College Round 2

Just got back from a four day trip to Sydney for our first tournament with the West Australia National team. WA is one of five teams from each region in Australia plus the New Zealand team. Throughout my time here all six teams will compete in four tournaments and the team with the best overall record will win the Gilley's Shield.

The trip turned out to be deja vue of my college playing days... minus some rain delays and add in a couple beers. The long weekend included all of the MN softball necessities: travel suits, team vans, ice baths, sandwiches inbetween games, banning of cell phones, and my favorite post-game massage :)  I had a fun time but just like coach B always said to us during school, this is a business trip not vacation. My teammates had a good time teasing me about how much I loved my first trip to Sydney... with all the well known sights that I got to see!

While there was no opera house in my weekend, I did have a great time and our team finished 6 for 6. I pitched four of the games and survived my first weekend of solid heat. Each opposing team had a handful of past olympic players on them which was lots of fun to compete against. Also, we played at the 2000 Sydney olympic stadium which was exciting and attended a big Australia softball banquet on Saturday night. While the banquet did little to entertain me we were allowed to have some beverages to pass the time. Definitely different from college!