World Cup: Game Day #1

Today we play Ireland in our first World Cup match. I'm not sure words can truly describe my emotions right now, but I'll do my best...

Sleep: I've been sleeping like a...no, better than a champ the past few days. I sleep 6-7 hours each night and take at least a 2 hour nap during the day-sometimes doubling up on them. Sleep is the ultimate recovery and relaxation for me. Despite my best efforts though, I still awoke at the crack of dawn and was almost an hour early for breakfast-a bit of my anxiety/jitters revealed here. 

Food: Although being a vegetarian on the road is not the easiest or most satisfying, I have managed to intake at least double my fruit requirements over the last week. The sugar in fruit has become my new coffee and also somehow had a calming effect on me. Very weird, but very true. 

The real stuff...

Anxiety: I have had nervous jitters for days! I'm typically not one to feel nervous until we take the field and the whistle is about to blow. However, this time around I've been nervous on and off for many days now. It comes in waves and usually can be managed with laughter or a dip in the pool-thankfully both are easily accessible. 

Preparation: It can honestly be said that we are as prepared as we could ever be for this match. As a team we have worked incredibly hard on and off the field to prepare our minds and bodies to be in top performance mode today. I have watched more video, done more drills and talked more rugby than ever before. There is not one thing missing from our preparations. 

Fun: I love laughing! I love being around people who like to laugh. I'm fortunate that there are a lot of teammates who enjoy the same space, so there has been quite a lot of laughter here in France. We try to keep our silliness off the field, but people as funny as us can't be held back ;) 

Focus: Today we all have one focus. This match against Ireland is all that counts. This is the game we've worked so hard for. We cannot see beyond this game. We have worked this entire cycle, given up much and pushed each other beyond our thresholds for this match. Everything comes down to today and what we display on the field. Of course we cannot control the other team, but we can control our game and our decisions. Today we get to take the field with each other, with our friends and family backing us, with joy in our hearts to represent a country and an ever growing sport. It's game time! 

watch on tv: NBC Universal

watch online: universalsports.com

free 48 hour Dish preview (good for one match): http://www.dishworld.com/freepreview

schedule: http://universalsports.com/2013/10/23/2014-rugby-viewing-schedule/ 

roster: http://usarugby.org/womens-eagles-news/item/daley-to-captain-eagles-against-ireland-at-irb-women-s-rugby-world-cup-2014 

*Monochromatic Monday*

30th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Theme parties are my absolute favorite! I love dressing up. I love taking pictures in costume. I love seeing everyone's ideas and costumes. 

American flag

This first week of residency is proving to be an easy favorite. Every day we have a new theme-Singlet Sunday was the first. Today was Monochromatic Monday AND my birthday! My black dress came in handy and did double duty as my monochromatic birthday suit :) 

I have to say that our costumes were pretty incredible and have made me smile, despite the fact that I am officially old and feeling the effects of being 30 already ;)

Première Journées

BLK!

We traveled to France on Friday after receiving a new set of kit from BLK. We got super soft sweatpants that I LOVE! The flight was one of my best yet. I fell asleep just as we took off and didn't wake up until shortly before landing-that never happens! Obviously, this was destined to be a great trip ;)

landing in Paris

nap time to Granville

We landed in Paris around 10am, loaded up the bus and took a 4 hour ride up north to our home for the next 2 weeks. We are staying in Granville, France which is on the north-eastern coast. It is BEAUTIFUL here! Although the clouds have settled over us quite a few times, there are no complaints! Instead of a hotel, we're staying at a sailing club with incredible views and lots of water sport enthusiasts. My bed faces the ocean-couldn't get any better!

our bus-Olympic style

Jet lag hasn't been too bad so far. We've had double session days so far, so our legs are flushing out the fatigue while getting in some great rugby practice. The vibe is good with high energy and focus on execution and precision in our final prep days before World Cup begins August 1st.

Granville: view from bed

NYRC - Thank You

I started playing with New York Rugby Club in 2006-a move I made straight out of college to play rugby with the BEST in the country. I was thrilled and star struck in a matter of moments. Everyone who was a part of the NYRC community welcomed me (as well as the rest of my amazing rookie class) with open arms. I felt the familial embrace immediately.

I was fortunate enough to visit New York for a few days this week prior to departing for the World Cup in France. I visited with teammates, their babies and friends and was overcome with nostalgia and happiness. The amount of pride I feel when I'm around the NYRC community is immense.

I was interviewed for an article to be published in the NYRC newsletter leading up to the 85th Anniversary celebration. It was an opportunity to reflect on my time with the club and to remember where I came from in my rugby career. One notable memory came at the very beginning of my time in NYC. During a fitness session with the team our then coach Drew Fautley yelled out to me "If you want to be an Eagle, you have to train like an Eagle!" I have always remembered that moment as a push to work harder for what I wanted in rugby. It also showed me that I had such great support behind me--something that only grew with time.

NYRC has been an incredible family to me over the years. I have given to the family and received from the family, just as any other person who has been a part of the club has. As I prepare to wear the USA jersey once more I am overcome with joy and gratefulness of being a part of this club. NYRC - thank you for pushing me, consoling me, cheering for me, loving me, and embracing me as both a rugby player and a person. This one's for you ;)

FOR THE CLUB

Jersey Ceremony..round 2!

Tonight's jersey ceremony was equally as special as the first of this tour. We presented jerseys to our teammates filling the evening with lots of special speeches. Our new sponsor, BLK, provided us with new jerseys that are way cool! Tomorrow we play England in our final warmup match before the World Cup. Bring it on!

Stonehenge!!

Ready to drive!

After an intense morning lift and practice we were released to have fun and play in England. A few girls went into London to sightsee, most of the team went to Guilford (the nearest town to our hotel) for shopping, and a few girls stayed at the hotel for downtime and tv/movie watching.

Bui, Hannah, myself & Amanda Hibbert (videographer) went to see Stonehenge! It was an hour drive from the hotel (thanks Amanda for inviting us and being our chauffeur). We arrived, picked up our audio tour machines and set off for the rocks!

I am so impressed with how people moved tons of massive rocks over 150 miles to build this monument. Historians still don't agree or know exactly how the rocks were moved, but they know it took over 100 people to do it..and a lot of time! 

The rocks are meant to stand for the dead, once being a burial ground and crematorium. There is also a wooden henge nearby meant for the living (we didn't visit that). I learned a lot about the history of the area, the people who built the henge and different proposed theories for why it was built and exactly how. It was quite the experience. 

This day off was so rewarding! And to think, I almost stayed indoors...

England Scrimmage

Today we played a scrimmage against England. It was not an official test match--4 periods, 25 minutes each. We played each match with a different lineup and as if it were it's own game. I did not play in this scrimmage, but was on the video crew. It turns out it was a great idea to switch from being a film major in college because I was terrible with the camera! Being on the sidelines allows for a different perspective for the players on the field, so I tried to help out with pointers based on individual goals. I also went through a killer watt bike (just learned what this is) workout with one of our strength trainers, Adam. Appropriately, my legs and glutes were fired up and burnt out as the team prepped for match time.

The game was certainly a learning experience for all of us in many ways. We played a lot of defense and got much better communicating with each other and moving around the ball. The four period structure gave us the opportunity to play with many different combinations which will benefit us as we move forward to the World Cup.

Leading up to this match day, we had 2 days of training back in Wales. The first was a 2 session day, the second with 1 training session. Our 3 practices were intense and focused on specifics of our game that we could improve before this match.

Wales was a really great place to visit and train. The people there were always friendly and kind to us. We made good friends with one of the night shift workers at the hotel, so much so that he just walked into our room to chat..what a gem ;) I'm happy to add a new country to my list of places I've been!

Game Day -- Recovery Day

We started game day with a walk through led by our captain, Kate Daley. It was short and sharp and focused our minds on the task ahead. After an hour long bus ride to the pitch we started to settle in and do our individual game day prep. Headphones on, I got in the zone then started to link up with my teammates in the locker room. 

Our warmup begins with a short gym session to get our muscles firing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! I get so amped and love throwing up weights! The music is blasting and the energy is high. We crank our 30 minutes of lifting then take to the field to start individual warmups. It was raining, naturally, during our entire warmup. The overall team vibe was incredibly focused and on point. It felt so great! The rain felt great and seemed to focus us. 

Game time. I felt my usual pre-game nerves kick in somewhere between the national anthems and the first whistle. Once we got going the nerves left, but I didn’t get myself into a good swing for another 40-50 minutes-ugh. Both teams were playing really hard! There was a lot of back and forth play, often due to slippery ball. I ran in a ball to the corner for the first try of the game somewhere around the 38 minute mark - a very necessary boost needed before the half! 

We made a few tactical changes at the half and tightened up our defensive focus. The rain stopped just long enough for us to sit in the locker rooms and started up again as we kicked off the second half. Perfect ;) The first minutes of the half felt promising, but we slipped defensively and let in an early try. The battle raged on from both sides! We made some critical errors, but also some amazing breaks. It was a very hotly contested match-so hard, but so fun. We went out on top with a penalty kick from Kimber. Our first match on tour, our first win. Happy with the result, but not necessarily with the overall performance. We have some work to put in before the next match and eventually World Cup. 

Cheers for Bui!

Bui played her very first USA 15s match and we celebrated with the Welsh over dinner (along with their newly capped player)!

Now we focus on recovery. Today was a day off (besides our mobility gym session). Most of the team headed into Cardiff for sight seeing. I stuck to the hotel for a long nap, reading and some major chill time! :) Tonight we meet to bring our focus together for our upcoming matches against England. And tomorrow we start the physical work to get us to another win! 

Jersey Ceremony!

Tonight's jersey ceremony was my first 15s ceremony in over 2 years. It was an incredibly special moment filled with smiles, tears and lots of laughs. Something I love about this team is that the connections we build are forever shaping us. We grow together everyday and learn more and more about each other everyday. Today we each gave a jersey to a teammate-another way to show our connectedness and appreciation.


I received my jersey from Kimber :) It was perfect. Kimber and I have been through a lot in our relatively short history as friends & teammates and I am happy she was the one to officially welcome me onto the roster. I presented a jersey to Meya and although we have never played 15s together I am so so excited to play next to her!

Tomorrow we play against Wales..tonight we accepted the USA jersey that will outfit us through that battle. Bring it on..we're more than ready!

Learning Day +

Gym time

Yesterday was a two session training day. We didn’t have a lot of down time during the day. We lift before going out to the field and have meetings, so the day fills up pretty quickly. Between sessions I got in a pretty decent nap-so thankful for that hour! Our sessions were very physical and we learned some new information to take into our first match against Wales. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed at one point, but by the end of the day I felt more confident about our new skills and mentality. 

My roommates are Lauren & Deven - we had some chill convos lying in our three respective beds. After some friend time with others and some reading I was off to sleep and recover. The day went by really quickly and it’s hard for me to remember a lot that happened now (I’ll blame jet lag). 

This morning we had another practice focusing on tactical decision making around the field and execution. It was fast paced and incredibly productive. We did a lot in a about an hour and executed really well! Go team go! :) 

We took a trip to the match field early this afternoon. It’s about a 45 minute drive from our hotel at Cross Keys. Cross Keys is in the valley in the northern region of southern Wales. It used to be a big coal mining area and apparently Americans took a bunch of people from this region and had them work the mines in the US. Soooo...yeah, back to rugby ;) The field is surrounded by beautiful hills..in fact, the field itself has a bit of a slope to it as well. Rugby is a huge community event in the area, so it’s a pretty big deal that we get to play there. The vibe is good within the team and the energy is increasing as we get closer to game time!