November 3rd, 2013 | Uncategorized
There are few things better in life than winning. And two of them happen to be having amazing teammates and great friends. Luckily, last night I had both.
All week Shelby and I had relished in the awkwardness of the situation. Our teams were finally meeting head to head at Colaiste Iosagain, Meteors home court. Both of our teams were searching for that first win of the season. Shelby joked with Basketball Ireland that “Roommate tension was high, but it was all in good fun.” We got ready for the game together, making sure we wore the correct uniforms (here, we wear dark at home) and when I left for the bus, we laughed and said, “Well, good luck!”
My team is great; despite having two injured point guards and very low numbers for the past few games, we have really worked hard and are trying to change the culture of the program. As I have been there before, doing the hard work on this end can be tedious and disheartening, but in the long run is rewarding and so, so worth it. However, we are all staying on course, and that resulted in our first win of the season over Shelby’s Liffey Celtics! Sometimes getting over the hurdle is the biggest challenge, and we hope to keep the ball rolling.
In addition to this great start to the weekend, one of my American teammates Rachel has been living in Ireland with her amazing family for two years, came out to support the team and then offered us a ride back to town. The short back-story (she’s going to kill me for talking about her in my blog), Rachel trains with our team. One day her mother pulled up beside me as I was walking to the bus stop and offered to drive me. Although I acknowledged that I was almost at the stop already, she insisted that I get in and she took me all the way into town! They further invited me over for dinner and have been a great extended family when I’m so far away from home. Long story short, they offered to drive Shelby, Mai-Thy and I back into town again last night, and when we were getting out of the car they had made us cookies and brownies!! Given my sweet tooth, I was elated. Furthermore, you cannot buy chocolate chips in Ireland, so she had shared some of the coveted chips her older daughter had brought on a visit from the states—that’s how you know you’re loved!
All in all, it has already been a great weekend, and I’m looking forward to it getting even better when we go to Boojum for lunch today and I get my free burrito and Boojum Addict t-shirt! But I’ll leave that til my next blog. Sports change lives, and introduce you to great people. Happy days!!