This weekend marked the end of our regular season in the Quebec League, and since we failed to qualify for the playoffs, it was our last trip to Canada.
I must say that looking back over the last two and a half years, the trips to Quebec have been some of the real high points of my time with the National Team. Stuck in a van for 5+ hours each direction, the trips themselves were a time for bonding with teammates, having discussions (sometimes funny, sometimes poignent, and a few times even heated), and taking time to reflect. As uncomfortable as the physical van ride could be, I always looked forward to these weekend trips. They were a time to "get away" from everyday life in Cortland, as well as a time to put practice into action. There is nothing better than having the opportunity to play games to see how you improve.
This weekend I completed my third season in the Quebec League, and am proud to be one of the few people who has been there to see, and be a part of, the recent evolution of this team. I recognize the faces of most of the girls we play against, can visualize each gym we play in, and know how to find my way around the neighborhoods where we usually stay. I have my favorite restaurants and favorite radio stations, and while the three seasons of games sometimes blend together, my favorite moments on and off the court do not.
Driving back this Sunday, I felt a hint of sadness as I realized this chapter of my life was closing. The van was quiet, and as the familiar landscape passed by outside my window, the sight of the snow melting and the spring emerging was itself a reminder that when one thing ends, something new begins.
As we drove out of Montreal for the last time, I took a few moments to reflect on the last two and a half years. I thought about some of my favorite memories- going to Brazil, beating Champlain and Canada, eating with the team at Pacinis, visiting a sugar shack for the first time, and nearly dying in the old handball van and living to laugh about it. These are the memories I enjoy revelling in with my old teammates and telling stories about to my new ones.
I wish that my last season in the Quebec League could have ended on a different note- maybe with a Championship trophy and a chance to say we beat the league. I am disappointed that our individual and team improvements did not reveal themselves in our recent scores. But I hope that the experience we gained this weekend, along with the lessons we learned from the countless weekends that came before, will come together when it really matters.
In less than two days we head to Mexico, the first of the major international events we have coming up in the next few months. This is what we've all worked and practiced for over the last several years. These games matter more than anything else we've done since I've been on this team, and now it is time to lay everything on the line. It's time to bring it.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
1-1 in Canada. Sigh.
Seriously, what is going on! We spent the week at practice working on our motion offense, and for the most part things looked really good. We were moving the ball better and had some nice looking fast-breaks in the practice.
So, coming into this weekend, I figured we would do pretty well. And we did, kind of.
First of all, it was kind of a hectic weekend because we only had two games instead of three. Both of them were on Sunday, so we decided to save money and do the whole trip in one day so we didn't have to stay in a hotel.
We left around 6:30am on Sunday morning and headed straight for Montreal. The weather was awful in Cortland, but thankfully it cleared-up as we went north. We arrived at the gym in Laval right before noon, so we were able to do a full warm-up before our first game at 1pm.
We played Sherbrooke first, and we won by a lot: 34-16. We could have done a lot better, the turnovers were high and the defense broke down at times. Still, we did a lot of things well and it was nice to win a game by so many points.
When the game ended, we had thirty minutes to rest and snack before we played our second game of the day against Laval, a team that has several players on the Canadian National team and has come in second in the league for the last several years.
It was amazing, we started the game off with a bang and kept a solid 3-4 point lead through the whole first half. Laval called a time-out right before the end of the half, and managed to go on a three-goal scoring run to end the half with 13-12, with the US up by one.
The second half started off well for us, and we regained the lead and kept it between 1-3 points throughout. Finally, at the very end of the game, with seven minutes left, our lead diminished slowly, and by three minutes left they were ahead. While we missed our scoring opportunities, they capitalized on fast break and we lost the game 28-24. It was awful!
There is nothing worse than losing a game that you could have won- that you were winning for 55 out of 60 minutes! I was extremely bummed at the end of the game because we worked and played hard for most of the match and just couldn't finish.
We still have two games left in the Quebec League next weekend, and if we win both of those, and some other teams lose, we still have a chance at playoffs. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.
Monday is a day-off and then we're back to work, getting ready for Quebec League games next weekend and then Mexico in one week!!
So, coming into this weekend, I figured we would do pretty well. And we did, kind of.
First of all, it was kind of a hectic weekend because we only had two games instead of three. Both of them were on Sunday, so we decided to save money and do the whole trip in one day so we didn't have to stay in a hotel.
We left around 6:30am on Sunday morning and headed straight for Montreal. The weather was awful in Cortland, but thankfully it cleared-up as we went north. We arrived at the gym in Laval right before noon, so we were able to do a full warm-up before our first game at 1pm.
We played Sherbrooke first, and we won by a lot: 34-16. We could have done a lot better, the turnovers were high and the defense broke down at times. Still, we did a lot of things well and it was nice to win a game by so many points.
When the game ended, we had thirty minutes to rest and snack before we played our second game of the day against Laval, a team that has several players on the Canadian National team and has come in second in the league for the last several years.
It was amazing, we started the game off with a bang and kept a solid 3-4 point lead through the whole first half. Laval called a time-out right before the end of the half, and managed to go on a three-goal scoring run to end the half with 13-12, with the US up by one.
The second half started off well for us, and we regained the lead and kept it between 1-3 points throughout. Finally, at the very end of the game, with seven minutes left, our lead diminished slowly, and by three minutes left they were ahead. While we missed our scoring opportunities, they capitalized on fast break and we lost the game 28-24. It was awful!
There is nothing worse than losing a game that you could have won- that you were winning for 55 out of 60 minutes! I was extremely bummed at the end of the game because we worked and played hard for most of the match and just couldn't finish.
We still have two games left in the Quebec League next weekend, and if we win both of those, and some other teams lose, we still have a chance at playoffs. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.
Monday is a day-off and then we're back to work, getting ready for Quebec League games next weekend and then Mexico in one week!!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Out to dinner
Love this pic! Edina (my roommate) and I came home from a long practice on Friday night and realized that we didn't have a lot of food in our fridge! Seeing as it was the end of the week, and we were exhausted from five days of work and practice (including a three-hour practice that night), we couldn't find the energy to go out and find food.
So- I drank a boost (one of those high calorie drinks for old people) that I found in my fridge leftover December, and Edina opened a can of beets. And voila, dinner for two ;)
Don't worry, we both went shopping the next day and finally made some real meals for ourselves. But we thought this was a funny picture to sum-up what life is like in Cortland, sometimes!
Monday, February 26, 2007
One win, two losses and a sub-freezing warm-up
Despite hoping we would win all three games this weekend, or at least two, I have to admit that the weekend went pretty well.
We left Saturday morning for the usually six hour drive to Montreal. Usually our coach likes to take the backroads, but since our assistant coach was driving we went on the highway, and it was much quicker! So, we got to Granby (about 45 minutes outside of Montreal) by 3:30pm.
We were all very amused when we got to the Granby Motel, which was no doubt a few steps down from the Hotel Castel with Spa that we'd stayed in previously. To quote one of my teammates "This is what happens when you lose to Canada in the qualifiers and have to take an extra trip to Mexico." Exactly. But despite appearances (including the trailer turned motel rooms sitting out front), the Granby Motel fulfilled its obligation of giving us a warm place to sleep.
USA vs. Granby
Saturday night we headed to the Granby gym to play against a team that, despite beating them several times, had beaten us in the last game by one point. We were not about to lose this game, so we arrived on the court with some fire to win.
Speaking of courts, the Granby gym is renowned for their very short court, so our fast breaks would be cut and we wouldn't be able to rely on fitness to beat them. Thankfully, everyone stepped up and we had a really great game, winning 27-23. Yay!!
Everyone was really excited because it felt like a true team effort. The attitude on the court was really positive and energetic, and we truly played as a team. It made the win that much more enjoyable.
After the game we grabbed some pizza/pasta and some groceries and had a very satisfying meal in our rooms while watching Forest Gump. We fell asleep pretty early since we'd have to leave for Montreal at 7:30am.
The morning drive went pretty quickly, and after eating a nice breakfast in the car, we arrived at the L'ecole de la Magdaleine earlier than expected. Since there was no one to open the door to the gym, our assistant coach thought it would be nice for us to take a walk outside to "warm-up."
Sadly, it was really REALLY cold outside (or maybe I just wasn't dressed properly for a walk in 5 degree weather) and our warm-up walk just got my nose running and my hands and ears frozen solid. My roommate joked that we looked like a bunch of prisoners out on our 20-minute walk around the yard. At least we all had a good laugh at it, and were very grateful when we saw the person who had come to open the gym!!
A clip from our warm-up walk
USA vs. Champlain 1
We played our first game on Sunday against Champlain 1, the best team in the league and the one with 5 players from the Canadian National Team. Among their best players is the National Team goalie, Audrey, who has a saving percentage of 70-80% against our team. In the past it has been as much of psychological game as it has been a physical one, but after our win against Granby, we definitely felt like we could take-on Champlain with no fear.
After a rough two minutes early on, the game was really really close through most of the first half. We were only down one point until the last four or five minutes when something broke down and they got ahead by six at the half. The second half was pretty good, we got their lead down to four and they never "pulled away" but we couldn't make up for the six point deficit in the first half and ended up losing by five. Despite the loss, we couldn't feel too badly about our performance. Again, I think the energy was really good and the teamwork was strong and we played well together- it just didn't culminate in a win. As always with this team, and against this goalie, it comes down to being really precise with our shots. Still, it was a game we could be proud of, and it gives us something to build on.
USA vs. Montreal
The second game of the morning was against Montreal, a team we are fighting against for a play-off spot. They beat us in the semi-finals of the playoffs last year and we definitely have a history with them as well. Overall they are a pretty good team, with decent players at almost every position, and one really strong player who has just returned from playing several seasons with a team in France.
Had we played Montreal first on Sunday, I think the outcome would have been a little bit different. We got behind early on in the game, and had a lot of difficulty shooting against their goalie, who is also a goalie on the National Team. We had a lot of opportunities to shoot and just didn't finish. I'm sure a lot of this had to do with the fatigue, especially for our four backcourts, who had very little time to rest during all of the games. But again, even though we lost, the atmosphere stayed positive and we pushed as a team until the end.
On the van ride home our team captain made a good point. She said that even though we wanted to win, maybe the results this weekend would give us even more motivation to win our next four games, which we will have to do if we want to get a playoff spot. At least there is something to build on, and I think everyone has a renewed sense of motivation coming from the positive feelings we experienced as a team.
We left Saturday morning for the usually six hour drive to Montreal. Usually our coach likes to take the backroads, but since our assistant coach was driving we went on the highway, and it was much quicker! So, we got to Granby (about 45 minutes outside of Montreal) by 3:30pm.
We were all very amused when we got to the Granby Motel, which was no doubt a few steps down from the Hotel Castel with Spa that we'd stayed in previously. To quote one of my teammates "This is what happens when you lose to Canada in the qualifiers and have to take an extra trip to Mexico." Exactly. But despite appearances (including the trailer turned motel rooms sitting out front), the Granby Motel fulfilled its obligation of giving us a warm place to sleep.
USA vs. Granby
Saturday night we headed to the Granby gym to play against a team that, despite beating them several times, had beaten us in the last game by one point. We were not about to lose this game, so we arrived on the court with some fire to win.
Speaking of courts, the Granby gym is renowned for their very short court, so our fast breaks would be cut and we wouldn't be able to rely on fitness to beat them. Thankfully, everyone stepped up and we had a really great game, winning 27-23. Yay!!
Everyone was really excited because it felt like a true team effort. The attitude on the court was really positive and energetic, and we truly played as a team. It made the win that much more enjoyable.
After the game we grabbed some pizza/pasta and some groceries and had a very satisfying meal in our rooms while watching Forest Gump. We fell asleep pretty early since we'd have to leave for Montreal at 7:30am.
The morning drive went pretty quickly, and after eating a nice breakfast in the car, we arrived at the L'ecole de la Magdaleine earlier than expected. Since there was no one to open the door to the gym, our assistant coach thought it would be nice for us to take a walk outside to "warm-up."
Sadly, it was really REALLY cold outside (or maybe I just wasn't dressed properly for a walk in 5 degree weather) and our warm-up walk just got my nose running and my hands and ears frozen solid. My roommate joked that we looked like a bunch of prisoners out on our 20-minute walk around the yard. At least we all had a good laugh at it, and were very grateful when we saw the person who had come to open the gym!!
A clip from our warm-up walk
USA vs. Champlain 1
We played our first game on Sunday against Champlain 1, the best team in the league and the one with 5 players from the Canadian National Team. Among their best players is the National Team goalie, Audrey, who has a saving percentage of 70-80% against our team. In the past it has been as much of psychological game as it has been a physical one, but after our win against Granby, we definitely felt like we could take-on Champlain with no fear.
After a rough two minutes early on, the game was really really close through most of the first half. We were only down one point until the last four or five minutes when something broke down and they got ahead by six at the half. The second half was pretty good, we got their lead down to four and they never "pulled away" but we couldn't make up for the six point deficit in the first half and ended up losing by five. Despite the loss, we couldn't feel too badly about our performance. Again, I think the energy was really good and the teamwork was strong and we played well together- it just didn't culminate in a win. As always with this team, and against this goalie, it comes down to being really precise with our shots. Still, it was a game we could be proud of, and it gives us something to build on.
USA vs. Montreal
The second game of the morning was against Montreal, a team we are fighting against for a play-off spot. They beat us in the semi-finals of the playoffs last year and we definitely have a history with them as well. Overall they are a pretty good team, with decent players at almost every position, and one really strong player who has just returned from playing several seasons with a team in France.
Had we played Montreal first on Sunday, I think the outcome would have been a little bit different. We got behind early on in the game, and had a lot of difficulty shooting against their goalie, who is also a goalie on the National Team. We had a lot of opportunities to shoot and just didn't finish. I'm sure a lot of this had to do with the fatigue, especially for our four backcourts, who had very little time to rest during all of the games. But again, even though we lost, the atmosphere stayed positive and we pushed as a team until the end.
On the van ride home our team captain made a good point. She said that even though we wanted to win, maybe the results this weekend would give us even more motivation to win our next four games, which we will have to do if we want to get a playoff spot. At least there is something to build on, and I think everyone has a renewed sense of motivation coming from the positive feelings we experienced as a team.
Friday, February 23, 2007
New practice theme
This past weekend we had a couple of practices as well as a "team meeting" before our video session on Sunday. The theme of this meeting (besides dealing with a few random things) was our new approach to practice.
After losing to Canada in January, everyone agreed that we needed to change something if we are going to be a winning team. So, we've been trying different approaches at practice to see what works best for our team. We've spent a lot of time going back to basics and really trying to have accountability for ourselves and our teammates during practice. This means focusing on the details like good passes and precise shots so that practices are just as important as games. It also means running a lot of sprints and doing a lot of push-ups when we make mistakes. The idea is, you have to pay for your mistakes in a game, so you should have to pay for them in practice!
We have now decided to turn-up the intensity in our practices so that we do a lot more running at a lot faster pace. We have also integrated more foot-work and speed training into our practices so that every drill is an opportunity to improve on these. As we saw in Europe, playing at the international level is as much about speed and fitness as it is skill.
We'll see how this goes- so far, so good. Practices certainly aren't easy, but I think there's a greater sense of accomplishment at having worked at a more intense level every day. It has only been a week, but I think we've all seen an improvement in the energy on the court. Hopefully we will be prepared for our three games in Canada this weekend! If we want to secure our spot in the playoffs of the Quebec League, we really need to win at least two of these games!
After losing to Canada in January, everyone agreed that we needed to change something if we are going to be a winning team. So, we've been trying different approaches at practice to see what works best for our team. We've spent a lot of time going back to basics and really trying to have accountability for ourselves and our teammates during practice. This means focusing on the details like good passes and precise shots so that practices are just as important as games. It also means running a lot of sprints and doing a lot of push-ups when we make mistakes. The idea is, you have to pay for your mistakes in a game, so you should have to pay for them in practice!
We have now decided to turn-up the intensity in our practices so that we do a lot more running at a lot faster pace. We have also integrated more foot-work and speed training into our practices so that every drill is an opportunity to improve on these. As we saw in Europe, playing at the international level is as much about speed and fitness as it is skill.
We'll see how this goes- so far, so good. Practices certainly aren't easy, but I think there's a greater sense of accomplishment at having worked at a more intense level every day. It has only been a week, but I think we've all seen an improvement in the energy on the court. Hopefully we will be prepared for our three games in Canada this weekend! If we want to secure our spot in the playoffs of the Quebec League, we really need to win at least two of these games!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Snow days!
We got a big blizzard in upstate New York this week, so the fun news is that I got a few days off! My car got stuck in the parking lot of my apartment complex, and with 20+ inches of snow, they closed down my office and the university so there was no work or practice for two days!
Most of the time I'm not a huge fan of the snow, mostly because I hate driving in it and it gets kind of depressing after a while. But- when there's so much snow that everything shuts down, it's kind of fun! I even put on my snowpants, gloves, and a hat and went for a nice walk in the winter wonderland. I also watched a bunch of movies on TV, something I NEVER get to do with my hectic schedule.
Yay snowdays!
Most of the time I'm not a huge fan of the snow, mostly because I hate driving in it and it gets kind of depressing after a while. But- when there's so much snow that everything shuts down, it's kind of fun! I even put on my snowpants, gloves, and a hat and went for a nice walk in the winter wonderland. I also watched a bunch of movies on TV, something I NEVER get to do with my hectic schedule.
Yay snowdays!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
I heart 16-hour drives!!!!
This weekend we drove down to Greenville, South Carolina to play three games in the NETHC. Yes, we drove- from upstate New York to South Carolina. And by we I mean my coach, who drove through sun and snow, day and night, and while most of our van was dead asleep.
The way down was a little bit better because we did it in two parts. We left Friday afternoon and drove down to Maryland where we had dinner at our teammate Sara Merkl's house. We crashed there for the night and then woke-up at 5am to begin the second leg of our journey.
Clearly, the highlight of the Saturday morning drive was stopping for lunch at Chick-fil-A! It was divine, especially since I only get to eat it once a year when I make it down south!
We arrived on Saturday afternoon in time to play a 2:30 game against West Point. I was really excited to play because I had fans in the crowd! My aunt and uncle drove all the way up from Charleston to come see me play, and my beloved 6th grade teacher Mrs. Leslie also came to cheer me on. It was also fun for them to see me play, especially since we won by a lot and I got to put in 6 or 7 goals.
We played two games on Saturday (West Point Gold and West Point Black), which we won by at least 20 points. On Sunday we played against Furman and although we won by a lot, it was kind of disappointing not running our fast break! Last time we beat them 57-9, but this time Christian decided it would be better for us to practice running our set-offense.
After the Furman game we showered quickly and began the arduous journey north. We stopped twice for gas/food but otherwise it was a straight shot. We made it home at 4:00am, just in time for me to catch a few hours of sleep before work the next morning!
The way down was a little bit better because we did it in two parts. We left Friday afternoon and drove down to Maryland where we had dinner at our teammate Sara Merkl's house. We crashed there for the night and then woke-up at 5am to begin the second leg of our journey.
Clearly, the highlight of the Saturday morning drive was stopping for lunch at Chick-fil-A! It was divine, especially since I only get to eat it once a year when I make it down south!
We arrived on Saturday afternoon in time to play a 2:30 game against West Point. I was really excited to play because I had fans in the crowd! My aunt and uncle drove all the way up from Charleston to come see me play, and my beloved 6th grade teacher Mrs. Leslie also came to cheer me on. It was also fun for them to see me play, especially since we won by a lot and I got to put in 6 or 7 goals.
We played two games on Saturday (West Point Gold and West Point Black), which we won by at least 20 points. On Sunday we played against Furman and although we won by a lot, it was kind of disappointing not running our fast break! Last time we beat them 57-9, but this time Christian decided it would be better for us to practice running our set-offense.
After the Furman game we showered quickly and began the arduous journey north. We stopped twice for gas/food but otherwise it was a straight shot. We made it home at 4:00am, just in time for me to catch a few hours of sleep before work the next morning!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Christmas and Lake Placid
With practice and games right up until our Christmas break, I didn't get out of New York until Dec. 22. It was supposed to be a pretty easy trip back with one stop in Chicago on the way home to LA. Sadly, blizzards in the midwest had me delayed for two days before I made it home to California!!
So, Christmas break with the family was super short, but at least I made it home. On Dec. 27 it was back to New York to begin our training camp at Lake Placid.
Let me begin by saying that the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center is tight! It isn't particularly huge, but everything about it was nice. It was about as ideal as a training center could be (for the short-term, anyway).
We were sleeping three to a room, which was pretty fun. I was rooming with my teammates Megan Ballard (our right back) and Melanie McCormick, our leftie (right wing). It was a fun room to be in, and when we weren't napping or listening to music, we were dominating the board games as the "Rm 205 Mafia." Just for the record, we won at Cranium, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, and Catchphrase! It was a blast.
The food- also fantastic. In fact, there was nothing better than waking up and having a bunch of fresh fruit, eggs, waffles/pancakes, ten kinds of cereal ready to be eaten. I was in heaven, and the only reason that I didn't gorge myself was because we had morning practice AFTER breakfast. So sadly I had to excercise a little bit of self-control. Lunch and dinner were equally exciting with my favorite being the steak and potatoes. I love it when I get to eat food for free that I can't normally afford to buy for myself. Lake Placid food gets a big thumbs up!
Granted, as fantastic as the living experience was (comfy rooms, great food, and nap time), our purpose for being at the training center was to prepare for our games against Canada. In that sense, when it came down to practice, it was time to be serious. For the most part our training sessions were really good. We had four coaches around, including our two new Scandinavian coaches (Thomas from Denmark, and Niclas our goalie coach from Sweden), and we spent a lot of time working in game-like situations and scrimmages. Most days we did two practices, one in the morning and another one in the evening. It was tough!!
The first game took place on January 4th at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. Going into the game I felt pretty prepared, we'd had a lot of good practices and everyone seemed really motivated (we even watched the movie "Miracle" before we played, trying to get into the right spirit of things). Sadly, when we got out onto the court, something was off. The first half ended us with us behind by three, and then Canada took it away in the second half to win 28-22.
We played the second game in Montreal on January 6, and again we lost to Canada, who won the North American slot for the Pan-American Games. Thankfully we still have a chance to go to the Pan-Am Games if we win at the second-chance tournament in Mexico. It's just sad that we lost twice to a team we can beat!
Click here to read more about these games in the WNT press release
So, Christmas break with the family was super short, but at least I made it home. On Dec. 27 it was back to New York to begin our training camp at Lake Placid.
Let me begin by saying that the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center is tight! It isn't particularly huge, but everything about it was nice. It was about as ideal as a training center could be (for the short-term, anyway).
We were sleeping three to a room, which was pretty fun. I was rooming with my teammates Megan Ballard (our right back) and Melanie McCormick, our leftie (right wing). It was a fun room to be in, and when we weren't napping or listening to music, we were dominating the board games as the "Rm 205 Mafia." Just for the record, we won at Cranium, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, and Catchphrase! It was a blast.
The food- also fantastic. In fact, there was nothing better than waking up and having a bunch of fresh fruit, eggs, waffles/pancakes, ten kinds of cereal ready to be eaten. I was in heaven, and the only reason that I didn't gorge myself was because we had morning practice AFTER breakfast. So sadly I had to excercise a little bit of self-control. Lunch and dinner were equally exciting with my favorite being the steak and potatoes. I love it when I get to eat food for free that I can't normally afford to buy for myself. Lake Placid food gets a big thumbs up!
Granted, as fantastic as the living experience was (comfy rooms, great food, and nap time), our purpose for being at the training center was to prepare for our games against Canada. In that sense, when it came down to practice, it was time to be serious. For the most part our training sessions were really good. We had four coaches around, including our two new Scandinavian coaches (Thomas from Denmark, and Niclas our goalie coach from Sweden), and we spent a lot of time working in game-like situations and scrimmages. Most days we did two practices, one in the morning and another one in the evening. It was tough!!
The first game took place on January 4th at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. Going into the game I felt pretty prepared, we'd had a lot of good practices and everyone seemed really motivated (we even watched the movie "Miracle" before we played, trying to get into the right spirit of things). Sadly, when we got out onto the court, something was off. The first half ended us with us behind by three, and then Canada took it away in the second half to win 28-22.
We played the second game in Montreal on January 6, and again we lost to Canada, who won the North American slot for the Pan-American Games. Thankfully we still have a chance to go to the Pan-Am Games if we win at the second-chance tournament in Mexico. It's just sad that we lost twice to a team we can beat!
Click here to read more about these games in the WNT press release
Sweden Recap
You can read more about the Sweden trip on our team blog: WNT Abroad.
But as for my personal interpretation- it was a great trip! After our three-week tour of Europe over the summer, most of us agreed that it didn't get much better than our stay in Stralsund, Germany. Well, Sweden definitely gave Germany a run for its money!
Firstly, we stayed in these cool cottages which were nice because we had our own kitchen and it was just two of us to our room. The team that was hosting us also brought us some good food to stock our kitchens so we could make a nice breakfast in the morning with eggs, french toast, and juice. Yummy.
As for the handball side of things, it was a great mix of training sessions and games. The schedule was pretty nice while we were there, so even though we played nearly every day, we still had down time in between our 10:00am practice and our evening games. I got to read, nap, and just chill with my teammates. Good times!
Another highlight of the trip had to be going to the European Championships in Stockholm. We saw a total of four games, and it was amazing! It definitely hyped me up for thinking about all of the international competitions we have coming up this year.
The games went pretty well for us, which was a good confidence booster for all of us. Even when we played the Sweden U-20 team, we held on in the first half 12-12! I think one big thing we learned on our trip is that we have to keep pushing the ball and playing at a higher speed, that's how handball seems to be played at the higher level.
Definitely check out the team blog so you can get a feel for what the trip was like on a day-to-day basis. It is too much for me to try to cram in one blog post!!
But as for my personal interpretation- it was a great trip! After our three-week tour of Europe over the summer, most of us agreed that it didn't get much better than our stay in Stralsund, Germany. Well, Sweden definitely gave Germany a run for its money!
Firstly, we stayed in these cool cottages which were nice because we had our own kitchen and it was just two of us to our room. The team that was hosting us also brought us some good food to stock our kitchens so we could make a nice breakfast in the morning with eggs, french toast, and juice. Yummy.
As for the handball side of things, it was a great mix of training sessions and games. The schedule was pretty nice while we were there, so even though we played nearly every day, we still had down time in between our 10:00am practice and our evening games. I got to read, nap, and just chill with my teammates. Good times!
Another highlight of the trip had to be going to the European Championships in Stockholm. We saw a total of four games, and it was amazing! It definitely hyped me up for thinking about all of the international competitions we have coming up this year.
The games went pretty well for us, which was a good confidence booster for all of us. Even when we played the Sweden U-20 team, we held on in the first half 12-12! I think one big thing we learned on our trip is that we have to keep pushing the ball and playing at a higher speed, that's how handball seems to be played at the higher level.
Definitely check out the team blog so you can get a feel for what the trip was like on a day-to-day basis. It is too much for me to try to cram in one blog post!!
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