World Cup 6: Game Day

So we have less than 2 hours till we leave for the pitch. Now I've got to keep myself from getting too worked up into a frenzy between now and then. It's been hard because we've been doing a lot of mental focus type stuff and psyche up type stuff... not to mention the fact that in our team room we've created what we call our "Corner of Power". That's where we put up stuff to inspire us as we go forward into world cup. For example, in yesterday's newspaper a columnist wrote "Spare me the hot air about England, France, Canada, and the US have a chance to win it all". Nothing gets my blood boiling more than being overlooked and underestimated. Must go eat lunch to ease some nerves.

Well the countdown is on. 30 minutes until we leave for the pitch. A bunch of us just watched the NZ-Canada match live on the internet and now everyone is ready to roll. I'm going to update what's been going on over the past two days so as to not drive myself batty waiting.

Yesterday we had another easy day. We ate breakfast and then the non-rostered folks went down to the gym for a workout while the rest of us did some recovery work in the pool. That recovery work quickly turned comptitive as we played 500 with the South African team that was down there as well. It was good fun.

After that I came back upstairs and did some reading before lunch and then Carrie and I got into a rousing game of cribbage. Then there was waiting time, which involved some CSI and Fame, before we went to the field for our captains run. The practice was fairly short but intense as we ran through the last little things that we wanted to get ironed out. When we got back dinner was on, so we ate before showering for the jersey presentation.

As usual the jersey presentation was emotional. It was particularly poignant to see Patty get her jersey which for her is a 5th. Another thing that made this presentation different from some in the past is that it was open to all the family and friends that had come to watch the games. So there was a lot of support surrounding us throughout the process. I got a little shock when I looked at the tag of my jersey and saw that it was a small, but I guess that means no jersey tackles.

Front-Row Lovin'


Captains and Coaches


After the jersey presentation a bunch of us spent some time with Doc trying to work out all that last stuff before the match.
This morning was breakfast followed by a team meeting during which we watched "Do you believe in Miracles" which is the documentary about the 1980 olympic hockey team. It left quite a few of us teary eyed and ready for kick-off to happen. After that the waiting began, which I have been trying to fill with things that won't cause me to get too anxious (like ironing my dress shirt), but even as I'm typing this I can feel the adrenaline starting to get going. Need to stay composed and relatively calm for another 3 hours when finally it gets to be unleashed all over England. Time to sign-off and really get focused and make sure I've got everything ready to go and take it to em. Hopefully when I write next it'll be as victors.

World Cup 5: Finally to Edmonton

So yesterday was a very lazy day but had some very entertaining portions that popped up every so often. After I updated this blog yesterday I proceeded to do some packing and then I wound up getting sucked into the movie "Love Potion No. 9" with Laura and wound up watching that. After the movie I went down to the pool/hot-tub and did some stretching and recovery type stuff. A bunch of other people went to the MOA and watched 'Talladega Nights', which they said was very funny. After I went to the pool I wandered over to the MOA to get lunch and then went on the 'Screamin' Eagle' ride and the 'Timberland Twister' roller-coaster using the free-ride coupons we got from Jane T yesterday.


I came back to the hotel and finished packing before we went to Major's for a send-off dinner. They had the wireless trivia game that kept Dude andI involved even so much that we bypassed the first round of food. You know we're enthralled when two props will skip food. In the end Dude wound up winning one round and I was ahead by 1500 points when we had to leave. On the way home we swung by DQ for a little late-night snack.
When we got back to the hotel many people worked on laundry and finished packing, but those of us in the front row had bigger issues to deal with. The lifting sleeves arrived for the jumpers, but it turned out that they are a bit tight for them to wear. Therefore us front-rowers decided to help them out by putting them on and wearing them around to stretch them out. It took a little wrestling to get them on, but in the end we managed to get them to the right size.

This morning was the three-ring circus of trying to get to the airport and getting everything together and everyone on flights. We had somewhere in the range of 17 extra bags that had to be checked in addition to the many bags that were in excess of the 50lb limit that had to be rearranged. But in the end we arrived in Edmonton where our liason Susan picked us up and got us out to the hotel. When we got there we had a lunch, that to the happiness of Ashley had of a great dessert spread, and then went out to the Druid rugby pitch for a training session. After training we came back to the hotel and had dinner before being released to the care of the Docs who worked magic on me. After getting worked on I got to have some QT with Jen and then came back here to do my update.

We have less than 48 hours left till we play England and I am starting to really feel it. It was hard to really believe that we're at World Cup when we were in MN, but once we got here and met the liasons and saw the French and South African teams (all teams from the same pool are at the same hotel) wandering around it really started to sink in. I'm at World Cup! I'm part of something that I have been striving for for years. It's finally here... Now it's time for bed before I get myself too worked up.

World Cup 4: A day off

So, I was going to write this last night, but then I realized that we had all day off today and what better way to "stay off my feet" (as Kathy told us to do) than to catch this up and then do some reading.

Yesterday was a fun day. We got up and had a little short practice to work on some subunit stuff, which entailed for us forwards a bunch of lineout work. After that we got a chance to eat a light snack before doing some controlled scrimmaging against a Minnesota select side. For the first hour we forwards worked lineouts and scrums against them before coming together for the last hour and actually playing through. It was a bit of a surprise on the first play of the scrimmage when we looked up and realized that their backline had 7 more people than normal. After getting over that initial shock we pulled together and still were able to put together some beautiful offense and high pressure defense despite being seriously outnumbered.

Phaidra and Tonka warm-up with Dancing


One thing I want to write about is this fascinating tackling drill we've been doing that has been very enlightening for me. So we've been doing one-on-one tackling in a small space, with a catch. The defender has to hold a tennis ball in each hand while making the tackle. It really shows how much we rely on our hands when tackling and forces you to use your legs, shoulders, and full arms if you really want to take the ball-carrier to the ground. It was really hard at first, but now it's awesome to feel how much power we can generate when we don't rely on our hands to do the tackling.

Team Pic after the scrimmage


After the scrimmage we had the entertaining task of getting the scrum sled back onto the trailer and onto Jane's car, Stubby. This resulted in a near-death experience (I may be being a bit dramatic) when the weight of the sled caused the trailer to come off the hitch and come flying up towards my face. A little remaneuvering and we were able to get everything set, though I do think that Stubby's rear end was not actually touching the ground.

We went to Jane's house for a BBQ where we lazed about and ate lots of food. We even got cake because it was Ashley's 30th birthday so we celebrated her entering her dotage. One of the more interesting parts of that was watching Mari work her art major magic on a watermelon to create a masterpiece.

After the BBQ we came back to the hotel to shower and then head to the Mall of America (MOA for those in the know) to watch the movie 'Invincible'. We laughed, we cried, we applauded. Definitely a good team movie and pump up film. I mean come on it's all about The Eagles. How much more appropriate can it get!?!

After the movie we came back and had a brief team meeting to announce selections for the England match. I was named as Loosehead, which is just awesome. It's so funny to me sometimes to think that for so many years in college and playing at the U-23 level that this was my dream, and now it's but days away. I remember so vividly during the Chula Vista camp in 2004 having my one-on-one meeting with Kathy and her asking me what my goals were for playing rugby and telling her that I wanted to play in the 2006 World Cup and that's what I was working towards. Now it's here... And we only have one training session left until we get to show the world what we're about. The full selections for the match are 1. Jamie Burke 2. Mari Wallace 3. Meredith Ottens 4. Erin Carter 5. Jen Crouse 6. Phaidra Knight 7. Ham 8. Tina Nesberg 9. Claudia Braymer 10. Heather Hale 11. Ellie Karvoski 12. Pam Kosanke 13. Keenya Warner 14. Laura Cabrera 15. Ashley English 16. Danielle Miller 17. Annie Collier 18. Kate Pope 19. Kelly McMahon 20. Lee Knight 21. Kristin Baja 22. Patty Jervey

Today is a lazy day. We have the entire day off. Our only instructions were to take care of ourselves and not be on our feet all day. It's actually worked out perfectly because it's a grey day and drizzly, so my plans of staying here reading, drinking water, perhaps doing a pool recovery should be the perfect pace. Then tomorrow it's off to Edmonton.

World Cup 3: After the first practice

So it's been a long but productive day. We started the day with a meeting with Trie who is testing the rise and fall of testosterone and cortisol during competition as part of her Master's thesis. She wants to test all levels of players, so working with the National team is great for her. The process however turned into quite a spectacle. Here's the way the procedure works. First, you must gargle with spring water. Then chew Trident Original (it's the one that's scientifically proven) for three minutes before proceeding to spit 5mL of saliva into 2 different test-tubes. Some people struggled with the process more than others

Lee passing out our supplies!


Trying to fill the test-tube!


After the testing we went to the pitch for our two practice sessions. The morning was primarily devoted to lineouts for us forwards. I have know idea what the backs do when they go off by themselves, but I can only assume it has something to do with being fast. Lunch came and went and was accented by the presence of coke and frosted animal crackers (a prop's best friend). After that we split again and we forwards wandered over to the scrum-sled (which turned out to be a slight hike away) and spent a lot of time scrumming. It was a really awesome session and we really felt like we were gelling by the time we all came back together.

After practice we got to come back to the hotel and shower before heading over to Outback for dinner. As a forward I stongly support this process of food being readily available immediately upon entering an establishment. It prevents the onset of crankiness. Once we were done with dinner we had a little downtime before heading to our team meeting. I spent that time learning how to put pictures into my posts, which after a few frsutrated attempts were thwarted I figured it out.

The meeting was really good for us to just talk about what we're trying to do tactically. Tomorrow we're doing a controlled scrimmage with the midwest folks so it'll be a good opportunity to look at all the stuff we've been working on. Alright, now it's time for me to go to bed. I originally was going to wait to do this til tomorrow but then I figured I had the energy for it, why not.

World Cup 2: First day in MN

So, it's begun... we've had our first night's sleep in our hotel and now we're heading out to the first of what will no doubt be long, but fulfilling practice days.


Yesterday all us Pacific girls managed to get to the airport and onto our planes. It was one of the least complicated travel scenarios for rugby yet. On the plane Carter and I spent our time working on the lineout plays, by writing them out onto the newspaper since neither one of us thought to bring the sheet in our carry-on. When we got to MN we took the airport shuttle out to our hotel and picked up the Atlanta contingent on the way. Then we had a little down time before heading out to a little light practice to work out the kinks of travel and get the blood flowing. As usual the game of touch got a little more forceful, which was the sign that it was time to split and work forwrds and backs stuff. We spent some time working out lineout movement and then just got some time to run around together. All in all it was just nice to be playing with everyone again after the hiatus since Stanford.

Back at the hotel we showered ate our Chipotle dinner and hung out exchanging water bottles - each player decorated a water bottle for one of her teammates to have for the tour. We had a meeting at 7:30 with Trie to find out about the opportunity to participate in a research study before we watched the NZ-England match from last fall. I was shocked when KTP said that breakfast was at 8am and that we didn't have to meet for practice until 9:30am... that's virtually noon for rugby tours. After the videos it was time to come back and sleep after sort-of-sleeping in the airport thursday night. I also spent some time posting the rest of the pictures from our Boulder trip online.

This morning, par for the course, the first people at breakfast were 5 front row players. We know when there's food. We can sense it on our radar. So the conversation stopped and we ate to our hearts' content and were done before most of the backline showed up. I figured I had some time before practice so I'd get this started so as to not fall behind within a day of getting here... so that's it for now.

World Cup 1: heading to MN

This one is going to be short as it is 1am and I am sitting at the San Francisco International Airport waiting for a 6:15am. Some might say I'm a little OCD arriving st the airport this early, but I've been dreaming of playing in the World Cup since I was in college, so I'd sit at the airport for a week if I had to. The bigger reason is that the BART wouldn't get us here until 5:30 and if we're going to have to get up at 3:30 to make a shuttle, why not just come sleep at the airport and not have to get up until 4:45... so I'm here, not sleeping and otherwise pondering this undertaking. I'll give a little more info about what I'm thinking heading into this next 3.5 weeks in a few days, but just wanted to give a few key details for eveyone's info going forward.

The USA has matches on 8/31, 9/4, 9/8, 9/12, and then either 9/16 or 17. Everyone who can't make it to Edmonton can watch the matches on the web live at www.rwcwomens.com. Information about how things are going will also be the womeneagles website (and of course here). I'll try and update this every couple of days, but I can't guarantee it. We're all flying into Minnesota tomorrow and then head to Canada on tuesday. I'll have a better idea of schedules and plans after we meet tomorrow. Anyways, I really should try and get some sleep before flying out, so until there's more to write...

How does one catch up after a 6month hiatus!?!

So I have not been blogging in a while... that's not to say that I haven't been introspecting I just haven't had the internet-access required to do the necessary writing of that introspection. Alas, the real impetus for getting back into it is the upcoming World Cup... and by upcoming I mean I'm at the airport and fly out tomorrow. I have had many requests to keep a blog again for this tour similar to the one I kept for the UK tour... while I would love to say I'll be as diligent this go round as that I fear the nearly doubled time away may make that more challenging, but I'll try.

Strangely though I feel as though I ought to at least make some effort to catch up at least a little before I delve into what will be one of the most momentous events in my life. So here's the synopsis of the past 6 months: Things with Jen are great and we moved in together in June. I went to New Hampshire for my interview, which involved a great deal of maneuvering on my part and found out in March that I was accepted into the Outdoor Education PhD program at UNH, and was offered a graduate assistanship to cover my tuition plus a 13K stipend, which was an absolute blessing. When I emailed my advisor to find out what I should do with regards to rugby and grad school since they seemed to be in opposition to each other, he gave his full blessing for my deferral and assured me that there would be money for me come the fall of 2007. So it appears my life is going along as planned.

I also got a part-time job working as a personal trainer and strength coach. This has been great because it has given me access to all the training equipment that have really accented my regimen leading up to World Cup.

Additionally I have continued with my work with Landmark Education and much more at home in myself as time wears on, not that I was hugely uncomfortable before, but just that I didn't how comfortable I could be. I did the advanced course in April and am currently working in the Self-Expression and Leadership program, which really is about taking what you're passionate about and really putting it into the world. For me that has and will continue to be really providing opportunities for children (both the young and the young at heart) to follow their dreams not matter what. It took me a while to figure out what that meant in the context of this program but finally I figured it out and have started doing some work on it. The premise is creating a mentorship program of sorts wear young female rugby players could actually contact the National team with questions, seeking advice, etc and we could respond. It would be the equivalent of a high school or middle school soccer player sending an email to the US Soccer team to ask about the best way to work on corner kicks and getting a response from Mia Hamm. How great of an opportunity would that be for us National Team players to be able to really give back to the future of women's rugby and to some degree have a hand in shaping it!?!. I don't really know how it would look as of yet, as it's still in it's infancy, but I have broached the topic with Kathy and she is supportive and I've started communicating with the board of the newly founded US Womens Rugby Foundation (www.uswrf.org) about possibly linking the two. So we'll see where that goes...


On the rugby side of things we have had several opportunities ot play together over the past 6 months. We got together in Chula Vista (though I didn't go due to an unfortunate shoulder injury), then agains in Blaine to play the Midwest, over the week of ITTs in Colorado when we got to play two internationals against Canada, and finally in a one-day camp at STanford in July. We went 1-1 during the Canada matches, which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it has shown us where we are vulnerable and also served to leave us really hungry heading into World Cup. I guess tomorrow we'll find out how hungry it made us.

Okay, so now I feel a little better about diving head first into this World Cup blog and don't feel quite so behind, though I hardly feel like I've done justice to the past 6 months of life, but alas we take what we can get.