Anyone who knows me knows Game Day is my favorite day of any week. I have been waiting for this day since I woke up from my knee surgery in March. We had a pre-season tournament set up for the weekend and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous to see we had 3 games scheduled on our first day. I mean 3 games, are you sure? I haven’t played that much in a day since my AAU days when I was 17. However, my nerves were so wrong because it was such a fun-filled day of basketball.
To say the style of basketball in Ireland is different is an understatement. They play PHYSICAL basketball here. From someone who has dealt with her fair share of foul trouble over the years, I can honestly say I don’t see myself running into any trouble during my time here. The refs really don’t take the saying “let them play” lightly. While my club team here is pretty young (with me being the oldest) it was absolutely awesome watching them hold their own against the women we played against.
We went 2-1 on Saturday, which unfortunately didn’t qualify us for the next day due to a tie-breaker. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter that much because I watched our team fight hard and win against teams much bigger and older than us. We won our last game by 1 in OT on a free throw, and watching the joy and celebration coming from the rest of our team was so enlightening and motivational. It made every bump, bruise and tired bone in my body worth it. The heart I saw from them filled me with the same kind of joy you feel when you’re young and win a tough weekend tournament with you friends against your cross town rivals.
Although this was only our first tournament, I’m so excited for the season to begin. While I’m definitely missing my Salve team as I watch them progress through their pre-season, I am definitely thankful for how kind and welcoming my Tullamore squad has been. Hoping this is the start of an amazing season and can’t imagine myself playing for any other team here!
(Follow Tullamore Club Basketball on Facebook to keep up with our season!!)
