearby. Tim says Katie keeps a small book with a copy of the schedule on her most of the time.

“In between Azzi’s games and us traveling to go see all of her games, I’m coaching her high school team still and when I’m not playing, we’re rushing to go to the boys’ games,” Tim said.

Mainly, it’s just Katie and Tim traveling to Azzi’s games. Her younger brothers are still in high school and can’t miss time from school or from their own basketball teams. However, the whole family did go to the Bahamas last Thanksgiving for the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament and were all at the Big East Tournament this past weekend.

Of course, dates overlap, and Katie and Tim have to choose. If Azzi isn’t playing because she’s injured, Tim will try to take the time to instead be with his high school team.

Their kids understand that they’re human and can’t make everything work. On Jan. 5, Katie and Tim were in Ohio watching UConn at Xavier, while back home Azzi’s brothers, Jon and Jose, played against each other on their opposing high school teams.

Tim is a tax specialist and says that he has enough leave saved up with his job that he’s able to take the time off to travel for games. His coworkers understand that watching his kids play is important to him and their family.

Katie has more flexibility as a full-time basketball trainer. However, the time on the road does inhibit her from seeing clients.

But the crazy schedule is worth it to get the chance to see their kids doing what they love.

“They get to look around and see a familiar face in the midst of the craziness,” Tim said.

Home games

The Fudds make the six-plus hour drive from Arlington to Connecticut for each home game.

Whether at XL Center or Gampel Pavilion, they sit in the same seats each game: across from UConn’s bench on the other side of the court. They like this spot better than sitting directly behind the bench (where they sit sometimes at away games) because it’s a better view even though they do enjoy hearing the banter on the bench and the coaches talk.

Since Tim is 6-foot-7, he sits in the aisle. He said he prefers Gampel Pavilion’s seats over XL Center and Mohegan Sun seats. In Hartford, he says the sharp edges of the seats always rip his pants while the cup holders on the back of the chairs in front of him at Mohegan always dig into his legs.

While the broadcast camera always seems to find them in the crowd, in person you can always hear them cheering loudly for every player and after every big play. They know not every player gets to see their family in the stands and want to make sure they still feel supported.

“You see us cheering every play, every defensive possession, that’s the way we feel like we can help the team,” Tim said. “And it helps alleviate the anxiety of watching your kid play and worry about whether they’re gonna be scoring or whatever it is that parents worry about when they watch their kid play: to turn it on to us cheering everybody’s kid. We treat every kid the same. We’re supporting everyone. We’re encouraging everyone. It’s not just about Azzi.”

It’s not until after the game that they actually get to spend time with Azzi.

After the game concludes, the Fudds will show ushers their tickets that have special stickers on them indicating that they’re friends and family of UConn and are allowed to stay in their seats after the game and wait for the players.

Once the players are done with media and postgame showers, they come onto the court and can have endless time with family.

Tim says they’ll often meet Azzi across the street in front of the Werth Champions Center (UConn’s practice facility) and take her out to dinner or drive her back to her dorm or the family’s house to spend some alone time with her.

Road games

Katie and Tim have traveled all over the world thanks to Azzi’s basketball career.

In Azzi’s debut with Team USA’s Under-16 team, they traveled with her to Argentina to watch her help the U.S. win gold at the 2017 FIBA Americans U16 Championship. It was in Buenos Aires when Katie and Tim first met and became good friends with Bueckers’ parents.

Tim says the family’s favorite place they’ve traveled to watch Azzi has been the Bahamas.

The Fudds fly Southwest Airlines for all their flights for Azzi’s game. Thanks to Southwest’s credit card mileage promotion programs, the Fudds have been able to save on companion fares up to the point where they’ll buy one ticket at regular value and another for under $10. Both Katie and Tim have Southwest credit cards to help speed up the process of earning miles and discounts.

When UConn announces its nonconference schedule in June, they start planning out the season and once the Big East schedule comes out three months later, they book all of their travel plans for the regular season.

Katie and Tim are at nearly every game. Tim has missed a couple when Azzi was hurt to coach his high school team, while Katie has gone to nearly all of the games over the last two seasons. When their flights for the Creighton game on Dec. 28 were canceled, Southwest gave them bonus miles to use for another flight.

“The priority is to be there, especially if she’s playing, we’re there. We’re gonna be there,” Tim said. “If she’s not playing, then for me, I might say, ‘Maybe I won’t go to that one and I’ll go the high school game because I have a chance to be present there.’ But for the most part, we’re planning on being at all of the games.”

Tim says after him and Katie, Amari DeBerry’s mom and sister are the next most present family followed by Aaliyah Edwards’ parents.

While the parents are all good friends (the Fudds offered to host a get-together for DeBerry’s sister’s birthday before the DePaul game got postponed), they often don’t have too much time to hang out after games as everyone goes their separate ways.

At Notre Dame in early December, Tim had to give up his aisle seat to Ayanna Patterson’s dad, who is taller. He said he could tell the players enjoyed having the families’ support at that game since it was their first loss of the season and against a longtime rival.

“It was crazy,” Tim said. “It was our first (true) away game, but it was like literally leading us into the lion’s den and trying to slay the dragon is what they were doing. They were after us. So to look around and to see your family in the stands cheering for you, there to support you, it can ease the tensions and relieve some of the nerves.”

Time with Azzi is limited during road games. The Fudds take advantage of traveling and play tourist while also seeing if any of their former players or former teammates of Azzi are playing nearby. For shorter road trips, they spend time at the hotel working out, catching up on work and sleep and walking around the nearby city.

Because the team usually is rushing to get back on a bus or plane after a road game, they get a very small window of time with Azzi on the court after the game.

After Xavier on Jan. 7, Tim says they had about seven minutes. Sometimes they have to share that time with fans.

But at the end of the day, they know it’s not about the time they get with Azzi one-on-one.

It doesn’t matter if UConn is playing 3,000 miles away or only 40 minutes. If there are 10,000 people in the stands or less than 2,000.

Katie and Tim don’t care if it’s a game against a top-ranked opponent or if the Huskies are expected to win by over 30 points.

They’re there no matter what.

Because to them, what’s most important is showing their daughter they support her, love her and encourage her passion for playing the sport they love just as much.

Maggie.Vanoni@hearstmediact.com  @maggie_vanoni