We're heading to Sweden on Friday Dec. 1- should be a great time. I will try to post here as much as I can, but we will also have a team blog set up at: www.wntabroad.blogspot.com
After coming back from a nice Thanksgiving at home and then jumping straight into work and practice on Monday, I didn't get a chance to pack until late Thursday night. I *think* I have everything- at least the most important things (passport, shoes, uniforms). We have to carry so much stuff with us because we have to have all of our Nike sponsored gear. Not that I'm complaining about having cool stuff from Nike, just that it can a lot to cart around!
From the looks of things on weather.com, it looks like the weather will be fairly mild while we're in Stockholm. Maybe some rain, but the temperature will stay above 40. Not bad considering the sun is setting at 3:30pm and we'll be really close the arctic circle!
We're scheduled to have our first practice on Saturday a few hours after we arrive. Ugh! Hopefully I will do what I always do and sleep the whole time on the plane. Even still, I'm not sure I'll be in the best shape for running around, especially since we'll be under the direction of one of our "guest" coaches who are hardcore Scandanavian former-Olympians! Wish me luck. Hopefully I'll adjust quickly to the time difference so I can be on my game :)
Friday, December 01, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
3-1 in NETHC
Coming into this weekend (11/18-11/19), I was totally wiped out. It's been more than six weeks since I've had a single day off from work or practice. Not to mention, we had an exhausting week in Quebec City with three games and a lot of travel, and then I had to go to work all week.
That being said, as always, I was looking forward to the games this weekend. Especially since I figured we would blow away all of these teams and have a nice confidence booster going into our (much-deserved) Thanksgiving break.
Just as a reminder, these games are part of the NETHC, that is what I like to call our "practice" league. These games are against younger or less experienced teams, so it gives us a chance to get playing experience for our newer members of the team.
*Game 1- USA vs. Laurier* (Saturday)
This game was against Laurier Senior team, I have no idea where they come from, but they speak English. We didn't know anything about them coming into this game, but right away it was clear that we should dominate them. We scored a few goals right off the bat after using a really aggressive high defense to force them to make turnovers. It worked well and we were up by almost ten going into the second half. This is where we should have pulled away for a really big win, but we got sloppy and only won by 17.
Final score:USA 32, Laurier 15
*Game 2- USA vs. Chaudiere* (Saturday)
This was another game where we should have dominated. They were the junior team of the team we played in Quebec City last week. We knew their style and also recognized a few of the players that we saw last weekend. We were up by nearly 10 at the end of the first half and could have probably won by 20, but again we got sloppy in the second half and never really pulled ahead. We need to work on this!
Final score:USA 32, Chaudiere 22
*Game 3- USA vs. Sherbrooke* (Sunday)
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty tired when we had to meet at the gym at 8:00am to prepare for two more games! I stayed until 10pm the night before working the tables for the games after us, and I was beat. Thankfully we had an hour to get our minds and bodies warmed up before we had to play, and thankfully I had watched this team play the night before so I had some ideas about what to expect.
I scored the first goal of the game and we came out pretty strong as a team in the beginning. To be honest, looking back all of the games are starting to run together. We played pretty well, but we could have probably won by more. It seems to be a trend. We should have definitely scored more than 24 goals.
Final score:USA 24, Chaudiere 11
*Game 4- USA vs. Laval* (Sunday)
This was definitely the best team of the weekend, although they lost to Chaudiere the night before by three points, which was kind of surprising. We were expecting to run a lot, and knew we had to play good defense, but I think the results of this game took everyone by surprise.
Sure we were all tired after three games, but there was no excuse for us losing the game the way we did. In fact, at half time we were winning 17-7. Then something happened, the game got dirty, and we started making mistakes. We had a couple of two-minute penalties and way too many turnovers. Defensively we started to break down and let them score. I wish I could understand exactly what happened, but it was ugly.
Final score:USA 24, Laval 26
In my mind there is no reason whatsoever we should have lost this game. But I guess we have to experience things like this in order to figure out what we need to work on. We've overcome a big obstacle by learning how to come out strong in the beginning, but we really need to focus on not only keeping our lead, but pulling ahead even more in the second half. We also need to get better at dealing with high pressure situations. With four minutes left to go, we were down by two. There were several opportunities for us to come ahead in the last minutes of the game, but we choked.
We've got some work to do, but hopefully we're making progress. These were the last games before we go to Sweden, so I hope we can remember what we need to do better so we can make the most of our preparation tour in December.
That being said, as always, I was looking forward to the games this weekend. Especially since I figured we would blow away all of these teams and have a nice confidence booster going into our (much-deserved) Thanksgiving break.
Just as a reminder, these games are part of the NETHC, that is what I like to call our "practice" league. These games are against younger or less experienced teams, so it gives us a chance to get playing experience for our newer members of the team.
*Game 1- USA vs. Laurier* (Saturday)
This game was against Laurier Senior team, I have no idea where they come from, but they speak English. We didn't know anything about them coming into this game, but right away it was clear that we should dominate them. We scored a few goals right off the bat after using a really aggressive high defense to force them to make turnovers. It worked well and we were up by almost ten going into the second half. This is where we should have pulled away for a really big win, but we got sloppy and only won by 17.
Final score:USA 32, Laurier 15
*Game 2- USA vs. Chaudiere* (Saturday)
This was another game where we should have dominated. They were the junior team of the team we played in Quebec City last week. We knew their style and also recognized a few of the players that we saw last weekend. We were up by nearly 10 at the end of the first half and could have probably won by 20, but again we got sloppy in the second half and never really pulled ahead. We need to work on this!
Final score:USA 32, Chaudiere 22
*Game 3- USA vs. Sherbrooke* (Sunday)
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty tired when we had to meet at the gym at 8:00am to prepare for two more games! I stayed until 10pm the night before working the tables for the games after us, and I was beat. Thankfully we had an hour to get our minds and bodies warmed up before we had to play, and thankfully I had watched this team play the night before so I had some ideas about what to expect.
I scored the first goal of the game and we came out pretty strong as a team in the beginning. To be honest, looking back all of the games are starting to run together. We played pretty well, but we could have probably won by more. It seems to be a trend. We should have definitely scored more than 24 goals.
Final score:USA 24, Chaudiere 11
*Game 4- USA vs. Laval* (Sunday)
This was definitely the best team of the weekend, although they lost to Chaudiere the night before by three points, which was kind of surprising. We were expecting to run a lot, and knew we had to play good defense, but I think the results of this game took everyone by surprise.
Sure we were all tired after three games, but there was no excuse for us losing the game the way we did. In fact, at half time we were winning 17-7. Then something happened, the game got dirty, and we started making mistakes. We had a couple of two-minute penalties and way too many turnovers. Defensively we started to break down and let them score. I wish I could understand exactly what happened, but it was ugly.
Final score:USA 24, Laval 26
In my mind there is no reason whatsoever we should have lost this game. But I guess we have to experience things like this in order to figure out what we need to work on. We've overcome a big obstacle by learning how to come out strong in the beginning, but we really need to focus on not only keeping our lead, but pulling ahead even more in the second half. We also need to get better at dealing with high pressure situations. With four minutes left to go, we were down by two. There were several opportunities for us to come ahead in the last minutes of the game, but we choked.
We've got some work to do, but hopefully we're making progress. These were the last games before we go to Sweden, so I hope we can remember what we need to do better so we can make the most of our preparation tour in December.
Team Thanksgiving
On Tuesday November 14, we had a team Thanksgiving dinner- it was brilliant! Our teammate Sunny Chen was headed off the Netherlands for a few weeks to train with a team there (see her blog: www.wnteuropeaninvasion.blogspot.com) so she decided to celebrate Thanksgiving early.
First, I love any holiday that revolves around food, and any opportunity to celebrate that holiday more than once is fine by me! Sunny and her roommate Jacque had everyone over to their mansion (they are Army girls, so they can afford to live somewhere nice) for turkey and mashed potatoes- everyone else on the team supplied the rest. They also had some great bottles of wine, and various desserts, so overall it was a FEAST! And of course, no handball holiday would be complete without Christian cooking up his famous escargot! I love it.
After hors d'oeuvres, everyone sat down at a long table together and had an awesome time eating, drinking and just generally being merry. I must say that it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had in a long long time. The stress and exhaustion of everyday life seemed to float away as we just enjoyed each other's company.
After eating enough to feed a Somalian village, we sat around the table B-Sing and having a good time. Eventually my teammate Anne pulled out a game called "Rummykube" and we played that for a few hours. I had really bad luck at first, it seemed, and I collected about a million little pieces before I could lay down. But then I laid down all of my pieces on my first turn and won (thanks to some help from my coach). It was a fun time, I can't wait until real Thanksgiving! What a great warm-up :)
Yayy holidays!
First, I love any holiday that revolves around food, and any opportunity to celebrate that holiday more than once is fine by me! Sunny and her roommate Jacque had everyone over to their mansion (they are Army girls, so they can afford to live somewhere nice) for turkey and mashed potatoes- everyone else on the team supplied the rest. They also had some great bottles of wine, and various desserts, so overall it was a FEAST! And of course, no handball holiday would be complete without Christian cooking up his famous escargot! I love it.
After hors d'oeuvres, everyone sat down at a long table together and had an awesome time eating, drinking and just generally being merry. I must say that it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had in a long long time. The stress and exhaustion of everyday life seemed to float away as we just enjoyed each other's company.
After eating enough to feed a Somalian village, we sat around the table B-Sing and having a good time. Eventually my teammate Anne pulled out a game called "Rummykube" and we played that for a few hours. I had really bad luck at first, it seemed, and I collected about a million little pieces before I could lay down. But then I laid down all of my pieces on my first turn and won (thanks to some help from my coach). It was a fun time, I can't wait until real Thanksgiving! What a great warm-up :)
Yayy holidays!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
2-1 in Quebec City
*The trip*
This weekend's trip to Quebec City was a long time coming. We haven't played a "real" game since June, and we haven't been in season since last March. It was hard not to be super pumped-up going into the weekend. Especially since I was feeling really confident about how we were going to perform.
We left early on Saturday morning, although sadly not in our "new van." So, we caravanned in three rentals. As can be expected, after claiming my window seat in the pimped out Mercury Mountaineer, I passed out about five minutes into the trip and woke-up as we arrived in downtown Montreal.
As an aside, I love Montreal. It is a fantastic city, and it was fun to wake-up and see all of the people bustling around. Christian dropped us off in front of a VERY crowded restaurant called Egg-spectations, where we met up with our teammate Sarah Gascon (a fellow California girl) who is rehabbing her knee in Lake Placid at the moment.
After a delicious brunch/lunch, we packed back in the cars and headed 2.5 hours north to Quebec City. Again, I slept most of the way, and it was wonderful.
We arrived at the hotel around 4:45, and had an hour to nap/rest/meditate before we had our team meeting and left for the gym. I didn't sleep at this point, but I spent an hour lying in the dark listening to music, and it really seemed to calm my mind- I feel that was key.
*Game 1- USA vs. Chaudiere*
I was definitely hyped for this game, and it felt good to get out and run around during the warm-up, especially after the 8 hour drive. We had plenty of time, so Kathy and I were able to do our passing/shooting thing that we like to do pre-warm-up.
The gym where we played is just a box- almost no room on the outside of the court, so things are really smooshed inside. At least the floor, which was "sport court," had only handball lines on it! Much better than the gym at say, Laval, where you can barely tell where anything is through the 400 different lines crisscrossing the floor.
I started the game at circle, and enjoyed playing both offense and defense, something I'm transitioning to this season. I felt pretty good through most of the game, even though we definitely tried to keep a good pace.
The first few minutes were a little bit tight score-wise, but we came back and stayed ahead by at least a three through most of the game. I scored five goals, which shocked me because I had a man-to-man type defense on me most of the time and I never felt that open. I was also pleased that I got off two nice lobs, and was then able to hit my corners and vary my shot a little bit- something Christian is always telling me to do in practice.
In the end, we won without too much difficulty, although we probably could have won by more. The reffing was ridiculous- they were letting people get away with murder on both sides of the court. I got pushed from behind by two people on a fast break and nothing got called, even when I went flying across the floor!! But Christian said that's the Chaudiere style of play, so we had to suck it up.
Final Score: USA 29, Chaudiere 23
*USA v. Chaudiere (Sunday)*
In our second match against Chaudiere, we saw the same kind of performance from them. They played a high defense and pushed our backcourts out a lot. There was a lot of space for one-on-ones, but we probably should have tried to capitalize on this a bit more.
It was a bit frustrating at the circle, where they played a man-to-man type defense on me, denying the ball. I got two passes the whole game, but at least I was able to draw 7-meter penalties on both of them. No "real" shots, sadly.
To be honest, this game kind of blends into the first game just because we played them so close together.
Final score: USA 27, Chaudiere 21
*USA v. Granby (Sunday)*
We finished the second game against Chaudiere around 11:40 or so and then had an hour break to eat and rest before starting our warm-up for the game against Granby. I had some peanut butter and jelly and a banana and tried to digest it as quickly as possible for I started running around again!
When the game started, we knew we were going to have to push and it wasn't going to be easy. We were up by five at the half-time, and clearly, this was a game we could win. I personally felt pretty good about us winning the game, but somewhere in the second half things began to deteriorate.
Offensively, we made some silly mistakes, but our biggest problem was that we continued to get 2-minute penalties to the point that we were down one person (and at one point, two people) for a majority of the second half. We kept the lead until the last minute when they got ahead by one point. We had several opportunities to score to at least tie it up at the end, but we double-dribbled twice, missed a fast-break shot, and stepped on the line during a wing shot. It was so frustrating because this was such a winnable game.
Obviously we were all pretty bummed at the end. No one likes to lose, but especially when it is a team you can beat. We were up by eight at one point in the beginning of the second half, and we lost- not because of external circumstances that we couldn't control- but because we dug our own grave.
Needless to say, it was a quiet trip back. That being said, we did stop and eat at a nice pasta bar halfway between Quebec City and Montreal. After that I passed out for the remainder of the drive home. We arrived at 11:45pm, and even though I was hungry again, I was too tired to bother eating, so I went straight to bed.
This weekend's trip to Quebec City was a long time coming. We haven't played a "real" game since June, and we haven't been in season since last March. It was hard not to be super pumped-up going into the weekend. Especially since I was feeling really confident about how we were going to perform.
We left early on Saturday morning, although sadly not in our "new van." So, we caravanned in three rentals. As can be expected, after claiming my window seat in the pimped out Mercury Mountaineer, I passed out about five minutes into the trip and woke-up as we arrived in downtown Montreal.
As an aside, I love Montreal. It is a fantastic city, and it was fun to wake-up and see all of the people bustling around. Christian dropped us off in front of a VERY crowded restaurant called Egg-spectations, where we met up with our teammate Sarah Gascon (a fellow California girl) who is rehabbing her knee in Lake Placid at the moment.
After a delicious brunch/lunch, we packed back in the cars and headed 2.5 hours north to Quebec City. Again, I slept most of the way, and it was wonderful.
We arrived at the hotel around 4:45, and had an hour to nap/rest/meditate before we had our team meeting and left for the gym. I didn't sleep at this point, but I spent an hour lying in the dark listening to music, and it really seemed to calm my mind- I feel that was key.
*Game 1- USA vs. Chaudiere*
I was definitely hyped for this game, and it felt good to get out and run around during the warm-up, especially after the 8 hour drive. We had plenty of time, so Kathy and I were able to do our passing/shooting thing that we like to do pre-warm-up.
The gym where we played is just a box- almost no room on the outside of the court, so things are really smooshed inside. At least the floor, which was "sport court," had only handball lines on it! Much better than the gym at say, Laval, where you can barely tell where anything is through the 400 different lines crisscrossing the floor.
I started the game at circle, and enjoyed playing both offense and defense, something I'm transitioning to this season. I felt pretty good through most of the game, even though we definitely tried to keep a good pace.
The first few minutes were a little bit tight score-wise, but we came back and stayed ahead by at least a three through most of the game. I scored five goals, which shocked me because I had a man-to-man type defense on me most of the time and I never felt that open. I was also pleased that I got off two nice lobs, and was then able to hit my corners and vary my shot a little bit- something Christian is always telling me to do in practice.
In the end, we won without too much difficulty, although we probably could have won by more. The reffing was ridiculous- they were letting people get away with murder on both sides of the court. I got pushed from behind by two people on a fast break and nothing got called, even when I went flying across the floor!! But Christian said that's the Chaudiere style of play, so we had to suck it up.
Final Score: USA 29, Chaudiere 23
*USA v. Chaudiere (Sunday)*
In our second match against Chaudiere, we saw the same kind of performance from them. They played a high defense and pushed our backcourts out a lot. There was a lot of space for one-on-ones, but we probably should have tried to capitalize on this a bit more.
It was a bit frustrating at the circle, where they played a man-to-man type defense on me, denying the ball. I got two passes the whole game, but at least I was able to draw 7-meter penalties on both of them. No "real" shots, sadly.
To be honest, this game kind of blends into the first game just because we played them so close together.
Final score: USA 27, Chaudiere 21
*USA v. Granby (Sunday)*
We finished the second game against Chaudiere around 11:40 or so and then had an hour break to eat and rest before starting our warm-up for the game against Granby. I had some peanut butter and jelly and a banana and tried to digest it as quickly as possible for I started running around again!
When the game started, we knew we were going to have to push and it wasn't going to be easy. We were up by five at the half-time, and clearly, this was a game we could win. I personally felt pretty good about us winning the game, but somewhere in the second half things began to deteriorate.
Offensively, we made some silly mistakes, but our biggest problem was that we continued to get 2-minute penalties to the point that we were down one person (and at one point, two people) for a majority of the second half. We kept the lead until the last minute when they got ahead by one point. We had several opportunities to score to at least tie it up at the end, but we double-dribbled twice, missed a fast-break shot, and stepped on the line during a wing shot. It was so frustrating because this was such a winnable game.
Obviously we were all pretty bummed at the end. No one likes to lose, but especially when it is a team you can beat. We were up by eight at one point in the beginning of the second half, and we lost- not because of external circumstances that we couldn't control- but because we dug our own grave.
Needless to say, it was a quiet trip back. That being said, we did stop and eat at a nice pasta bar halfway between Quebec City and Montreal. After that I passed out for the remainder of the drive home. We arrived at 11:45pm, and even though I was hungry again, I was too tired to bother eating, so I went straight to bed.
Monday, November 06, 2006
World Championship Website
The 2007 Handball World Championships (Women) will be in France next December. This is one of the events we will try to qualify for over the next several months.
Here's a link to the site:
The World Championships are huge for handball, so it would be a really amazing experience to go. I hope we end up in the south of France for the preliminary rounds, just so we don't have to be somewhere TOO cold!
Physical Testing
A few times a year, and especially in advance of selections for major events, the WNT players have to go through a battery of physical tests. I think for most players (myself included, maybe even to an extreme), this is a stressful process. The tests themselves aren't too bad, but I think it is the pressure of wanting to see improvements in yourself, and the competitiveness that comes from watching your teammates complete the tests as well. Plus, I'm not going to lie, I feel like years of being graded at school make me feel that numbers somehow define my self-worth. I realize that this is ridiculous, but I'm not sure if that kind of social conditioning can be undone.
Saturday we did the "easy stuff"- which was basically a bunch of measurements. Height, weight, arm span, hand span, and body fat percentage calculations. Sadly, I have not grown six inches since my last physical test in May, so I will continue to lose points for my height and really small hands. That sucks!
On Sunday was the real killer. We started off in the weight room with sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, and bench press. I improved in everything, except chin-ups, but maybe it's because I've been doing the overhand ones for my newest workout program. Or maybe my arms were just really tired from having done 55 push-ups in a minute just two minutes before that. Oh well.
After the arm stuff, we went to the field house to do the running stuff. We started off with the long jump and vertical, and then moved onto the 30m sprint, t-test, and ball throw. For the most part, I improved on everything, and don't dread any of those tests too much.
The final event, the beep test, is a test of endurance. This is by far the most difficult part of the testing for me, and the one that stresses me out the most. For those who have never done it, it is basically running between two lines (20m shuttle) as the beeps on the CD get faster and faster. You run until you can't run anymore. I tried to psychologically prepare myself for this by downloading the beep test and listening to it in my bed while I visualized. I realized that I failed miserably with this excercise as when I started to hyperventalate in my bed around level 6. I had chest pains and difficulty breathing when I was just thinking about it! Then I dreamed about beeps all night and didn't sleep. Note to self: I suck at visualizing.
When the real test began I couldn't breathe before it even started!! Thankfully, by the end of level 1 I had calmed down a bit and was able to reach my goal of improving a level from my last test. I still have a ways to go before I reach my ultimate goal, but I'm working on it.
All-in-all, I think I showed a general improvement, and also know where I want to continue to see improvement. I guess that's the goal of the physical testing for the athletes anyway, to give yourself an idea of how you're doing. I'm just glad it is only once every 3-4 months!
Saturday we did the "easy stuff"- which was basically a bunch of measurements. Height, weight, arm span, hand span, and body fat percentage calculations. Sadly, I have not grown six inches since my last physical test in May, so I will continue to lose points for my height and really small hands. That sucks!
On Sunday was the real killer. We started off in the weight room with sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, and bench press. I improved in everything, except chin-ups, but maybe it's because I've been doing the overhand ones for my newest workout program. Or maybe my arms were just really tired from having done 55 push-ups in a minute just two minutes before that. Oh well.
After the arm stuff, we went to the field house to do the running stuff. We started off with the long jump and vertical, and then moved onto the 30m sprint, t-test, and ball throw. For the most part, I improved on everything, and don't dread any of those tests too much.
The final event, the beep test, is a test of endurance. This is by far the most difficult part of the testing for me, and the one that stresses me out the most. For those who have never done it, it is basically running between two lines (20m shuttle) as the beeps on the CD get faster and faster. You run until you can't run anymore. I tried to psychologically prepare myself for this by downloading the beep test and listening to it in my bed while I visualized. I realized that I failed miserably with this excercise as when I started to hyperventalate in my bed around level 6. I had chest pains and difficulty breathing when I was just thinking about it! Then I dreamed about beeps all night and didn't sleep. Note to self: I suck at visualizing.
When the real test began I couldn't breathe before it even started!! Thankfully, by the end of level 1 I had calmed down a bit and was able to reach my goal of improving a level from my last test. I still have a ways to go before I reach my ultimate goal, but I'm working on it.
All-in-all, I think I showed a general improvement, and also know where I want to continue to see improvement. I guess that's the goal of the physical testing for the athletes anyway, to give yourself an idea of how you're doing. I'm just glad it is only once every 3-4 months!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Not enough of a good thing
My general rule of thumb is that you can never have too much chocolate, garlic, or Law & Order, and apparently the same thing goes for coaches as well. OK, maybe there's a point where like 10 coaches would be too many (too many chefs ruin the soup?), but we're nowhere near that point.
This week has been awesome- we have our assistant coach, Dawn, in town for the week along with Niclas, our Swedish goalie coach (and by Swedish I mean he just arrived from Sweden on Sunday). We also had our USOC rep (and former National Team player) Mike in town to out at practice. To make the most of our handball entourage, we added a few more practices in the mornings, so there's been a lot going on. But I have to say, having this many coaches around really makes practice awesome; we can split up and work on different things, and the intensitiy is so much higher.
It's too bad we can't have three or more coaches with us all the time, I feel like we'd be able to get better so much faster! That being said, we'll take what we can get. Maybe it wouldn't be as exciting if we had it all the time :)
In other news, this week has been good preparation for us as we get ready for our first Quebec League games next week. I am REALLY looking forward to making the trip to Canada, it gets me all excited thinking that the season is starting again. I feel like we're going to do really well, so we better go 3-0 again next weekend! We're playing in Quebec City, so the drive will be long, but I don't mind. Supposedly we're going to have our new van (!?!!!!?) by then, so we don't have to worry about the car exploding on the way, which is a relief. And it is still early in the year, so maybe there won't be too much snow. Either way I get to kick it for a few hours and listen to my ipod and nap and relax and hang out with my cool teammates and get a change of scenery. Oh yeah, and work on my French, too :)
Yay handball!!!
This week has been awesome- we have our assistant coach, Dawn, in town for the week along with Niclas, our Swedish goalie coach (and by Swedish I mean he just arrived from Sweden on Sunday). We also had our USOC rep (and former National Team player) Mike in town to out at practice. To make the most of our handball entourage, we added a few more practices in the mornings, so there's been a lot going on. But I have to say, having this many coaches around really makes practice awesome; we can split up and work on different things, and the intensitiy is so much higher.
It's too bad we can't have three or more coaches with us all the time, I feel like we'd be able to get better so much faster! That being said, we'll take what we can get. Maybe it wouldn't be as exciting if we had it all the time :)
In other news, this week has been good preparation for us as we get ready for our first Quebec League games next week. I am REALLY looking forward to making the trip to Canada, it gets me all excited thinking that the season is starting again. I feel like we're going to do really well, so we better go 3-0 again next weekend! We're playing in Quebec City, so the drive will be long, but I don't mind. Supposedly we're going to have our new van (!?!!!!?) by then, so we don't have to worry about the car exploding on the way, which is a relief. And it is still early in the year, so maybe there won't be too much snow. Either way I get to kick it for a few hours and listen to my ipod and nap and relax and hang out with my cool teammates and get a change of scenery. Oh yeah, and work on my French, too :)
Yay handball!!!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
First three wins!
This weekend we played our first weekend of games in the NETHC. It was great to finally play, and I think we were able to work out some kinks and realize where we need to focus our energy a little bit.
The scores are as follows:
USA vs. West Point Gold (B-side): 47-12
USA vs. West Point Black (A-side): 38-13
USA vs. Champlain Jr.: 26-11
I injured my thumb slightly during the first game, which gave me some difficulty shooting the ball, but it is nothing serious and it should be back to normal in a few days. It was just a little frustrating to lose control of the ball a few times when I had some nice opportunities to put the ball in.
On a side note, I came back home on Sunday just wiped out. I think this weekend was a little more tiring than usual because I was really hyped up and over-anxious about playing games again. After I showered Sunday I just laid on my bed for a few hours trying not to fall asleep at 4pm! I managed to drag myself out of the house to see Marie-Antoinette, but otherwise I was completely useless!
I really enjoyed having games, but now I'm eager to play again soon! Sadly we don't have any more games for another few weeks, but I guess that gives me time to work out some of the kinks I noticed this weekend.
The scores are as follows:
USA vs. West Point Gold (B-side): 47-12
USA vs. West Point Black (A-side): 38-13
USA vs. Champlain Jr.: 26-11
I injured my thumb slightly during the first game, which gave me some difficulty shooting the ball, but it is nothing serious and it should be back to normal in a few days. It was just a little frustrating to lose control of the ball a few times when I had some nice opportunities to put the ball in.
On a side note, I came back home on Sunday just wiped out. I think this weekend was a little more tiring than usual because I was really hyped up and over-anxious about playing games again. After I showered Sunday I just laid on my bed for a few hours trying not to fall asleep at 4pm! I managed to drag myself out of the house to see Marie-Antoinette, but otherwise I was completely useless!
I really enjoyed having games, but now I'm eager to play again soon! Sadly we don't have any more games for another few weeks, but I guess that gives me time to work out some of the kinks I noticed this weekend.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
ESPN Magazine Article
ESPN.com published a really cool article about our team. Kathryn Bertine, a writer for ESPN and a triathlete is on a quest to make the 2008 Olympics. She tried a bunch of different sports, of which team handball was one. She didn't make the team, but she wrote about her experience at the try-out. It's a pretty cool article! Mad props to her for getting us some national media coverage.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
My Handball Hero
Anja Andersen is my handball hero. Some people may have a problem with her because she's an arrogant, selfish show-off, but really, I can't get enough. She played for the Danish National Team through the 1996 Olympics and then retired in 1999. She's been coaching one of the top teams (Slagelse) in the European Champions League until recently when she strangled a ref. Well, there you go.
She's got style and attitude, and I like that! I hope that she doesn't strangle any more referees so that I can meet her during the World Championships next year when she comes as the coach of the Serbia and Montenegro National Team.
Here's a link to a video tribute to her on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
2006-2007 Game Schedule
As I mentioned, this is an exciting year! As usual, we're playing in two different leagues to get some game experience before our major events.
One league is the Northeast Team Handball Conference (NETHC). This league was created by my coach, Christian Latulippe, and is comprised of two men and two women's division mostly in the (here's a big shocker here) northeast region of the US. This year the league merged with some teams from the Quebec League to give more games to people on both sides of the border. For the most part, since our team is a lot bigger this year, my coach will use these games (which are less competitive) to help our newer players gain experience.
The second league is the Circuit Quebecois (Quebec League), which is based out of Canada. There are nine teams (including the USA) in the senior women's division, and the level of play is the highest in North America. This gives us several quality games. Last year we had a record of 10-8, and came in third place after making it to the play-offs. We beat every team in the league at least once, but couldn't take it all. This year we're hoping to win the Quebec League- it certainly won't be easy, but it is definitely a worthy goal!
Here's our game schedule- if you notice, we have our first games this weekend! I'm really looking forward to starting the season, but it will be interesting. Since there are several new people who don't have much game experience, I think Christian will use the weekend to give them a real feel for the game. Although, it will be good practice for everyone.
One league is the Northeast Team Handball Conference (NETHC). This league was created by my coach, Christian Latulippe, and is comprised of two men and two women's division mostly in the (here's a big shocker here) northeast region of the US. This year the league merged with some teams from the Quebec League to give more games to people on both sides of the border. For the most part, since our team is a lot bigger this year, my coach will use these games (which are less competitive) to help our newer players gain experience.
The second league is the Circuit Quebecois (Quebec League), which is based out of Canada. There are nine teams (including the USA) in the senior women's division, and the level of play is the highest in North America. This gives us several quality games. Last year we had a record of 10-8, and came in third place after making it to the play-offs. We beat every team in the league at least once, but couldn't take it all. This year we're hoping to win the Quebec League- it certainly won't be easy, but it is definitely a worthy goal!
Here's our game schedule- if you notice, we have our first games this weekend! I'm really looking forward to starting the season, but it will be interesting. Since there are several new people who don't have much game experience, I think Christian will use the weekend to give them a real feel for the game. Although, it will be good practice for everyone.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Welcome to my blog!
I set-up this blog to chronicle my life with the US National Team as we come into the most exciting year so far. I hope this blog will do what I can't do very well, which is keep everyone up to date on the details of my life as they happen. Since there will be a lot going on over the next several months, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop. So, check back often and see what I'm up to! I'll try to post pictures and stuff as well.
In case you need to be caught up to speed, here's what I've been doing for the last two years:
In September 2004, a few months after I graduated from Duke, I got a call to come try-out for the US Team Handball Women's National Team (WNT) in Cortland, NY. Since team handball isn't a very well known sport in the US, they were recruiting athletes from other sports to give it a try. I made the cut during my try-out week, and moved to Cortland in October 2004 to train full-time with the WNT.
Now, for some answers to FAQ:
What is team handball? Why have I never heard of it?
Team handball is an awesome sport- we like to say, the most American sport that American's have never heard of. It is not the handball where you hit a ball off the wall. Rather it is like water-polo on land, soccer with your hands, or lacrosse without a stick. Basically, there are six players and a goalie playing on a court bigger than a basketball court (40m x 20m) trying to shoot a cantaloupe-sized ball into a goal (2m x 3m). The team with the most points (1pt per goal) wins.
The sport is cool because it is fast-paced, high scoring, and you can hit people (from the front). It is a very physical game that is exciting to watch. Here's a nice montage of clips from the Olympic Games:
Although most people in America have never seen it, it is quite popular in other places in the world. There are professional leagues throughout Europe for men and women (check out the European Champions League), and the game is played competitively in many places in the world including Asia, South America, and Africa. It has been an Olympic sport for women since 1976, that's twenty years before women's soccer came to the Olympic Games in 1996! It is one of the most highly attended events at the Olympics because frankly, it is awesome.
Where is Cortland, anyway? Why are you there?
Ah yes, my favorite question after "what is handball?" In order to be competitive, the WNT needs to train and play together as often as possible. In 2004, the WNT moved to a small town in upstate New York (between Ithaca and Syracuse) and established a Residency Training Program, which means that the team lives together and trains together year round. Cortland was chosen for a variety of reason (none of which include the balmy weather), the biggest being that SUNY Cortland offered to be our official training center and gave us some sponsorship money. This means we have access to gyms, training facilities, and offices...and we also get some extra cash.
The second biggest reason we're in Cortland is so we can be close to Canada, where we compete in the Quebec League. Since there isn't much competitive handball in the US, we play in the Circuit Quebecois, a league with 9 women's teams spread between Montreal and Quebec City. This gives us 20-25 games a year to hone our skills and beat up on Canadians.
Who supports the team? Do you get paid?
The WNT is currently overseen by the US Olympic Committee, our heroes. They give us an operating budget that allows us to pay our coach, travel to our Quebec League games, and compete in our qualification events. As I mentioned before, we also get a portion of our budget from SUNY Cortland, and from donations.
However, the athletes do NOT get paid. We train everyday in the early mornings and evenings, and work during the day. At the moment I am working at Agave Biosystems in Ithaca, NY where I do cellular biology work. It is not easy to work full-time and train several hours a day, but we do what we have to get by.
Additionally, we have several training trips that are not part of our operating budget, which means the athletes are responsible for paying a portion of these. It has been projected that we will need to raise $4,000 each to pay for these trips in the next several months. If you are interested in making a donation to help me pay for my training trips, click here!
When are the Olympics? How do you get to go?
Team handball is a summer event, which means that the next Olympics we're eligible for is Beijing 2008. However, only 12 teams from around the world get to compete, so we have to qualify.
Our first step begins with a North American qualification against Canada in January 2007. If we win, we will get to go to the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in July 2007. We have to win first place at the Pan-American Games to get an Olympic qualification. That means we have to beat Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Uraguay, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. However, there may be other opportunities after that to qualify during a "second-chance" tournament with runners-up from the other regions (Asia, Africa, and Europe).
In case you need to be caught up to speed, here's what I've been doing for the last two years:
In September 2004, a few months after I graduated from Duke, I got a call to come try-out for the US Team Handball Women's National Team (WNT) in Cortland, NY. Since team handball isn't a very well known sport in the US, they were recruiting athletes from other sports to give it a try. I made the cut during my try-out week, and moved to Cortland in October 2004 to train full-time with the WNT.
Now, for some answers to FAQ:
What is team handball? Why have I never heard of it?
Team handball is an awesome sport- we like to say, the most American sport that American's have never heard of. It is not the handball where you hit a ball off the wall. Rather it is like water-polo on land, soccer with your hands, or lacrosse without a stick. Basically, there are six players and a goalie playing on a court bigger than a basketball court (40m x 20m) trying to shoot a cantaloupe-sized ball into a goal (2m x 3m). The team with the most points (1pt per goal) wins.
The sport is cool because it is fast-paced, high scoring, and you can hit people (from the front). It is a very physical game that is exciting to watch. Here's a nice montage of clips from the Olympic Games:
Although most people in America have never seen it, it is quite popular in other places in the world. There are professional leagues throughout Europe for men and women (check out the European Champions League), and the game is played competitively in many places in the world including Asia, South America, and Africa. It has been an Olympic sport for women since 1976, that's twenty years before women's soccer came to the Olympic Games in 1996! It is one of the most highly attended events at the Olympics because frankly, it is awesome.
Where is Cortland, anyway? Why are you there?
Ah yes, my favorite question after "what is handball?" In order to be competitive, the WNT needs to train and play together as often as possible. In 2004, the WNT moved to a small town in upstate New York (between Ithaca and Syracuse) and established a Residency Training Program, which means that the team lives together and trains together year round. Cortland was chosen for a variety of reason (none of which include the balmy weather), the biggest being that SUNY Cortland offered to be our official training center and gave us some sponsorship money. This means we have access to gyms, training facilities, and offices...and we also get some extra cash.
The second biggest reason we're in Cortland is so we can be close to Canada, where we compete in the Quebec League. Since there isn't much competitive handball in the US, we play in the Circuit Quebecois, a league with 9 women's teams spread between Montreal and Quebec City. This gives us 20-25 games a year to hone our skills and beat up on Canadians.
Who supports the team? Do you get paid?
The WNT is currently overseen by the US Olympic Committee, our heroes. They give us an operating budget that allows us to pay our coach, travel to our Quebec League games, and compete in our qualification events. As I mentioned before, we also get a portion of our budget from SUNY Cortland, and from donations.
However, the athletes do NOT get paid. We train everyday in the early mornings and evenings, and work during the day. At the moment I am working at Agave Biosystems in Ithaca, NY where I do cellular biology work. It is not easy to work full-time and train several hours a day, but we do what we have to get by.
Additionally, we have several training trips that are not part of our operating budget, which means the athletes are responsible for paying a portion of these. It has been projected that we will need to raise $4,000 each to pay for these trips in the next several months. If you are interested in making a donation to help me pay for my training trips, click here!
When are the Olympics? How do you get to go?
Team handball is a summer event, which means that the next Olympics we're eligible for is Beijing 2008. However, only 12 teams from around the world get to compete, so we have to qualify.
Our first step begins with a North American qualification against Canada in January 2007. If we win, we will get to go to the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in July 2007. We have to win first place at the Pan-American Games to get an Olympic qualification. That means we have to beat Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Uraguay, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. However, there may be other opportunities after that to qualify during a "second-chance" tournament with runners-up from the other regions (Asia, Africa, and Europe).
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