The Try Out…

Day 2:

Met the team tonight under heavy jet lagged sedation, feeling slightly dizzy from all the traveling. The girls are nice and welcoming, some were a little shy but warmed up to me after I came out of my zombie like state. I Watched half a practice and they looked legit. I am excited to get into practicing tomorrow, its about time. The team manager is gave me 70 euros for the week while I'm here which was different from any other try outs I have been on. The food here is similar to Swedish food, a lot of potatoes, sauces, salads, and meat (fish, beef, pork, etc). The people here have to learn Swedish and English with English as their second language and Swedish as their third. I thought this was interesting since Swedish people don't have to learn Finnish. Man I wish I grew up in Europe, I would have been at least trilingual. Practice in the morning, hopefully I am rested enough to play to my fullest. Its the second day of a full week ahead of me. There is a game this weekend against the best team in the league so it will be good to see their toughest competition. 

Day 3 and 4:

Had a full day of practice today and I didn't totally suck! Yess. The team was preparing for their game this weekend so I was put on the B side for obvious reasons (not on the team yet). I had an ok practice but was exhausted after the morning session. Two of the teammates came back to the team apartment with me, once there, I decided to check out and take a nap, they understood immediately just by looking at me, ha! The night session was a bit of the same but with more attacking and blocking. I was on top of my blocking but a little weird with my attacking. It will come to me, not to worried about that. After the night session I collapsed into bed done with the first day, satisfied for the most part. Saturday was a blur, got up at 7am to get to the bus that was to take us to Salo which was 6 hours away. Their bus seats were 2 and 2 half way to the back then came a queen sized bed, then a table with wrap around style booth seating. Two TV's on board and a microphone at the front (which the coach used often right before we would stop for the bathroom or food, or both). We stopped a couple times through out the trip, getting to Salo a little early. The gym was huge with grand stands on either side of the court. These guys were Finnish  Champions 3 times in a row, I would have expected nothing else from this team but to be grand. Salo was everything they were said to have been, big, tall, and really good. Their team consisted of 4 or 5 national team players and this one Russian chick who is a beast (towering at around 6'7, maybe taller) opposite hitter. Our team lost to them in 3, the first and last sets were the best out of the entire match. It was a good fight for how good the other team was, but maybe give them a little more run for their money next time. The drive home was mundane with a lot of sleeping.
                                                                                                                                                                               Home Gym

I walked around town yesterday (sunday our day off) which took me about 5 minutes down the main stretch. There are 2 supermarkets, an alcohol store, some small shops, 2 gas stations and a few kebab restaurants. There are around 5, 000 people in this town. Not a whole lot to do around here so traveling and getting out of town as much as i can would be on my list of priorities. There are a few beautiful lakes surrounding the town which is nice since we are not totally land locked. This wouldn't be a bad place for me to live for about 6 months. I believe this place will teach me to conserve money, since there aren't to many places for spending temptation. Also it would be a good place to really work on getting healthy and my travel writing. Yes I miss being home but if I can make some good money out here then I will be taking home a lot more then I bargained for salary wise. Plus there is

a city about an hour and a half away that we can always go to on weekends off to get out of the town. Wish it was warmer but I am happy to be playing at all right now. 

Day 5: 

Today was a regeneration day. The two other foreigners and myself were supposed to go to the pool to swim but one of them was sick so we didn't end up going. Instead we had weights at 6:30. I followed their program (sort of) and biked for cardio. It was a doable work out plan so I think I will be able to keep up. Other then the weight lifting, I pretty  much sat in the apartment and either emailed or watched TV until practice, boring I know, but if I had played in the match on saturday Im sure I would have been relishing in the fact of getting most of the day off. 

Day 6 and 7: 

                                                                                                                                                              Walk from the team apartment   

Had morning and afternoon practice. Both went better then the days before. Feel like I am getting my stride back, a little slow at first unfortunately, but it is coming around. The apartment I am staying in right now is a bit drab and is serious need of some much needed character. If a contract is produced, I will hopefully get my own place and make it my own for the time that I am here. Starting to get soar from all the work outs and weight lifting, so excited about that! 

After the 7th day of my try out I was asked to stay after the night session practice to talk details of a contract (yey!!). They (the manager, sponsor, and coach)  asked me what my feelings were about the team and the situation. I told them that I would like to play for them this season and that I respected the coach and the players. They also asked if I would be able to step it up a level and play harder during matches, I answered them with a very confident "Yes". I was still a little weird after all the traveling and time difference, which they understood, so hopefully I will show them that I can bring more to the table. The coach realized that how I was practicing was not exactly what I was showing on the video I gave to them. This was true however I am just starting to get back into the swing of things, so give me a little time and it will come, I always do come around. After the chat with the coach, manager, and one of the sponsors, we decided that the manager would write up a contract and email it to me and my manager Juraj to look it over and make sure it was everything we had discussed. After I talked to my manager about everything, we would finalize details and most likely say yes to the deal....

Talked to Juraj about everything and he said the contract looked good and he thinks I should sign, I agree. I emailed the manager with the final addition to the contract and after that was added I would sign as soon as they wanted me too. I'm pretty excited and anxious to sign....After practice tonight (Thursday) I went upstairs to a meeting the board members of the club was having. There were around 12 people sitting around this one table staring at me, ready for any answers to their questions. This was a first. I answered all their questions with a confident smile but my palms were shaky and a bit sweaty. I told them I was going to sign the contract with my LA Lakers pen, because we won the championship this year I thought it might be lucky, guess we will see ;) They all smiled and laughed when I explained to them why I was signing with the pen.   After all questions and comments were said I stood at the head of the table where the president of the club signed and then stood up for me to sit down and sign under my name. With the Lakers pen I made my mark, looked up, smiled and then stood up to applause and welcoming eyes from the group sitting around the table. I felt like a real professional at that moment. I left the gym tonight feeling rejuvenated and happy, I am back on a team again with a group of girls I have come to like over the past few days. I think that this season will be fun and also a time to learn and grow more as an individual and a player. So I am here to stay! :) Will be back in the states mid April, until then you can follow myself and the team online at 

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mestaruusliiga.fi%2Ftilastot%2Fnaisten-tilastot%2F

Long web page but it will direct you right to where you want to go. 

                                                                                                                                                        New team, new number, new jersey :)

 
                                   Lake in the town.

Took maybe a day and a half to get cleared to play this weekend. Everything happens fast out here when people want it to. Its when they are not sure about things or they don't want things to happen is when it is slow. Plus I was on top of everything from the moment I signed the contract. The only tricky part about it all was getting medical clearance for my asthma medication which was on the list of drugs players were not allowed to take (another first). With my parents help (thank you so much!!) I was able to get the paper work all filled out and ready to go the very next day. So all was cleared and ready by Friday afternoon. I got my jerseys (numero dos!!), team warm ups, and winter jacket (couple sizes to big, I look like a gangsta). Tomorrow is the game and I am excited and a bit nervous. I want to impress and show them they made a good decision bringing me on. The team has already expressed that they are glad to have me and could really use me this season, but I want to show them that they were right in signing. Tomorrow is the day to do it. We play the second place team. We have watched video already and know what they are and aren't capable of, so I think we are as ready as we can be right now. Cross your fingers for us and hopefully I will have good news after the game!