Post Game

Here are the highlights from the Championship Game:

Women World Championship Game 2010 from BoisEntertainment on Vimeo.


Here's the website with all the highlight videos, tournament stats, all-star team, etc.
http://iof1.idrottonline.se/templates/News.aspx?id=13553

Day 18

Here are some photos from the championship game:

Some of the Canadian team

The trophies and medals

63 - Jaime Menzyk was the player of the game.  We ran the ball the entire second half and she's on the O-Line.

Post game celebration.  I think coach just found out we were going to go for ice cream afterward.

Here's the medal.  I'm pretty sure I have a more impressive medal from the hopscotch compitition at my neighborhood block party.

Holly and me on the field after the game.  She wore my practice jersey to all the games and it caught on with other fans.  I noticed quite a few at the Championship game.

Coach Mac was the defensive back and kicking coach from Wisconsin.  He's very intense, animated, emotional, sentimental and knowledgeable.  It was nice to work with him for a couple of weeks.

Mom and Dad after the game.

Hmmmm.  I wonder why mom wanted this photo...  That's our starting QB - Jenny Schmidt from Kansas City.

This is our other QB from Chicago - Sami Grisafe.  She's the great singer and ukulele player.

Day 17

I went to see the Vasa ship this morning. It was a Swedish battle ship from the 1600s that they were going to use to fight Poland. It sailed for about 1,500 Km before sinking. It was a windy day and it was believed that the cannons weren't tied down well enough, so when the wind blew the ship sideways, the cannons all shifted to that side of the boat and allowed water in the cannon holes. The ship sat on the bottom of the harbor for 333 years. Luckily the mix of fresh water from inland and salty water from the Sea wasn't salty enough for the wood eating worms to flourish, so the ship remained fairly well preserved. In 1961 it was found and efforts began to bring the ship up from the sea floor. The museum shows how they were able to raise the ship and preserve it's pieces. About 30 people died when the ship sank and about half of their skeletons were found in the restoration. I won't bore you with more detail, but it was a really interesting museum.

Then I went on a jeans hunt... But first I found a pair of shoes. =) Knowing I have some luggage limitations, I stopped myself from buying anything else that wasn't a pair of jeans. In the store a guy came up and asked what size I needed. I told him 36" length. He then looked at the top of my head and said, "Oh no no. 32 will do." Hmmmm okay. Maybe they measure differently here or maybe he doesn't realize my torso is about 5" long and the rest is leg. So I tried on the pair he gave me and it almost covered my ankle. I ended up buying the 36" pair. They're an Italian designer, but cheaper than my latest Italian pair that I had to order online (I think this is the first thing I bought here that I thought was a good deal).

After shopping, I headed a few subway stops away for some Hardrock Cafe nachos. My intent was to get the fajitas because I LOVE them there, but I decided lunch wasn't worth $30. No wonder Europeans are skinnier than we are, I'd go broke trying to eat as much as I do at home. In Des Moines, I live to eat... for the past 2 weeks I eat to live.

The Absolut Icebar is tonight and I can't wait, only because it means that we're closer to leaving. Stockholm is great, but 10 days is way to much. You can see everything in 2-3 days.

Can't wait to get home to softball, food, my bed and air conditioning. Looking forward to seeing you all!!

GOLD MEDAL!!

We won 66-0!!! It was 51-0 at halftime, so we stopped throwing the ball and ran the same play over and over again in the second half. We have 6 running backs and 3 quarterbacks so they rotated in every play.

Our defense posted 3 shutouts! The combined scores of the three games was 201-0. It was fun to be a part of.

For the first night in over 2 weeks, I don't have a curfew or a schedule to follow. Tomorrow, I'm going to see the ship that sank on it's maiden voyage hundreds of years ago and was pulled out of the water recently. I'll have better details after I go see it. The team has reserved the ice bar for an hour tomorrow night. We'll be the only ones in there. According to my parents, that's about all that will fit anyway.

There is also the Red Bull build-something-that-will-help-you-fly-off-this-dock-after-a-running-start competition at noon tomorrow. I've seen it on TV and I think it would be fun to watch.

Day 16

I've not been great with posting photos because most of my posts are from a shared computer in the lobby, so I can't download pictures.  So here's a few from the week:

Holly in McDonalds.  We've visited here often.  It's so light outside that you don't even realize it's nearing 10pm when real food closes, so we end up going to McDonald's for a cheeseburger or ice cream.

Here's the sky at night.  Can you see the clock in the picture?  It's kind of small, but it's almost 11pm.  The dome at the end of the street is the Erickson Dome.  A sports arena of some sort (probably for soccer).

A palace guard.  They're not as serious as the London guards.  This guy would look at me until I raised my camera.  I took 3 pictures of him.  He would watch me move or get closer, but as soon as I lifted my camera, he would look straight ahead.  I thought it was kind of funny.

Here are three former Iowa Crush players who are all on Team USA.  Rusty Sowers played for the Crush in 2006.  She currently plays on the Kansas City Tribe as a wide receiver.  Roseanna Smith played for the Crush in 2004.  She currently plays for Atlanta Explosion as a center.  And then me.  I played on the Crush from 2008-2010.

Here are a few photos from our game against Finland.

Here are the highlights:

WWC Finland vs USA from BoisEntertainment on Vimeo.

Here are the highlights from our first game.  You can see me make a tackle around 2:15 into the clip:


WWC USA vs Austria from BoisEntertainment on Vimeo.

The 5th place game is underway and we just got an update.  Austria was up 12-0 when their safety intercepted a ball and ran the wrong way for a safety.  So it's 12-2.  How does that happen?

Day 15

The game yesterday was a lot of fun.  I'm not sure if our coaches are making this stuff up to get us pumped for the games, or if it really happens, but most of the other teams are making silly comments about us.  A Canadian coach was saying that we are a bunch of all-stars that won't mesh as a team.  Germany said that we have great players, but our coaches weren't good.  The Finland QB said that she hoped to beat USA like they did Austria...  It sounds like a bunch of locker room bulletin board stuff, but it gave them an excuse to make the theme of game two "leave no doubt".  We let up a little at the end, but we still scored 72 points in a game with 12 minute quarters.  That's a 48 minute game and 10 touchdowns.  So a touchdown every 5 minutes...  We scored more points in that game than the entire group B has scored in the whole tournament (they've scored 64 points - that's 3 teams with 2 games each).  I heard that on the IFAF website, someone was quoted saying that Finland could score 25-30 on us.  That didn't sit well with our defensive coordinator.  No one likes the favorite, and we're taking it personally.  On a side note, I think Sweden likes us because we cheer loudly for them at their games.

Today is post-game stretching and some game film.  We have practice tonight on the field from 7-9pm.  Tomorrow is the big dance.  Once the game is over, we have to go to the IFAF BBQ sponsored by the IWFL.  There is no drinking there, so the second afterparty will start around midnight.  We may not have known each other two weeks ago as we were all flying out of our home towns to meet in Austin, but we've had some quality bonding time since then and everyone is looking forward to a drink or two ;)

Last night before curfew, Grisafe was singing and playing her Ukulele out on the patio.  A crowd quickly formed to listen.  Holly and I were eating ice cream, so we listened for a while.  She sang two songs she wrote and then a couple that we all knew.  She is a great musician.  There have been many times where she gets the team going on a song and it really lightens the mood and takes the edge off.  One of our managers broke up the party at 11pm to send us to our rooms.  There was a big collective moan from players and other hotel guests.

I just realized that today is Friday and it's already after noon.  It's one of those vacations where I lose track quickly.  I count days to our next game, rather than days of the week.  Each morning when we get up, there's a schedule posted on the manager's door.  I look forward to the down time when I can take the bus or subway to the Clarion where Mom, Dad and Holly are staying.  Today our down time is confined to the hotel because they will call us in for game film at any time.  They may call individual players or the entire defensive line, for example.  So I'm stuck here from 12:30 until 4:30.  Holly is bringing some pizza at 1:00 for lunch.

I think Mom, Dad and Holly have done all the site-seeing that they planned on doing.  They talked about jumping on a bus and just riding it for a while.  I haven't gotten to do much, but I'll have all day Sunday to myself.  Mom, Dad and Holly leave in the morning and most of the team will be recovering from a late night celebration.  I think I'll try to do some shopping.  I've seen some really cool jeans here so I may try to hunt down the shopping district.  That way no one will get annoyed with me (Toes) for spending 4 hours looking for one pair.  We'll see.

Day 14

Game Day!!

Let me be the first to say happy birthday to Matt.  I know I'm the first because I'm 7 hours ahead of you.  I hope you have a wonderful day.  And another happy birthday to my niece, Allison.  She's 1 today! =)

Here's a photo of Holly in front of the compound:

I've actually grown to like the hotel when I'm not in our room.  The food is good and they have a nice patio.  I'm glad that we're not in the dorms with the other teams because they are over 20 minutes away and not close to anything.  We can walk a few blocks for food, groceries, the bus, subway and the field.  It's really nice.

This morning we take pictures on the field and then have a walk through.  We play at 6pm, which is 11am for most of you.  I'll let you know how it goes.

WE WON!!!  Final score was USA 72,  Finland 0.  The Championship Gold Medal game is Saturday at noon central time against Canada.  They beat Germany today 20-12.  So here's a run down of what's happened:

USA 63, Austria 0

Canada 12, Sweden 6

Finland 50, Austria 16

Germany 14, Sweden 0

Canada 20, Germany 12

USA 72, Finland 0

For 5th: Sweden vs Austria

For Bronze: Germany vs Finland

For Gold: USA vs Canada

I played well today.  I had two good punts and I knocked down a pass on the sidelines.  Finland had a lot of 3 and outs.  I was hoping they would pass more, but they did a lot of running in the second half (probably to run the clock out).

ONE MORE GAME!!!

Day 13 - From cell block 436

We're officailly on lockdown... If we didn't feel like we were in prison camp before, we do now.  Not allowed to leave the hotel all day and it sounds like that will be enforced through our final game on Saturday.  Today we had practice followed by a scouting report classroom session on Finland.  We currently have an hour for dinner and then have to meet again for more film sessions and a success period.  Lights out at 10:45.  I'm having 5th grade flashbacks...

They're trying to keep us focused on why we're here.  We can't overlook anybody.  Finland beat Austria 50-16 yesterday and following the game, their QB told our coach, "hopefully we win USA too".  There may be a language barrier there, but we got the point.  They think they can beat us and our mission for the game is to leave no doubt.  The pressure is on the DBs to hold them scoreless.  I don't want to find out what happens if we get scored on.  And if we can keep them from scoring, we win.

We are guaranteed at least 4th place at this point because both Sweden and Austria have lost twice.  They will play for 5th place on Saturday.

Mom, Dad and Holly are on a dinner cruise as I type this.  That sounds nice...  like a good use of PTO.  Mom and Dad were out all day yesterday while Holly and I watched the other teams play.  They went to the Absolute Ice Bar where everything is made out of ice.  You get a parka with gloves and a fur lined hood when you walk in because the temperature is about 30 degrees inside.  The glasses are blocks of ice with holes drilled into them.  You have to hold the glasses with gloves.  They said that all the ice was cut out of lakes up north.  I'll post some pictures if I ever get out off the compound.

Today I took a shower with my practice gear because there is one washer and dryer in all of Stockholm.  The line for 45 players to wash clothes is about 30 players long, so I problem solved.  Let's hope everything dries in our hot and humid room before our walk-thru tomorrow. Hmmmm.  I also washed some clothes in my parent's sink this morning.  Have I mentioned that this is the best vacation of all time?  This makes fishing feel like an all-inclusive pamperfest.

Gold medal.  Gold medal.  Gold medal.  It will all be worth it.  World Champions.  Representing our country.  Growing the sport.  One team, one mission.  And repeat...

Day 11

It's supposed to be bedtime, but we were all hungry and it's light outside so we went on a food hunt.  Dad and Holly wanted pizza, but go figure, everything was closed...  Except McDonald's.  It's not so easy to order here.  They don't have the full menu posted.  Instead they have the giant flat screens with select menu items posted.  They have slightly different names too.  Yesterday we had Daim McFlurries (which means Heath Bar).  Today we wanted the two cheeseburger meal, but that doesn't exist, so we settled for the QP Cheeseburger and the Fiesta Burger (quarter pounder with cheese and a Mr Tasty).  They cost 42 each.

We've learned that 25% sales tax sucks.  We've also learned that they often leave the denomination off the total when speaking.  When they DO say the denomination it's either Crowns, Pounds, or Dollars but they're always refering to the Swedish currency of Kronor...  The exchange rate is 7.4 SEK per 1 USD, so we paid over $5 per sandwich.  ouch.

I posted a few more pictures on Day 5 if you want to go back and look.

Brian - Mom would love if you would call Grandma Schmidt sometime and let her know how things are going here and that we won our first game.  Comment back if you can do that.

Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad!!!  We went on the hunt for seafood tonight, but settled for some pasta scampi and baked char at a non-seafood place.  You live, you learn... but it was just nice to go out and celebrate 41 years!  And they still hold hands. =)

Day 10

We went on a bus tour today and got to see the Palace where the King and Queen live.  The princess just got married a week ago, so that was big news here.  We saw the church where that happened and some of the decorations are still up.  We saw where Tiger Woods has a flat for when he and Elin (sp?) stay here.  There are 86,000 lakes in Sweden, so that's why Swedish people like to live in Minnesota too. =)

Stockholm has 2 million people.  They were voted the greenest city in Europe for all of their recent green efforts.  Most people here do not drive cars.  They have vowed to be petroleum free in 20 years.  All of their public busses use biodeisel (that's the clean stuff, right?)  Most people use public transportion or they ride bikes.  There are bike lanes everywhere.

Sweden's biggest holiday was the Friday that we got here.  It was mid-summer's holiday.  It's like Christmas, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July all in one.  It's a big family holiday where no one works.  Everything is closed and people are out in the parks celebrating the longest day of the year.  We have 18 hours of sunlight, but even when the sun officially sets, it's still light out.  We woke up at 3am two nights ago and it felt like 9am.  It was hard to get back to sleep.  The darkest part of the day is around 1am, but it still looks like dawn a bit.

We watched Canada play Sweden last night and neither team looks great.  Canada won 12-6.  Today is a day off, but we're watching film for a couple of hours and then have a walk through before dinner.  Tomorrow we'll watch Austria vs Finland and Germany vs Sweden.  We play Finland on Thursday and then probably Germany on Sunday for the gold medal.

Day 9 - Post Game

We Won!!!  63-0.  Here's my uniform when we got it in Austin:

The whole team after a classroom session.  I'm on the left.

Here's a photo from the game.  I realize it's small, but it shows some buildings around the stadium.  It's a neat stadium and not very nice at the same time.  Most of Stockholm is beautiful and very clean.  This field isn't made for football.  In fact, it's only 98 yards long! Hahaha!

 

This is in our game against Austria.  She had caught this ball a split second before I hit her.  It was one of my few highlights during the game.  I made a couple tackles, had a terrible punt and then a really good punt.  It was a nice game to start with.

 

After the handshakes

Day 9

Game Day!!

We got to Stockholm safely and I already love this city.  It's very cute and the weather is perfect.

The field leaves something to be desired... matted down turf with something like kitty litter instead of rubber pellets.  One of the uprights is bent inward, but it's the same for everyone.  We heard that they were only selling 120 tickets at the gate today, so cross your fingers that Mom, Dad and Holly can get 3 of those.'

Our hotel, eh hmm, excuse me...  Hostel sucks a$$.  There are four of us to each cracker jack box.  I'm sleeping on a bed that folds out of the wall.  No air conditioning.  No ice.  So I escaped last night to stay with Mom, Dad and Holly in the Clarion about a mile and a half up the road.  We watched the USA soccer game and went to bed.  That was nice.  One of the first times I didn't feel like I was in a prison camp.

So.  We play Austria today.  We're trying not to be over-confident, but the tournament director told us to go easy on them.  We're trying to advance the sport, not kill people.  We ate dinner after Austria on Friday, so we got to see them all smoking while eating their second helping of ice cream.  Hmmm.  Then they pulled out a football and inspected it as if to say, "this isn't that different from a rugby ball".

Have to run for pictures.  The game is supposed to be broadcast over the internet somewhere.  Check the IWFL website.  It's at 5am central time on Sunday.

Day 5

PRACTICE IS OVER!!!

I never thought this time would come. First of all, I never thought they would practice us so hard.  They crammed more into the past 4 days than we covered in our whole season - including some conditioning.  And my legs could tell you about it.  I feel like a 30 year old in a 60 year old's body (no offense Dad). 

When I left home last Saturday, I most dreaded the long flight over the ocean.  Now I can't wait.  There is no way they can make us run sprints, back peddle, tackle, punt, kick or hit on a plane.  And it won't be 100 degrees either.  It's just me, my playbook, and my restless legs.

A number of players and coaches have been doing phone interviews.  Word is that they will be on ESPN radio at some point.  I know that doesn't help, but USA Football is the one conducting the interviews, so there may be some stuff posted on their website as well.  I saw that there was a little clip in the Des Moines Register about me making the team and upcoming tournament.  Not sure who tipped them off, but that was nice.

I have now packed for Sweden for the second time.  With all the gear that they gave us, I had to ship a piece of luggage home.  $32 is cheaper than checking another bag full of stuff that I don't need in Sweden.  Bus leaves at 6am tomorrow for our 10am flight out of here.  It sounds like we'll have a decent group of fans since I've talked to quite a few players who are bringing teammates, girlfriends, coaches or family.  Kez (owner of IWFL) thinks that the weekday games may have a decent local turnout.  That would be a lot of fun and since we don't play Sweden, they may cheer for us (well, probably not).  But that's okay.

I was looking like the starting free safety after the first day of practice, but on day 2, I got beat deep twice and lost it.  So I probably won't start, but I'll be free safety and likely the punter.  Emily Williams, from Dallas, is a much more consistent field goal kicker and so she'll be doing those and the kickoffs as well.  These last two days, I've really gotten the hang of free safety.  I learned that I was getting beat because I watch the QB instead of the receivers.  I'd sort of back peddle in the direction she was looking, but by the time she threw it, the receiver was already even with me, but out wide.  Now I watch the guard to see if it's a run or a pass.  If it's a pass, I watch the receivers who are threatening my zone.  Yeah, it's pretty basic, but I have very little practice at this stuff.  We ran man coverage this year, so this is quite different.  I've always understood the responsibilities in zone coverage, but I never had enough practice to get the hang of it.  Another difference is that these QBs are amazing.  They can throw 30-40 yards easy and it's right on the money.

Today we did a fun drill where Coach Stone had the ball and would throw it at a reciever about 10 yards away while a DB was supposed to close in on them, swipe for the ball in front and then club them in the kidneys with their opposite forarm.  The most fun part of that drill was trying to catch the ball knowing someone was about to hit you.  =)

Amy and Billy are coming to visit shortly, so I need to get some things organized.

This tells you how good I am with the computer...  Here's Silas, Me, Amy, Billy and Savannah at "the beach" as Silas would say.  We ate at Chuy's - a Mexican chain in Texas.  It was really good.  No matter what Billy thinks that salsa had a kick.

Day 4

I know.  I missed a day...  Maybe I'll go back and write something - or maybe not.  I didn't think it was possible to be too tired to blog.  We have a crazy schedule here.  It goes something like this:

6:40 Wake up
7:00 Eat breakfast - avoid anything that tastes good and go for the protein and potassium.  Peanut butter on an apple, yogurt, orange juice and of course, coffee (some things never change).
7:30 Get ready for practice.  That means go through the laundry bag and pull out the clothes that are the most dry.  Lay everything else out so it will be dry for the afternoon practice.  I could have done this when the laundry came back at 10:00pm last night, but let's be real - all I was thinking about was getting to bed.
8:00 Team meeting
8:45 Tape the blister on my right heal that formed (and tore off) during the second practice.  Who buys new shoes before something like this?
9:15 Vans leave for practice.
9:30 Practice
12:30 Vans leave for the hotel
12:45 Shower quickly so I can get down to lunch before the fruit and salad are gone (is this really me typing right now?)
1:00 Lunch - Today we had chicken tacos with salad and fruit.  I also ate a pickle because my hamstrings are like guitar strings right now.  The trainer had to stretch me mid-practice because they were so tight.  He wasn't gentle, but it felt good afterward and I could actually sprint again.
2:00 Free time - This is my best opportunity to keep you all updated because I am exhausted when we finally get another break at night.
2:45 Tape the blister
3:15 Vans leave
3:30 Practice
6:00 Vans head back to the hotel.
6:15 Shower quickly... (Do you see the pattern here?)
6:30 Dinner/Laundry drop-off
7:30 Classroom Session
8:30 Success period - this is a relaxing/meditation time where we lay on the floor in a giant flower pattern, hold hands and imagine something (lacing up our shoes, putting on our socks, girdles, pants, pads, helmets, walking out on the field in Sweden, scoring a touchdown, making a good play, receiving the gold medal, etc).  We also think about what we might have done wrong and how we could work on it at the next practice.  They have a different scenario to imagine each night.
9:30 Free Time
10:00 Laundry returns
10:30 Lights Out

I think I left my camera battery plugged in at home.  Holly is going to check tonight, but that means no pictures until we get to Sweden. =(  I wanted to share the poster that hange in our lunch room because it has messages from some of you who donated money to help me get here.  Everyone wrote such nice and inspirational messages.  Like Mom and Kenn.  Thank you guys for your donation and for the kind words.  And then there's Brian who writes, "Head, shoulders, knees, toes.  Finland sucks and Sweden blows".  Well, thanks for the cash, Brian...

We've gotten through 5 practices and have only 2 left.  It sounds like my cousin, Amy and her kids Silas and Savannah are going to come watch our last practice tomorrow morning.  I should be able to sneak away for lunch afterward, so hopefully that works out.

Wednesday afternoon will be spent packing for Sweden and I'm sure we'll have a meeting or two as well.  I'm probably going to ship a box of stuff home because they gave us a lot of stuff.  I'm not sure I can realistically lug it all around Sweden, so something has to go.

Well, I'm off to get taped...

Day 2

Yesterday was a late night.  We were finally dismissed at 10:30pm from the classroom session so we could get some sleep before we had to get up for 7:30 breakfast.  We got our uniforms and gear yesterday.  I'll try to get some pictures up soon!

Practice #1 - we started off the day with punting practice.  There were two of us alternating through.  We seem equally talented and inconsistent so I'm not sure a starter has been determined yet, but I definitely like the ball better than the IWFL ball.  It's not much bigger, but a little fatter which makes it easier to kick.  The practice field doesn't have yard lines, but I'm guessing we were kicking 35-40 yards most of the time.

Practice lasted 3 hours this morning.  The heat index was 107 and it felt like it for a while.  A much appreciated breeze picked up toward the end of practice.  We went through a LOT of stuff in a 3 hour practice.  There were 2-3 different breakout groups going at all times.  Offense and defense were split so, not surprisingly, there probably won't be many people playing both ways.  I practiced with defense as free safety.  So far so good.

We have a few hours to eat, shower and rest before practice this afternoon.  I'm a little burned and dehydrated, so I'm drinking water and will remember the sunscreen for practice #2.

Day 1

I arrived in Austin at 10am and met up with some teammates in the airport.  Kelly Barker - an OT from Boston, Molly Goodwin - a LB from Boston, Sally Maple - a WR and K from Florida, Roseanna Smith - a C from Atlanta, and two players from New Hampshire (names are escaping me at the moment).  A couple of Pittsburgh players showed up as we were loading the van, Sharon Vasquex (Vaz) - a DB and Olivia Griswold (OG) a DE.  OG lost some luggage in DC, but at least she made it.  I find myself trying to determine who the good players are.  Here's how I judge:  When a new shipment of players comes in, they start to introduce themselves...  When the reaction they get sounds something like this, "Griswold!  I remember YOU!", that means they're good.  I assume everyone here is good, but I'm guessing the quiet ones will impress me most.

The hotel wasn't ready to check us in, so we got a head start on team bonding by killing a couple of hours waiting for our rooms.  We were able to get into our rooms around 3pm and I learned that my roomates for the week are Barker, Brick, and Fish.  We get to share a king sized bed and a full sized pull out...  Sounds like another bonding activity.

Players are still ariving as I type this.  Our schedule for the rest of the day is as follows:

4:00pm   Helmet Fitting
5:30pm   Equipment Hand-out
8:00pm   Classroom Practice

It sounds like we'll be using a bigger ball than what we use in the IWFL.  I'm hoping we learn about what other rules are different for Sweden, but I may have to wait until practice tomorrow.

Team USA Roster

 

T Minus 2 Days

Laundry, Laundry, Laundry - I have seven piles of clothes to get through before I pack on Friday. Things were going smoothly until I went to move some towels and socks into the dryer and found two little red garage towels that had bled all over!!! Grrrrr...




Happy Father's Day - We're celebrating early because my parents have a busy weekend planned and I'm going to be out of town on Sunday. It works out well because my sister-in-law, Jenny, and my niece, Emry, are in town tonight. They're driving from KC to a wedding in MN and could stop by to celebrate with us.






We got Dad some fishing pants and a saw blade. That blade will come in handy when he makes a shoe chest for Holly and me this fall. =)








Errands - We still need an outlet converter for Europe and copies of our passports and birth certificates. My gloves were delivered today and they look like they could do the catching for me... Very tacky - in a good way. No excuses now...

Planning

My First Blog - Several co-workers and friends have asked how they can check in on the team and get updates during the trip, so I decided to start a blog.

The Team - USA Football's Women's National Team is getting ready to compete in the first ever Women's World Championship tournament to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 26, 2010 through July 3, 2010. Of the 1,800 women who play professional tackle football in the IWFL (Independent Women's Football League - the North American professional football league), 45 were selected to represent the United States on Team USA. I was selected as a defensive back (safety). No one else made it from Iowa, but I know a handful of players from teams that we've played and some from the all-star game last summer. It will be interesting getting to know them over the next few weeks. I'll fill you in on some of the characters I meet.

Uniform - I leave for training camp in less than 4 days! I think I have all of my football equipment taken care of: I bought a new pair of cleats yesterday because they have to be black and mine were white.

Old Shoes

New Shoes

I threw in a couple photos just to see how this thing works. Hope you like them! I also bought gray receiver gloves to be in compliance with the color restrictions (who has gray gloves?). The rest of the uniform is provided for us. We are going to be wearing navy pants and socks with white or navy uniforms. We're also getting Riddell helmets, but I'm not sure on the color. Custom molded mouthguards are coming from Shock Doctor. We'll also have warm ups, polos, hats, visors and bags provided when we get to training camp. How many bags can we check?

Training Camp - Training camp begins in Austin on the 19th and we have only 6 days to turn 45 players into a team. We're hoping that will only take two outdoor practices, a position specific practice, and a team building activity each day... I'm tired already! They feed us all of our meals and provide practice uniforms (I hope that means they'll wash them too). Training camp is closed to the public, so friends and family are not allowed to visit. It sounds like there will be a scrimmage on the last day that will be open to the public, but I don't have any more information than that.

Women's World Championship - The new, well bonded, team will fly to Sweden together on the 24th to get ready for our first game against Austria.

Team USA Schedule:

Sunday, June 27th Austria

Thursday, July 1st Finland

Saturday, July 3rd Final

The final game will be against either Canada, Germany or Sweden. If we win our first two games, we'll play the best of the other 3 teams for the gold medal. There are also consolation games for the bronze and fifth place, so everyone will play on the 3rd regardless of how they do in their first two games. My parents and Holly are going to meet me in Sweden to watch the games. I'm not sure if any of the games will be televised or broadcast online, but I'll let you know if I find out.

We've never been to Sweden, but these pictures look great. Highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. Perfect football weather!

USA Football website: http://www.usafootball.com/articles/displayArticle/7469/9596