Wimbledon

So after Estonia we had two more days off before heading to Greece and from Greece to Macedonia where the tournament is taking place. We again had fly out of London but this time our flight was leaving at 8:30 am which meant that we were meeting at 6 am. So all of the girls that live in the North of England needed to come down a night early and stay in a hotel next to the airport. So Kelsey, Charlotte and I decided that we would go down early so that we could try and get into Wimbledon.

So we caught the train from Manchester down to London. Then once we got down to London we had to get the tube (London’s underground transportation system) to Victoria Station where we were going to leave our luggage. This turned out to be quite the task. We had four big rolling duffle bags with our backpacks and a box. Not the easiest things to carry around. A broken escalator, and a wrong tube stop later we were finally at Wimbledon. We had to get in “The Queue” (the line) because we did not have any tickets. After two hours of queuing and 14 pounds (about $23.00 US dollars) later we were in!!!!

We did not have tickets to any of the matches, we would have had to queue again if we wanted to do that. So we just wandered around, and we even stumbled into Venus and Serena Williams playing doubles. That was pretty cool. Then we sat on Henman Hill and watched Andy Murray v Stanislas Wawrinka on the big screen. We wandered around some more and went in the Wimbledon shop. Then we decided to head back before the Murray match was over to avoid the crowds. We grabbed some dinner at a pub by the train station and watched the end of the Murray match on tv. It was a nail bitter for sure, but Murray was able to pull it out. Then it was time to head to our hotel. We were definitely knackered (tired in American) but it was well worth it. Definitely a great day!

Coming togehter in Tallinn

We played our last game in Estonia today and unfortunately lost big 47-86. Not quite sure what happened between yesterday and today, but it just was not the same team out there. Estonia came out ready to fight and we hung with them for a while but just could not keep it up. Tonight we took the girls out into town, because they had not really gotten the chance to properly see anything since we have been here.

We had a good night around the city and then we found a place to sit down a have a little team meeting. Sergio basically told the team that he felt like he had let them down during the game. I thought that it was really good for the girls, because it is not often that you get the head coach to step and say “my bad.” I thought it really showed the human side of him and that as a coaching staff we are not perfect and we still have a lot of growing to do ourselves. I think that we can leave Estonia with a positive feeling, knowing that we have really grown and come together as a team while we have been here.

A win in the Stag-do capital of Europe

So apparently Tallinn is the stag-do capital of Europe (for my Americans this means bachelor party central). There were about three different groups of them on our flight over here. Not quite sure why it is, I guess that Tallinn is known for its nightlife.

We played our second game today and WON 79-73! It was pretty cool, and a big feat for us, because it was a Senior team and not just an U20 team. The girls did so well, and really played as a team. At one point in the game we were down as much as 20 points and they scrapped their way back. It was a pretty awesome to see how hard they fought. We have got to keep building on this and not look back!

Headed to Estonia

We are now in Tallinn, Estonia for three test games against the Estonian Senior Women’s Team. Today we had to go straight from the airport to our game because it is some National Holiday in Estonia so that was the only time that we could play the game.
It became quit the adventure when we could barely fit into the mini bus that picked us up. We got dropped off at the wrong spot and had to go searching for the entrance of the gym hauling all of our stuff with us. Then once we finally got to the gym we only had about 20 minutes to warm up.
We ended up loosing 58-78 but I thought that the girls gave a really good effort. They fought through a lot of adversity today and never complained once. This was a loss that we can build from.

Goodbye Leigh!!

We are now at the end of week two of training camp which means we have to say goodbye to our amazing home here in Leigh. It has been such a great experience here we could not have asked for anything more from the sports hall and the hotel staff. Especially our boys in the kitchen, they were awesome.

We played two practice games against the Great Britain World University Games Team, who have been training with the Senior Women’s Team. It was a really good test for our girls. It went similar to the Ireland games. We played really well on the Saturday but still lost and then did not play well today, and ended up losing by about 20. We also had to narrow the team down to the 12 players that we will be taking to Estonia. The girls now have two days off and we will be getting back together in London to depart for our three test games in Estonia.

A two week pre-season and ice baths

I have decided that our training camp in Leigh is like a complete college basketball preseason all rolled into two weeks. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to get a group of girls to gel and learn how to play together in two weeks. While at the same time introducing all the technical aspects and offensive and defensive schemes. There is no way to fit it all in with such a short time line so as a staff we have to decide the things that we have time to work on and the things we don’t.

I am so accustom to having an entire preseason to prepare, both as a player and now as a coach. Trying to squeeze it all into two weeks has definitely been a challenge. However I am sure my girls back at San Jose State would not mind preseason only being two weeks long.

Today was ice bath day.! Everyone got in a bath tube full of ice and water and had to stay in for 8-10 minutes each. This actually went over a lot better than expected.

Back to Business!

Well we are back in Leigh after our two day break, and that means back to business. By the end of this week we will have to cut the team down from 14 to 12. This does not have to be the final 12 that will go to the European Championships in Macedonia, but it needs to be the 12 that we are taking to our test games in Estonia. So this week will definitely be a lot more intense and competitive.

The girls had a hard two sessions today, and afterward decided to do some lactic acid prevention ….... or something like that. Never the less it provided me with a pretty funny picture.