Back Together Again

January 3, 2009

After a two week break for the holidays, our team reunited on Friday night for a 6 o’clock practice. While we all admitted that we weren’t exactly eager to come back so quickly, leaving behind family, friends, and the holidays, as soon as we saw one another and got to talking we were all thrilled to be back together. Almost all of us are living on the same floor in the intersession housing dorm and to make the reunion even sweeter, we will spend six days in Chicago to play two games and have some fun while we’re at it.

On Friday night Coach eased us back into our normal practice routine, but we went hard in our nine a.m. practice today. As expected, we definitely had to shake off the cobwebs and get used to playing with one another again, but the energy and positivity was there through the entirety of both practices. We sprinted at the beginning and end of practice and did a lot of full court drills to get our legs back in shape. We went through plays to refresh our memories and scrimmaged for a little bit before finishing practice with a few sprints and heading into the locker room to discuss the specifics of our trip.

Right now it is 11 o’clock on Saturday night and most of us are finishing up packing and resting a bit since we have to meet up at the gym at 1:30 to drive to the airport. While our travel schedule is a little crazy, we are all just anxious and excited to get going. Chicago may not be the warmest place at this time of year, but it’s a chance for us to see a beautiful city (at least that’s what I’m told, I guess I’ll find out!) and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes during the season we are so busy between practice and academics and other activities that we don’t all get a chance to really appreciate one another as anything but basketball players. Although we are going to Chicago to win two basketball games, the trip will give us a chance to appreciate our teammates and coaches not just as part of our team, but also as our friends and as the kind and fun people they are.

It was great to see family and friends and get some rest over the winter break, but being back with my teammates has proved to be just as good a feeling.