Day 5 - Group Check-In, Arrive in Edmonton, Quick Turnarounds
We had to have our bags in the lobby at 8am (which was changed to 7:50am at the last minute which drove the staff a bit crazy). Tina and I have been trying to get to sleep early, but we've been getting about 7 hours of sleep a night (although we are both shooting for at least 8). We decided to forgo breakfast for a little more shut-eye and after some last minute packing, we were outside hauling our bags onto the hotel shuttle and packing into vans to get to the airport.
It's always interesting to mobilize 30 players with their luggage and the extra equipment bags, especially at an airport. Group check-in requires a lot of patience because it takes about 45 minutes to check everyone in. As a team, we've learned how to travel well together (especially after the UK tour) and we do a good job of staying calm in these situations. You can imagine how interesting it is to see all of us Type A's figuring out an appropriate role for us to take in the process.
I slept the entire flight and briefly woke up when Mari was literally stepping over me to get to the bathroom. As we arrived in Edmonton and went through customs and our liasons were ready and waiting for us and efficiently scooped us up and took us to the Delta Hotel.
We tossed our bags into our rooms and went to eat lunch (great sandwiches!). Then another quick turnaround as we had less than 20 min to get ready for practice. We drove to some practice fields which were really nice and did some restarts and other specific work. I was on defense most of the time because we're preparing the starting 15 players for the game on Thursday. Since I'm a reserve that match, I was on the "Melon" team that played defense (named for the color of our tackle suits) and we did a good job of providing solid opposition.
Yet another quick turnaround when we came back to the hotel - no time to shower, so we threw on our tracksuits and ate a wonderful dinner in the team room that we'll have for the next few weeks. After dinner, we had a backs meeting for about 40 min and had to sign posters and waivers, etc. It's the end of the day and I'm exhausted. Tina and I have been having the sniffles and can't figure out what it's from - we think some of it is from allergies or the hotel air, but both of us took a shot to the nose today so now our sinuses are going crazy.
In other news, one of our NY teammates got a call from Setanta saying they will be playing the womens world cup semifinals and finals! Very exciting!
It's always interesting to mobilize 30 players with their luggage and the extra equipment bags, especially at an airport. Group check-in requires a lot of patience because it takes about 45 minutes to check everyone in. As a team, we've learned how to travel well together (especially after the UK tour) and we do a good job of staying calm in these situations. You can imagine how interesting it is to see all of us Type A's figuring out an appropriate role for us to take in the process.
I slept the entire flight and briefly woke up when Mari was literally stepping over me to get to the bathroom. As we arrived in Edmonton and went through customs and our liasons were ready and waiting for us and efficiently scooped us up and took us to the Delta Hotel.
We tossed our bags into our rooms and went to eat lunch (great sandwiches!). Then another quick turnaround as we had less than 20 min to get ready for practice. We drove to some practice fields which were really nice and did some restarts and other specific work. I was on defense most of the time because we're preparing the starting 15 players for the game on Thursday. Since I'm a reserve that match, I was on the "Melon" team that played defense (named for the color of our tackle suits) and we did a good job of providing solid opposition.
Yet another quick turnaround when we came back to the hotel - no time to shower, so we threw on our tracksuits and ate a wonderful dinner in the team room that we'll have for the next few weeks. After dinner, we had a backs meeting for about 40 min and had to sign posters and waivers, etc. It's the end of the day and I'm exhausted. Tina and I have been having the sniffles and can't figure out what it's from - we think some of it is from allergies or the hotel air, but both of us took a shot to the nose today so now our sinuses are going crazy.
In other news, one of our NY teammates got a call from Setanta saying they will be playing the womens world cup semifinals and finals! Very exciting!
posted by Lee Knight at 9:19 PM
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