Late August saw
the arrival of the Vred Women Ballers, the fresh and the old. We came together
as a whole team for the first time early September. However, we won’t mention how one player
almost didn’t make it to UNB, as Coach Speedy forgot to pick her up from Freddy
airport at 2.30 in the morning… Okay I wont keep you guessing, I was this lucky
person.
The initial
meeting of players and coaches was a little awkward – with most of us being shy,
but trust me, this didn’t last for long at all. Everyone’s different personalities
were soon on display, and luckily we blended almost perfectly. Within a day we
had all “clicked”, which was really nice actually. The vets were ever so
welcoming, and offered their help in many ways to the new players. Within a
short few days, we well and truly felt as though we were apart of the Vred
Athletic Family. Who would have though 16 diverse characters could have bonded
so well, so quickly?! After a quick discussion amongst the team, I ended up
taking on the role of ‘team blogger’.
I’m from Australia, so I thought every now and then I will add a little
‘international spice’ to the blog. Who knows…you might learn something new!
This year our
coaching family consists of the ‘Big Boss Speedy’, ‘Insightful Cotter’, ‘Lovely
Leah’ and ‘Charming (at times) Corey’. It’s pretty neat to already know that we
have great coaches who believe in and us who are doing their absolute best to
help us succeed and reach our goals. From day one we have literally ‘hit the
ground running’, which is just what we needed to kick start our training
season. This has encompassed team workouts, strength training, cardio and
individuals. As a team we have also met with Barb, who is our lovely Mental
Skills Trainer. Speedy and Barb decided to implement a weekly reward for a
member of the team who has worked extra hard, and put in 110%. It is named the
“hard hat award”, and the player chosen is to sign their name on the hat. This
week Speedy changed the rules (just this once), and awarded the ‘hard hat’ to
two well deserved athletes – Awo and Claire. Congrats guys!!
Along with
training multiple times each week, we always manage to fit in some time to
spend with our teammates off the court too. Coach Speedy organized a team
bonding day for us, with was super fun! Firstly, we headed to the army reserve.
Here we participated in a couple of activities consisting of gun shooting
(scarrrryyy right!!), rock climbing and we were spoken to by one of the army
Sargent’s about leadership. Shooting the guns wasn’t really a scary experience,
it was more of a video game style, except we were holding real guns.
I think Coach
Speedy loved being a kid a little more than us here! Next we headed to the rock
climbing wall – not everyone was as talented as each other in this activity.
However Foxy showed her skills and kicked everyone’s butt! Following our team
field trip we headed to support our Vred Soccer Teams at the BMO Field. We also
held an extensive team meeting, which was quite enjoyable. Playing ice breakers
was fun, and we learned new, unexpected and weird facts about one another. Along
with this we spoke about our team rules and expectations, connecting as a whole
and the meaning of ‘toughness’.
Getting jersey
numbers, and your own personal locker in the team room was something really
exciting for the new players – their very first Varsity jersey! Woohooo! Along
with this, all members of team were given a nice supply of UNB attire (it kind
of felt like Christmas). The sweatpants or “trackies” as I would say were a
little on the small side – fitting more like yoga pants…this was a bit of a
laugh. But with some exchanging and ordering of new ones, the problem is now
resolved.
Overall, I think
we have had an awesome start to the year. We have our four coaches, and one
another to thank for this.
The commencement
of exhibition games are creeping up so quickly, so come and support your
Varsity Girls Basketball Team !!
Reds on 2….. 1, 2 REDS!!!
Anyway, bye for now
Laura Bamford,
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
Posts
