So Lets Start Re-living

So I guess now would be as good as time as any to start writing about my experiences with women's soccer.

I thought about writing a book about everything I've done in athletics but honestly, no one would buy it...it's not like anyone reads this anyway.

I sort of don't want to write about players yet, or using their names. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.

The first thing I will write about is my favorite road trip.

I've really had to think hard about this one. My first trip was to the NCAA's in 2009. I drove myself, so it wasn't a full fledged trip, but I did spend the night in the hotel. I remember breakfast being a learning experience. As a morning person I was extremely hungry when I woke up at 7:00am, but breakfast with the team wasn't supposed to be until around 10. I ended up eating a snack size bag or two of potato chips to hold me over. Then I felt so weird being at breakfast in the first place. I was so hesitant to actually go and sit with the team for breakfast. I finally did, but I waited until the last possible second before I went in to eat.

I've always felt really lucky and blessed to be able to travel with the team. I feel like I owe so much since the team, school and state is paying a plane ticket for me, a hotel room for me and food for me. I don't ever take a trip for granted, and really feel lucky the entire time. I also felt like I was representing my state and school at all times on the road. I tried to conduct myself in the best way possible, so that people in places like West Virginia, would have a good impression of people from Connecticut.

I also love flying. I LOVE FLYING and love taking off and landing. I don't remember our first plane trip to Pittsburgh all that much to be honest. The only thing I remember is arranging the baggage at the baggage claim in numerical order.

Usually I correlate winning with favorite road trips. There are three trips that stick out to me. One was to Notre Dame for the Big East Tournament. That one only sticks out for the winning. Another was our trip to Wake Forest this year. I loved seeing my Aunt, seeing us beat a ranked team at their place and getting to eat my first Krispy Kreme donuts. I also liked that we stayed in the same place for an entire weekend. However, I think this trip finishes a close second to our trip to South Florida.

South Florida was a really special trip to me. First of all it's Florida, and I love warm weather and the state. When I was a sophomore I paid my own way to take a trip to report on the Women's Final Four in Tampa, in which UConn lost to Stanford. I spent a lot of time with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins, and 2nd cousins when I was there. It meant a lot to me to see them, since it's rare that I get too. It was also special because my Aunt was diagnosed with cancer so I really was glad to spend time with her. I vowed to work hard so that I could hopefully get the chance to return to South Florida while representing UCONN.

I had really hoped to see my Aunt again this year, but unfortunately she passed away about four months before our trip. Even though I missed her, I was able to see the rest of my family. My Uncle visited before the South Florida game, and saw my cousins and their families before the game. I was really glad to give away nine tickets for that game.

I made sure to bring gifts for the boys (my cousins each have two sons...Keaton, Caden, Will and Morgen) who went to the game. All of them play soccer, and Caden knows everything about the game for someone his age. He is also really good. He scored nine of his teams ten goals in a game, while playing a quarter in goal. I packed prize packs from athletic marketing full of promotional items for each of the boys and had our team sign posters for them. I even had a player personalize a team autographed photo for them. I got my uncle a t-shirt too. I've gotten so many gifts and it meant a lot that I could give something back.

When the boys got to the game I got some hugs and hellos and then I took them behind our goal during warm-ups to help collect the ball. The boys had so much fun chasing the balls kicked over in warm ups. (I have a list of players who are best known for making people chase after a ball that I will release later. Long Islander's are on it). The boys ran around like maniacs expending energy and making operations job easier. One of them even told Coach what they were doing, and they made coach smile. I was actually a little concerned about safety and their loudness during warm ups. They were screaming behind the goal and I wasn't sure if that would bother our team. Morgen, who is referred to as a dare devil, is the youngest one and I had to keep my eye on him and what was going on. Morgen seemed to want to climb on to the field and I was not about to let that happen.

Even though seeing my family was brief, it meant a lot to me. I said goodbye to the boys at halftime, as it was late and getting near their bed time. I spent longer than ever before in the bleachers before half. I was climbing up the ladder to film just seconds before the second half kickoff. It's the only time I haven't been ready to film three minutes before the half starts.

The fact that we won cemented the South Florida trip as my favorite trip. Devin Prendergast netted the game winner and it made my day. That goal meant a lot to me because it allowed me to make the trip to South Florida an all around success.

There were other things I liked about our South Florida trip. It was my favorite hotel that I stayed in. I had a bedroom and living room with two TV's just for me. The television also had all of the sports channels imaginable, and had them at the top of their channel line-up. The free Chocolate Chip cookies was an added bonus. My only complaint is that the bike in the fitness center did not work. However, the awesome breakfast entirely made up for that. I got to eat yummy (yes using that word) waffles and french toast sticks, with syrup of course, for breakfast twice. SO GOOD. I really enjoyed sitting with the assistant volleyball coach at the bar the night before our game too. I don't shoot the breeze and hang out as often as I should, but I really enjoyed doing that. I also really loved the South Florida campus. It was beautiful and I enjoyed the run I went on around campus on the morning of our game day. It really made me wonder why I didn't go to Florida for college. I love getting up in the morning and going outside to find it's 70 degrees.

Oh and I really loved that our players cared enough about me to have the hotel send me two extra pillows without asking for them....The things you can do when you know people's room number.