Goodbye Ostrava

So, I just finished packing my bags and getting ready to go to bed. Our team is flying to Karlovy Vary. Czech to finish the World Championships. We were informed our departure time is 5:45 AM.. yes am. Needless to say we will all most likely be sleeping on the plane. 


We lost to France tonight by 2 on a last second shot. It was disappointing for sure, but we have to move on from that and focus on finishing 9th. We have a day off tomorrow while we travel, and then a game the next day against Brazil. The winner goes onto the 9th place game, the loser goes onto the 11th place game. 


I think our team has battled very hard, and is ready to go get two wins to finish off the tournament. Time has really flown by. It feels like just yesterday we were boarding our flight to Paris from Toronto. The team is awesome, and even though we have had a couple tough games, we still manage to keep being our light-hearted goofy selves. 


Well thats all for now, I got to head to bed! 


Until next time,
Courtnay

World Championship photos

 Action shot against Tamika Catchings. (p.s my hair is INCREDIBLY long for me... this pic highlights it)

 Another action shot.. slightly different

My team :) and all the staff the day before the tournament kicked off!  I absolutely love our red uniforms.









The team after our BIG win against China. Such a great memory from this trip. More memories to come.

 Another celebration action shot!

Us after our game against Belarus, thanking the fans who are out here in the Czech supporting us.











I figured I'd post some photos, so you can see our nice new uniforms :).  We lost a tough one last night against the USA, as we just struggled against their size and speed. It was fun to play against my idol (Taurasi for anyone who didn't know) and all the WNBA stars.

Game today versus Greece, looking forward to a physical game for sure.

First round

So our team said goodbye to Athens, and have moved onto Ostrava, Czech.  Our games in Athens were pretty good warm-ups for how things were gonna go in Czech. Both games we lost, but were close the whole way through. We had bit of a rivalry feeling forming, as both game were extremely physical. Our last game we almost stopped playing, as both teams were having people get injured. We almost got into a fight with the Greek team in the second game. Needless to say both teams calmed down, and we played the rest of the game, injury free.

Now we have finished the first pool play or the world championships. We went 1-2, with a huge win against China. It was such a great game to be a part of, as we rallied in the second half to win, and make it so our team moves onto the round of 12. China was ranked #7 in the world, and we are currently ranked 12^th. Coming into the tournament, this was considered the pool of death.. but we conquered it! :)

The team is feeling pretty good about the way we have competed, and now we move onto play USA, Greece, and France. We are excited to play some more great teams, and taking the tournament one game at a time. We have the day off today, and most of us are just doing what we have done every other day, watching movies or shows on our computer. I have spent an incredible amount of time in hotels this past month. Lets just say I am ready to get out of the hotel for a nice team dinner tonight.

So that is all for now, I will try and update you after our next 3 games. Hope all is well with everyone else, time for me to watch another movie (go figure).

Courtnay

Pictures :)

This is a Picture looking down at one of the concert areas, they were setting up for a concert while we were visiting the Acropolis.

 This is the team standing after we got to the top of the Acropolis, The Parthenon is behind us. 

Me and my team-mate Chelsea posing for a pic.

Me and team-mates Tamara and Jordan stopping to pose for a pic during our mini adventure to the center of Athens. We had an afternoon off, so we decided to adventure to find some shops.
We even took the metro, and didn't get lost. I consider it an accomplishment!








This was some of us walking up to the top to see the gorgeous view from the top of the Acropolis. It was very hot for being September, none of us could imagine what it feels like in the dead heat of the summer.

This is another picture of the view we had at the top of the Acropolis, as you can tell you can see for miles all around. It truly was breath taking.












Well I figured I would post a couple photos for you, just to see a bit of what I am getting to experience. Sorry there isin't much description, but Greece is definitely a place I would love to come back and visit.

As for basketball, we went 1-2 in the France tournament, and we lost last night to Greece. We play Greece again tonight and then head off to Czech for the World championships. The whole team is really excited to start the championships, as it is what we have been working on all summer.

Until the next one...

Courtnay

Athens, Greece

Hi all,

So we have traveled from France to Athens, Greece. The trip over was another fun experience that tested our patience, as we got told to walk to one end of the airport to check in and then be told to go back where we started, and then off to another check in point. All and all it was a lot of walking and standing until we finally boarded the plane and off to another country.

We had a day off today, so we went and visited Acropolis. It was neat to go visit all the old( but restored) buildings and ruins. We took plenty of team photos, and walked around for an hour, just enjoying looking out and seeing the scenery. After that we walked down to do a little shopping, most bought jewelry or postcards.

The afternoon was off, and we all settled in to our rooms prepared for a couple hours of facebook, shows, or catching up on e-mails. To our surprise we didn't have internet access!! Of course our team freaked out, and didn't know what to do with ourselves. It is funny to see how reliant we are on internet in this day and age. Luckily we got internet back in our lives, and we didn't have to resort to reading or something silly like that!

We have practice tomorrow, and then games Saturday and Sunday. These are our last games before the World Championships, so we are looking to improve on things and fix all the details before we head to Czech.

Until the next one..

Courtnay.
P.S I don't have a camera, as mine is currently broken/lost some cables, so i will post pictures as soon as I can.

My First Blog!

I figured I would join many of my friends and join the world of blogging! It seems appropriate, as I have started so many new things recently; first time not in school, first time on the National Team, first time as a professional athlete, and first time living on my own.

This blog will be to update all my friends and family on all my adventures I’m sure to have this year.

I start my travels in France, where I am currently on the first stop with the senior national team. Traveling to France was not bad, as it was a relatively quick 7 hour flight. The biggest negative for me was turning off my beloved blackberry, until I get to Lithuania next month and try and get a European sim card put in. I hate not being able to talk to my friends and family at the drop of a hat. Facebook and emails it will have to be for a while, which isin’t always a bad thing. Sometimes being removed from technology can be good for the body.

My first day in France was good. We had a light practice and got settled into the hotel. I am very excited to start off my first senior team experience. We start our tournament on Thursday playing the host team France. I am so thankful that we get to play against someone other than ourselves. We have had about fifty days of practice this summer where the team has playing against ourselves, minus some exhibition games. Needless to say the whole team and myself is excited!

That is all for now, hope you enjoyed my first blog entry. I promise the next ones will be more entertaining.

Till next time,
Courtnay