Day 14 - Napping, Captain's Practice, Bring Back the Fun!
In the morning, after breakfast, the kickers and fwds went to a nearby high school to practice kicking and walking through lineouts, respectively. After that short session, a lot of people went to do laundry at the nearby laundromat. Tina did her laundry last night and graciously threw some of my stuff in, so I was able to nap for the rest of the morning and give my body a bit more rest.
Before lunch, the backs watched some more video and other joined while they were eating. Tina and I went back upstairs to nap. We woke up at 2pm, got ready for the captain's practice, climbed into a van and drove for 45 min to the St. Alberts field (we had been playing at Ellerslie Park, which was much closer). The fields were nice, although we were again asked not to do anything other than walk on the main field and ran our practice on a side field instead.
The actual practice was a little unsettled for some reason. We had some trouble finding our groove, and our timing and communication wasn't great among the starting 15. The rest of us were on defense and they told us we were doing too well (!), so we lightened up a bit. We also lightened up a bit in the personal sense...during one break in play we put Mari in the middle and made her do the "Melon" dance (defense is called the melon team from those neon tackle suits we have to wear).
As the practice was winding down, we were in our larger circle trying to understand why we felt different today vs. the day before the England match. A lot of it had to do with our attitude - at the onset of this tour, we were all about the team and psyched to play together. Today we somehow lost that feeling and some of the "people stuff" flew out the window - things like team, respect, love, unity, etc. It was good that we could recognize the problem together and take steps to clear it away. We ended the practice with one of those big sighs that let out all the bad stuff and ended with the cheer "Together". I can't help but think of the feeling that Kathy was looking for a few days ago when she asked the group to remember how it was when we first started playing rugby. It's that feeling of fun and excitement that we need to channel when we're on the field.
The ride back in our van was a Madonna sing-a-long which lifted spirits and brought some laughs. I realize that personally, I have been treating this like a job. It's kind of been mostly business here and when I get in that mode, I sometimes forget to "enjoy the journey". I hadn't really put my finger on it until today after our van ride home, but I haven't been my happy-go-lucky self and have been much more serious than usual. A large part of this experience should be about just being with these other 30 women who have sacrificed the same (or more) to get here. Yes, it's about taking care of business and winning, but it's also about enjoying our time together and being part of a team of amazing women.
We had our jersey ceremony tonight and Kathy read all the well-wishes posted on womeneagles.com. It was great to hear all the support we had from across the country and from current and past ruggers. As Kathy said in the jersey ceremony, "Now it's time give it our all. Walk off that field at the end of the game knowing that you gave it everything." That's how we'll go into the game against Australia tomorrow and if we can keep it up for 80 minutes and play as a TEAM, I believe we'll be victorious. Go USA!!
Before lunch, the backs watched some more video and other joined while they were eating. Tina and I went back upstairs to nap. We woke up at 2pm, got ready for the captain's practice, climbed into a van and drove for 45 min to the St. Alberts field (we had been playing at Ellerslie Park, which was much closer). The fields were nice, although we were again asked not to do anything other than walk on the main field and ran our practice on a side field instead.
The actual practice was a little unsettled for some reason. We had some trouble finding our groove, and our timing and communication wasn't great among the starting 15. The rest of us were on defense and they told us we were doing too well (!), so we lightened up a bit. We also lightened up a bit in the personal sense...during one break in play we put Mari in the middle and made her do the "Melon" dance (defense is called the melon team from those neon tackle suits we have to wear).
As the practice was winding down, we were in our larger circle trying to understand why we felt different today vs. the day before the England match. A lot of it had to do with our attitude - at the onset of this tour, we were all about the team and psyched to play together. Today we somehow lost that feeling and some of the "people stuff" flew out the window - things like team, respect, love, unity, etc. It was good that we could recognize the problem together and take steps to clear it away. We ended the practice with one of those big sighs that let out all the bad stuff and ended with the cheer "Together". I can't help but think of the feeling that Kathy was looking for a few days ago when she asked the group to remember how it was when we first started playing rugby. It's that feeling of fun and excitement that we need to channel when we're on the field.
The ride back in our van was a Madonna sing-a-long which lifted spirits and brought some laughs. I realize that personally, I have been treating this like a job. It's kind of been mostly business here and when I get in that mode, I sometimes forget to "enjoy the journey". I hadn't really put my finger on it until today after our van ride home, but I haven't been my happy-go-lucky self and have been much more serious than usual. A large part of this experience should be about just being with these other 30 women who have sacrificed the same (or more) to get here. Yes, it's about taking care of business and winning, but it's also about enjoying our time together and being part of a team of amazing women.
We had our jersey ceremony tonight and Kathy read all the well-wishes posted on womeneagles.com. It was great to hear all the support we had from across the country and from current and past ruggers. As Kathy said in the jersey ceremony, "Now it's time give it our all. Walk off that field at the end of the game knowing that you gave it everything." That's how we'll go into the game against Australia tomorrow and if we can keep it up for 80 minutes and play as a TEAM, I believe we'll be victorious. Go USA!!
posted by Lee Knight at 9:35 PM
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