On Friday afternoon, I set out for a long drive to Niagara Falls... We got to the hotel at around 7pm and then went for a late dinner... After getting back to the hotel after dinner it was straight to bed... Every minute of sleep was gonna help with the 6:30am alarm that I had to wake ip to. My team and I breakfast together at 7:00am and after that shared our expectations for the Niagara Fury Tune-Up Tournament we were attending that day. We all agreed that this would be a learning experience and that today would be the day we grow as a team and show physical and mental toughness individually. We held our ground nicely as we faced Premier teams like the Scorpions, and Championship teams like Burlington Blaze black. We ended up coming fourth in our pool, which meant that we were to play the fifth place team, Niagara Rapids... We had beat them by the skin of our teeth in our first game that morning... But we weren't able to do it again and within the first round of playoffs we were packing our bags. But we did not hang our heads. We knew we had played well and that the travel was well worth out time. Personally, this tournament pushed me to be a better player mentally and I'm thankful for that because I needed it for my first Maccabiah Canada junior women's practice with the team The following afternoon.
Fortunately, I was able to sleep in, and at around 11:00am we hit the road towards Markham, for the practice was scheduled for 4:00pm. Stopping on the way for a bit of shopping (how could I resist) and a pit stop to stretch the legs we got to the gym early which gave me time to stretch out with my foam roller (A.K.A my muscles' best friend). Unfortunately, only 6 girls could make it to practice, because two are currently injured... But we made the most of our hour and a half! A little bit of passing and setting to warm up and then straight into serve receive we went. I had some major butterflies to start out but as the practice went on, I got more and more comfortable. In my opinion, as a team we were meshing very well and being very communicative with one another. Needless to say I am more than excited to practice with all the girls again!
All in all this weekend was a great weekend for me and I learned a lot. I'm really content with my performance this weekend and it made me realize what I have to work on as a setter! I'm back on the court tomorrow for a practice and a conditioning session with my team so wish me luck and stay updated for pictures from the tournament !!!
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