Until you overheard the conversations, the game on the court looked like any other midsummer scrimmage throughout high school gyms in the St. Louis area.

Then Jenny Jansen scored a bucket, and her opponents in blue discussed their defense in Dutch.

But that’s to be expected when playing a team from Belgium.

The Youth Sports Lions, a club basketball team based out of Antwerp, Belgium, in the northern part of the country that sits north of Paris and east of London, visited Warrenton Friday during its 12-day stay in the United States.

The team is hosted by the St. Charles High School girls basketball team, and the trip is largely orchestrated by St. Charles varsity Head Coach Ben Owens.

“Each time I take a different team, so we’re able to have different girls come over each year,” said Lions Assistant Coach Kenny Vinck, who is making his third trip to the United States as part of the program. “I’ve experienced it myself as a player, and that’s why I fell in love with this and why I wanted the girls to have the same experience.”

The team arrived in the U.S. July 1, and has played high school teams from around the area, including St. Charles, Fort Zumwalt South, Ursuline Academy and Warrenton, among others.

Players stay with host families during the duration of their trip, which is encouraged by Vinck.

“We really want home stays,” he said. “We have a boys team too, and they go to hotels. It’s not bad, but it’s just different. We really want that American experience.”

That experience has included trips to the St. Louis Arch, a Cardinals game, Six Flags and a fireworks show.

“The Fourth of July is something we don’t celebrate, so that was something nice to see,” Head Coach Lisa Hendrix said. “And they love the experience of living with an American family because it’s totally different than just staying with us in a hotel. So they’re always telling stories when we get in the car when we pick them up. They say it’s a lot different than living in Belgium.”

The game is different, too.

Hendrix said the team has had to adjust to the different style of play in America, which can be more physical.

“The rules are different here,” she said. “But we’re getting used to it now.”

Vinck said that while the European and American games have their differences, the biggest contrast in cultures is off the court.

“The major difference is that Ben always finds homes for the girls to stay in,” Vinck said. “In Belgium, it would be a lot more difficult. In our opinions, Americans are more open and social.”