We started the day with a workout at 10 am. The point guards went first, working on individual skills for 45 min. The perimeter players came in next for 45 min. followed by the "4's and 5's". The sessions went very well and I picked up a lot of new ideas for our own players.
During the session we were hit with a nasty thunder and lightning storm with very heavy rain. I thought it might break the heat but it is still quite warm and humid here.
In the afternoon I met with our coaching staff to discuss our practices and plans as we break into our development team. The head coach is Linda Marquis from Laval and the other assistant is Jacqueline Lavallee, a former national team player who is an assistant at the university of Saskatchewan. Linda is keeping us organized and giving us a lot of "say" into how things will go. I am really looking forward to gaining more knowledge from both of them.
We practiced tonight at 5pm and it was a little tight. The players seemed to be concerned with the meetings we would be having after practice. The coaching staff had met to discuss the team breakdown and the players would find out their fate after practice. While the practice was still quite competitive it lacked the same intensity as earlier in the week. Following practice we sent the players back to the residence and they had scheduled meetings with the coaches. Basically they came to the lobby at their appointed time and either myself or Mike MacNeil from the Senior team would take them to a meeting room. If they came with me they were on the development team with us. This was not the easiest thing to do as we knew that almost everyone had a hope of being with the senior group and basically we were kind of squashing their summer dreams. A number of them were happy to have the opportunity while a few were upset that they were coming with us. I stood by the fact that you get to represent the country and work on your game. I don't know why you wouldn't want to do that at any level.
So I will give you a rundown of the roster we will be taking to China in 1 week.
Our perimeter players are:
Vanessa Kabongo, a 5'10" guard entering her 2nd year at the University of Delaware
Tara Watts, a 5'9" guard entering her 3rd year at Rice University
Caitlyn Burke, a 5'7" guard entering her 2nd year at the University of Nebraska
Kadie Riverin, a 5'9" grad from Rice University
Amy Ogiden, a 5'9" guard entering her 2nd year at the University of Winnipeg
Kendel Ross, a 6'1" small forward entering her 3rd year at the University of Dayton
Our forwards are:
Marie Michelle Genois, a 6'2" forward entering her 3rd year at Universite de Laval
Miranda Ayim, a 6'3" forward entering her third year at Pepperdine University
Melissa Dalembert, a 6'3" post entering her 2nd year at the University of South Florida
Natalie Doma, a 6'3" post recently graduated from Idaho State University
Krysten Boogaard, a 6'5" post entering her 2nd year at the University of Kansas
This team is young and has some international experience so the trip to China won't be totally new but we are in deep as the Chinese team is very talented and should finish in the top 5 in the upcoming Olympics. Our goal is to compete hard on every possession, focus on offensive execution and stop them from getting easy baskets in transition. WE will build on this for the next week of practice.
Tomorrow we have a meeting at 11Am to discuss our team rules, goals and expectations. We will also discuss the trip overseas. Following the meeting I get to have my final injection of antibodies before we travel. Just about sick of needles at this point. Our first practice as a team begins at 5pm so hopefully the players are focused and ready to build for our trip. We will practice twice a day and play 2 scrimmages before we head off to China in a week.
Hopefully these blog postings will get more exciting as the team unfolds and we head overseas.
It is now time for sleep.
The journey continues
Coach
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