September 14th, 2014 | Uncategorized
It’s that time of year again…Basketball Season!! I may be in a different country, playing for a different team, with new teammates, but the game is still the same (well, for the most part). This past weekend my team, the NUIG Mystics, and I travelled to Dublin for a preseason tournament, which happened to be our first games of the season! I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous going into the first game, but also very excited. While we did not get the outcome that we wanted, it was nice to play with my new teammates and start to build chemistry. It was a good experience and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season with the NUIG Mystics!
Basketball in Ireland is the same as in the States, for the most part. It didn’t take long to find out these differences. We were getting ready to warm up and of course, me being American, I go to the basket opposite our bench only to realize that none of my teammates were behind me. So I quickly learned that in Ireland you warm-up at the basket closest to your bench and then in the second half, you shoot at the opposite hoop. There are also some different rules that I had to get used to… like you can’t throw the ball in the back court on inbound and the paint is also much wider so rebounding free throws felt kind of awkward. But, I’ll get used to it all soon enough.
The best part of the tournament came at the beginning of our second game when I was walking on the court for tip-off and saw some of the other scholars walk through the door. 🙂 I can’t even express my excitement when I saw them. I was so happy and beyond thrilled to see them! Even though it had only been like 2 weeks since we separated, it felt like forever! I knew they were in Dublin for a horse race that day, but didn’t expect to see them at my game. This just shows how much of a family we are! It was so nice having them in the stands watching and cheering my team and I on. It felt like I was playing in front of family again. So I want to give a HUGE thank you and shout-out to my fellow American scholars- Christine, Jen, Ronnie, Ryan, and Caroline- and Katie (a former scholar) 🙂 You guys are the best!!
