A National Team Journey: National Team 2013 - Phase 2

Well after a few hours of sleep (about 4 to be exact) we got up at 9:30 this morning to start our day. Not a bad day here in Kazan. Warm but not stifling hot and a nice breeze. Biggest impression of the day. The volunteers are extremely friendly and are really trying to help at every turn.

We had breakfast at 10AM and there is so much to pick from. Inside the dining hall there are the following sections - Chinese, Halal, Russian/Local, Salad Bar, European, Pasta, Pizza and McDonalds. I stayed to the russian section and went with orange juice, some kind of sausage, home fries, "omelette" (not really), a meat ball type of thing and a neat pastry almost like a samosa with potato and meat inside. A very nice coffee to finish it off and we were ready to roll.

Came back after practice and got some work done while we were awaiting details on the practices, scrimmages, etc. Our practice was scheduled for a 2:30 departure but as often happens at these events, the gym and the time got changed so we ended up going to a closer gym and left at 3.

We followed the U.S. men in their practice and they were nice enough to let us do our warmup on a big space off the end of the court. They are a talented team.
Our practice was slated for an hour but after the first hour we were told the next team wasn't coming so we would adjust our time and keep practicing. We needed it to get the travel legs out of us. We had travel brains as well because the first part was pretty bad but it got better and better as we went along.

One of our surprises today was delivered by our russian leader, Alina. She is a bright 16 year old girl and she was able to talk the security people into giving her our food last night after we left. She put it in a big suitcase and had it on the bus for us. We still can't bring it in but she is working on that part too. She will keep it on the bus everyday which is very nice of her. She is great so far.

After practice we traveled back to the village and we headed to dinner. Lots of variety again. I went with the pork patties, beef and saurkraut dumplings (YUMMY) and another of the samosa type things. I also added a rice and beef filled pastry. A good dinner.

After dinner we took the girls to the fitness centre for a quick workout and then the coaches walked around the village. Still lots to see and it is a busy spot. We saw most of the buildings we think and then stopped by the main stage where there was a young girl who was singing. Very talented. Traditional russian music and some more of the club music from Russia. She was good and she had the athletes from all different countries up dancing. Very nice.

After that we walked back to our building and sat outside for a few minutes to chat. I then came upstairs and did some work and threw some laundry in the machine. Free laundry. How sweet is that. I am used to washing things in the sink. This is awesome.

So tomorrow is a bit of a busy day. We have meetings in the morning with the mission staff and then medical meetings. After that we have a team pic and then we have lunch. We are scrimmaging against Australia tomorrow so that should be fun. Fun to get to play against another team and fun for me to coach against a good coach from Australia.

Below are a few pics from the day. I will catch up again tomorrow.

Until then.......