Here is her second post that covers training camp up to the beginning of the World Cup, which started today with the Opening Ceremony. Team USA plays its first game on Thursday against England.
Special to HockomockSports.com
After a nice break for the Fourth of July, our team got back together in Buffalo, N.Y.for our second training camp. On Friday, we got settled into our rooms at Niagara University, had a light practice, and then went to dinner at a great restaurant that was right on the Niagara River. We were all super excited when our manager told us we had no spending limit for dinner… we went all out and ordered lobster and filet mignon! Hey work hard, play hard, right?!
Saturday was filled with tons of lacrosse. We had two practices, a meeting and team-building activities. We have been working with an awesome team-building specialist who has really helped us work on the metal aspects that go along with teams and becoming a unit. The mental game is such a critical part of any athlete or team, but you need to exercise it, just like you work out to keep your body in physical shape. We were very lucky to work with this specialist and I really think it will give us an edge! The long day was capped off with a very special trip… our manager has family up here and we got to go eat dinner on their 300-acre farm! The food was so fresh and delicious, especially the corn that had been picked that morning. We even got to ride around the farm on a big green tractor (country song anyone?).
After drying off, we headed back to Niagara, packed our stuff up and loaded up the bus for the drive to Canada. With each day this journey starts to feel a little more real! We are so close to Opening Ceremonies!
We arrived in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada on Sunday night. All of the teams are staying in the same place, and we each have our own hallway. The first thing we did when we got to our hall was decorate! We hung streamers, flags, stars and stickers everywhere. We are all so proud to represent the USA!
On Monday we had a morning practice, ate lunch, and then got to scrimmage Scotland 7 v 7. We were all so excited to play someone other than ourselves! It was nice to see different players with different styles. On Tuesday we had a similar day… practice and a scrimmage against Japan. The Japanese team was very fast and feisty, but just could not hold on to the ball, and we ended up winning 15-1. One of the best things about this experience is getting to meet people from all over the world. We all might come from different backgrounds, speak different languages, and play different ways, but we all love lacrosse!
The surprises keep getting better… On Tuesday night we were all called into the film room. We thought we were going to watch game film, but we actually got to watch Coach K (Duke men’s basketball) speak to us! He recorded a video talk just for us!!! He talked about how he has coached the men’s USA basketball team in the Olympics and how there is no better honor than getting to represent your country. He explained that in order to win gold, you have to play as one. He tells all his USA players (Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo, etc.) sure you can bring your egos, but you better be ready to buy into one team ego. This really resonated with our team, because yes, we are all great individual players, but now we have to come together and work together to win the gold.