The best part about coaching is noticing the progress of everyone around you as the weeks and months go by. I look at myself, the players, and coaches around me and we have all progressed over the last few months and it’s a great feeling. Our Junior Elks practices now, compared to September are a substantial amount better in terms of everyone working hard, communicating, and playing as a team. Our team has had many quality wins and a few upset victories over U18 squads.

Today, I got to work the BNI Girls Academy for a few hours and it was great to see the girls implementing footwork details and other suggestions that we made to them at the last academy and using them today. This shows that we are having a positive affect on them and they are using the drills and teaching points we are giving and practicing on their own. It’s great knowing we got them to realize how important it is to practice and do these drills on your own or with a partner because that is where the real progress occurs.

In terms of coaching, I have made progress as well. In the beginning I was so used to college terminology for certain basketball drills and details that the players would have no idea what I was saying (my accent didn’t help either). I have adapted over the last few months and started talking and helping them in ways they can understand. The Junior Elks girls have been playing great so far this season because of their hard work. I hope they can continue this in tomorrows game at 1:30! I’ll keep you guys posted!

 

 

#VICTORY #INSPIRE #PROGRESS

                  Last week we moved onto the beautiful Trinity campus in the Botany Bay apartments! Lucky for Christine and I, living on campus seems to be an automatic “in” to making friends because not many live on or close to campus! Therefore, but unfortunately, we will have some incentive to keep it generally clean as well as invest in an air mattress!

                  Right outside our kitchen windows are a small soccer field connected to two grass tennis courts. My dad loves to play tennis and I’d imagine if he lived here he would play every day and at every opportunity he got! The weather has been really nice and whether its morning or night, there are always people playing on the courts.

                  Over the course of the week we were introduced to a few of the Men’s and Women’s Basketball players and had a lot of fun playing in a 3 on 3 tournament with some of them! Last week was called “freshers week” which is a week for our inductions to masters courses, and for the freshman (“freshers”) to go through their week of orientation as well.  There were tents set up all around the quad area of campus that advertised clubs and societies for sign up. I was ecstatic when I discovered the Photography club, (as I jumped all over Christine after my official sign up – also due to a great amount of coffee intake I previously had) where they offer darkroom and digital work, as well as a trip to Berlin if our schedules permit! They also gave me three chocolate bars for signing up…confirming this day couldn’t get any better.

                  From Gaelic football to yoga, academic, debate and cultural clubs, it was impressive at the variety of societies available to all students.  It’s exciting to be a part of different groups and activities, which was difficult to do in undergrad because of a busy basketball basketball and academic schedule. Being a part of the AIESIC society as well as Photography, I aspire to participate and learn as much as possible!

I apologize it’s been awhile since my last blog, but its crunch time here at NUIG, also known as finals week…  Since I graduated in 2012, I had forgotten the feeling that goes around a college campus towards the end of a semester. I currently am one final away from completing my first semester of my international management masters program. It’s funny to see everyone on campus so stressed out and panicking about final exams, until you’re the one up at 3am frantically cramming as well. It really brought me back to my LaSalle days and the pressures involved with trying to balance school with basketball and coaching. But I enjoy staying busy and also pushing myself.

 

I felt really good about going into finals week because Chris and I were able to travel up to Belfast to join the rest of the scholars for a great Thanksgiving dinner with the SCL family. It was so awesome to be reunited with everyone again.  What made Thanksgiving dinner truly special was the video message that they projected in the restaurant of our families wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving.  I was so surprised and taken back by this sweet gesture. Imagine a video of your father on your motorcycle (that you miss so much), your twin sister in your bedroom stealing your clothes from your closet, little brother holding a basketball asking to play when you get back, your beautiful mother displaying the dining room table, and even your brother sending his love all the way from Colorado with his pups by his side. I cried. And if you know me, I usually don’t cry that easily. I loved every second of that video. It was icing on the cake for an amazing night.

 

The well wishes from my whole family on Thanksgiving, the generosity of the SCL family, the other victory scholars, my classmates, and friends have all been a huge help in supporting me during this period of crunch time. Just one Irish Economic Policy final to go until I’m free. THANK YOU!

This week, the scholars in Belfast and I got invited to a lecture. Not just any lecture, but an Inaugural Professorial Lecture entitled “Let’s Play Ball: The Role of Sport and Higher Education in Building Better Communities” which was given by Professor Deirdre Brennan, who is the Co- Founder of Sport Changes Life.

 

Professor Brennan grew up with sports in her life from running track to playing basketball. After graduating in 1987, she knew that she was going to change the world. It wasn’t about whether, but how? The answer was found through sport which is something that has helped her get to where she is today. Which brings me back to the purpose of her lecture, which is using sports in higher education to help better the community, any community at that, (disadvantaged or not). She explained it in 8 key lessons which were drawn up with her research. She used examples of Ulster Sport Outreach Programs and Sport Changes Life, which are two programs that I am involved in that are impacting young children’s lives through sport in order to enhance academic and athletic knowledge which in turn will better their futures. It was a great lecture, and I simply want to say, Thank You and leave you with a quote:

 

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

 

#uuj #victory #scl #ripnelsonmandela

I just want to start by giving a shout-out to all the people that made my 22nd birthday this past weekend so special.  I spent an extended weekend at my home-away-from-home in Belfast, a few fun days of birthday dinners, shopping!!, and nights out with the UU scholars, so thank you to my SCL family! I also want to give a huge thanks to all my friends and family back at home who reached out, making my birthday in Ireland even more special.

 

I’m back at the UL and this week we are getting down to business: International Student Orientation. The word ‘orientation’ usually has a stigma attached to it but being here in Limerick everything is so new in this adventure. Marian and I were actually looking forward to this because it meant more people would finally be on campus. In other words, new friends, hopefully… (we’ve ALL been there at one point in time, you know.)

 

I will say that we have met a ton of people in just a few days. We went to one of the welcome events on campus – a traditional Irish music session with complimentary finger food and not so complimentary Irish drinks – where we spent some time chatting with a group of internationals about different foods and our hometowns. I met two African guys who asked me to join in on their Friday night football pick-up, which to their surprise I said yes. Definitely looking forward to pick-up with the guys!

 

So far, being in Ireland has forced me to step a bit outside my comfort zone. I’m not at all the type of person to approach a group of people that I have barely said ‘hi’ to, but one day I surprised myself by walking over to sit with a group of Americans I recognized without Marian there to hold my hand. I’ve already taken a huge leap by coming to Ireland in the first place, who knows what’s the next step!

Well my girl’s pulled 2^nd place at the Fresher’s tournament this past weekend. It was in Carlow and I am so proud of them. I had a game, so I couldn’t coach them but I was supporting them in spirit.

 

I thought back to when I was a freshman in college. It wasn’t too long ago, but I remembered what it felt like when someone encouraged me. I tell them that confidence is the key to overcoming any fear or anxiety. Coach Clark, my head coach at NSU, used to tell us, “if you mess up during a play, just act like you know what you’re doing because the other team doesn’t know you messed up.” That is exactly what I told my girls, just play through it, and as Coach Gordon would say, “have a short memory because when they play is over, it is over, so try and get it back on D.”

 

The night before they left, we had a team gathering and watched The Late Late Toy Show; and in my best Irish accent, it was class! I absolutely enjoyed every moment and spending that time, before they went down to the tournament, was important for me. I wanted to show them that I care and no matter how they performed, I believed in them.

 

The mission now is to raise 2,000 Euro to cover expenses for the year. Since my 12U team’s bake sale went so well, I figured we could do one too! If they can do it, then so can the college team. We will all have to pull up our sleeves and get to work baking and brainstorming more ideas. They must not know, I’m the queen of fundraisers. 

Today was my official registration and orientation for my MSc Marketing at University of Ulster. I’ve been informed the university is rebranding, and in October will go by Ulster University (interesting from a marketing standpoint). I’m starting to get use to having tea…always. The session couldn’t start until the tea and biscuits got delivered and I was not complaining. A hot cup of tea is becoming a regular in my daily routine. It was awesome to finally put some faces to the names behind emails and to meet my fellow classmates. I was happily surprised by my course size, they estimate there will only be 15 people per class which is conducive for a masters program and what I am use to coming from liberal arts at Gettysburg College. My timetable is going to be busy, but I’m exciting for the classes to start. We received out student ID card as well as registering online to get our email addresses and access to all of the library resources. Our Course Director, Damian, was wonderful and gave us a taste of what to expect in the coming weeks. The biggest surprise of the day was when I got talking to Damian about Sport Changes Life and what we’re all about, and he was thrilled. He is starting a sport marketing course for the undergrad level and invited me to come in next week and talk about the non-profit side of sports and how sports can make social change not just the crazy money maker professional sports (particularly in America) are all about. I was taken off guard but of course happily surprised that he was so interested in our mission and eager for me to spread it to his class. I look forward to hopefully getting a PowerPoint together so I can present to Damian class and help spread the word of how sport can change lives.

To say the least, I had an incredible Thanksgiving/birthday week. Benjamin flew in Thursday morning and the Dublin crew headed up to Belfast for our #victory Thanksgiving celebration! When we first arrived, we found the Belfast Christmas market and coincidentally ran into the rest of the scholars. Dinner was so nice and it was great to all be together.

A Thanksgiving message from my family and a birthday cake to celebrate brought on the waterworks, but it was so special to share this experience with Benjamin.

I came home Friday to decorations and birthday cookies made by the one and only Shelby Irene, the best roommate ever!

Saturday we had U17 Kubs training and we had Ben guest coach, and the girls did it again with a great birthday surprise. They sang, made me a delicious cake and got me one of the most thoughtful and hilarious gifts ever, a pink Trinity hoodie with “Mother Goose” on the back. It’s an inside joke based on the fact that “Ganser” means goose keeper in German.

We spent the rest of Saturday driving down to Cork so Ben got to meet the lovely Meteors ladies and entertain them with countless “cow” jokes as we rode through the country.

Celebrations continued Sunday when Shelby, Mai-Thy, Ben and I went to Crackbird for chicken (yum) and then saw the Hunger Games (amazing).

And of course Monday was my actual birthday, and my Irish cousin surprised Ben and I in Dublin for a day of shopping and lunch! It means so much to have so many people who care about you, especially this far away from home!

This crazy weekend extravaganza continued with a second dinner out with Ben and the girls for crepes, and then training Monday night. As we tried as a team to make 10 consecutive free throws some of my teammates started singing and had a cake and amazing card. We will find out next Saturday if my wish comes true!

Thanks to everyone who made me feel so loved and so much at home here in Dublin this weekend, I am truly blessed to have met so many amazing people! And of course, in 12 days we can celebrate back home in Boston 🙂

#victory is #family

Hiya everyone!

 

I can’t believe it is already December! The time is truly flying by.  We just finished a great weekend here in Belfast. This was the first time I have been in a country for Thanksgiving that does not actually celebrate it! However, SCL did a great job of making us feel like we were close to home.  All of the scholars from the South (but one, sorry Marian!) and the SCL group came together for a great meal.  Even though it wasn’t Turkey and stuffing, the meal was delicious, and it was great catching up with everyone.  The best surprise of the night was that each of us had a video sent from our loved ones at home.  It was amazing seeing so many people I care about so deeply taking the time to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving.  This is one of my favorite holidays because we actually take the time to think about how truly blessed we are, and how much we have to be grateful for.  It’s always good to have reminders of this.  I was also grateful I was able to spend the day with my fellow scholars! We never fail to have a great time together and I’m blessed to have gone through this journey with these incredible people!

 

On Saturday morning, our U18 Elks team had a big game. Brian and I have been coaching these girls for a few months now, and I have to say I have never been more proud of them than after our game on Saturday.  They have made such incredible strides these past few weeks, and it was the best I had seen them play as a team.  They gave it their all, and really worked hard to execute what we have been working on.  It is obvious they have made a huge effort to improve not only their individual games, but also how they work as a team.  I often yell at them for their communication, but on Saturday I heard everyone talking, and it was a pleasure to watch.  They are such a great group of girls, and it’s been a great experience being able to see them grow as players.  They’ve also helped me grow as a coach as each week goes on.  Their improvements have made me so proud, and makes me smile seeing them get better.

 

I hope everyone at home had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and were able to enjoy it with their loved ones!  Big thanks again to SCL and the board for making us feel at home!  I’m truly grateful.

In my life I have probably played in thousands of games. Count the minutes and it’s probably somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. In all that basketball experience, I don’t ever remember being as nervous as I was tonight.
Tonight, was our U-17 girls first friendly against the KUBS women’s team. As nervous as I’m sure the girls were, I promise I was worse. This was my first kind-of-official coaching experience and I had no idea where to start.

Would I forget one of the two offenses? Or worse one of the girls’ names? By tip off I was nearly sweating like a player. Then, before I was fully prepared, the game began and some of the nerves melted away.

As it went on, I am happy to say, I didn’t forget either of our two offenses, out-of-bounds plays, or even the girls’ names and, luckily, I had Katie there for collaboration on the halftime and time-out speeches. There is plenty of room for improvement in that department, although I don’t think we will ever reach Miracle-caliber.  

While coaching didn’t turn out to be as scary as I thought, I gained a new respect for all those who have coached me in the past and present. For the most part, they made it look way easier than it is. Our girls played hard, and I know with a few more games under our belts (coaches included) the only way we can go is up!

I have been studying like crazy for my exams. Maybe I procrastinated earlier in the semester, but we will not indulge in that too much. My focus has been all on school, but yesterday we had a college game in Waterford and for once I was not thinking about school.

 

We were in the middle of the game and my teammate Mary says, “Why don’t you just yell at us and tell us what to do?” I replied, “I don’t want to yell at you, I’m trying to be encouraging!” Yes, this was in the middle of the game, but at that moment I had to pat myself on the back because I have become such a positive thinker. In high school, I was not the most fun person to play with. I would yell, shout and act like a child when things didn’t go my way. At that very moment it was like I traveled back in time and thought, “wow Marian, why did you act with such negativity?”

 

The thing is, I could never see that until I wasn’t getting recruited like everyone else, until my best friend Brittany Partlow told me “It is not fun playing with you.” Everything clicked and I eventually began to change, but since I have been in Ireland I can really see how optimism can drive performance, make you have a brighter outlook, and cause you to worry much less about the small stuff. Even my dad said, “Ya know Marian, people over here just appreciate everything more.”

 

I can honestly say that all of the positive energy among the college and premier league team contribute to our effort and help us support one another throughout the game. We slap hi-fives after every drill and it is the little things that make all the difference. I want to continue to adopt positive outlooks and begin to radiate that level of positivity that my teammates have so that I can become a better Marian.

 

**Special shout out to my best friend’s Ashley and Alphonso, and especially my cousin Wanda for watching my game live on aertv.com, also my teammates Rachael, Fiona, and Aoife for representing the team at the photo shoot, check em out at http://www.sportsfile.com/search/ul-basketball/#13**

Well induction into my MSc Sports Management course began with a 3 day retreat. Whenever I hear retreat, I think of a vacation or group gathering with fun and games in a nature setting–not something we would do for induction into a Masters course! As I headed to the middle of nowhere (yes, there is a middle of nowhere in Ireland) with 20 strangers, I had no idea I what I was getting myself into.

Our days were filled with team building games, business creations, making selling points, and shooting off bottle rockets. As the days grew longer, I began to see how all of the class members were opening up to one another and relationships were being built. Then as the nights passed with pub trivia (I knew none of the American questions asked) and cow tipping thoughts, you could see the comfort level of classmates grow. This made me reflect on Ehoops.

 

They all probably felt/feel the same way I did on that bus and when in I was in room with the other scholars for the first few times. We expect/want them to open up to us without sometimes being understanding of the awkward/unfamiliar situation for them. Being put into those shoes, I now totally understand and will be more aware when I begin a new Ehoops at Tullycarnet on Sept 30th.

The week ended with a competition day of archery, rock climbing, team ski, wheel barrel race, and cart racing. My competitive juices came out and I was successful in most events competed in (Ashley thinks she beat me in rock climbing and I think otherwise so we will have to rematch at some point). I really enjoyed the induction and the way they used a retreat to build relationships in a group-work heavy Masters course. I learned management tools and suggestions through the leadership building obstacles (20 minutes to complete a task with a group) by having fun. This week opened up my eyes to a lot of new ways to accomplish certain goals with different philosophies. Vacation is a fun time were you get to relax and enjoy yourself. Before the retreat, I thought my vacation was over and school was beginning. Now I believe different. The vacation isn’t over, it is still going as I can have fun and enjoy myself still with such great people while taking my courses. It’s just a different style of vacation, School-Vacation!

Hey there, readers! It has been a while since my last blog post (promise, will not happen again) and there has been quite a bit going on here in the past few weeks.

 

From presentations (7 hour ones at that) to most recently, a research proposal, my MSc program is in full swing. That familiar not-getting-enough-sleep feeling that I knew all too well in undergrad is starting to creep up again, but the finish line is almost near! And my campaign group won the competition with our smoking awareness campaign! We raised a ton of awareness around UL, to the point where some of the group members had random people walking up to them saying they recognized us from the smoking campaign. So all the hours of work we put in paid off, literally (in prize money). Check out this article about our MSc’s addiction awareness campaigns.

 

In between the college workload, coaching, and playing for the UL soccer team, I went to two practices for two different National League teams, the highest level of women’s soccer played here in Ireland. The practices went well and it was great to play at familiar level of soccer that I played back at La Salle, but the teams were just too far away (both about an hour and a half away) and I decided against signing for either of them. It was a bit of a bummer not to be able to commit, but hopefully for the next scholar’s sake they put together a team in Limerick!

 

As Thanksgiving was only a few days ago, I just want to say thank you to my SCL family who put together a huge dinner in Belfast for all of us scholars and supporters of SCL. It was almost easy to forget the meaning of Thanksgiving, being so far from home and in a country that doesn’t celebrate it, but my friends and family at home and my new friends and family here helped me realize how truly blessed and fortunate I am to be here.

Until next time, readers!

 

#INSPIRE #VICTORY

Happy Late Thanksgiving to everyone back home! I hope your day was filled with family, fun, and turkey!

Katie and I headed north to Belfast to celebrate Thanksgiving with our Sport Changes Life family. We arrived a bit early, so we decided to walk around the city for a bit. We came across the Belfast Christmas Market which was a wonderland of lights, food and fun.

I got a delicious chocolate covered waffle with nuts on top as a snack before dinner. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of the market and can’t wait to experience the infamous Christmas Markets of Germany over the holidays. Great minds must think alike, because not 15 minutes into our market exploration, we ran into the rest of the Victory Scholars. After hugs and hellos, we headed to dinner.

It was great to see everyone as this is the first time since our arrival in August that all of us have been together (Marian, we know you were there in spirit). Although Katie and I did our best to ruin the planned surprises (sorry about that!), we were delightfully surprised with videos from home and, for Katie, an early birthday cake. Mom, you are 100% correct I was shocked you and Dad were able to figure out how to record that video. Techno whizzes!! Jokes aside, it was nice to have something from home on Thanksgiving. Even my Drake (my dog) made an appearance.

I am so thankful for the amazing people involved in this program and I am glad we could all take a break from our ever-busy schedules to get together. #SCL #FAMILY

Katie and I just had one of our scariest and most hilarious experiences tonight. As part of her club, she received a practice uniform that she has to wear to each practice. Rather than pay for a load of laundry every other day, she has economically opted to wash the gear in the sink. While reaching for the detergent which we keep under the sink in our apartment, I heard her yelp and run towards our room. She told me to come look under the sink, which I did. On a dish towel in the wash bucket was a big, hairy, long-legged, nasty looking spider.

Typically, spiders don’t bother me, but this one was not very friendly looking. While I tried to devise an action plan, Katie repeated over and over “Don’t let it get away.” I assured her that I wouldn’t. With a sister-in-law who is terrified of all arachnids, I am an expert spider exterminator.

I chose my weapon, a bottle of kitchen cleaner, went for it, and MISSED! Katie started screaming and coming up with all these worst-case scenarios about waking up with it crawling across her face and things like that. I told her it probably just went back to its spider home and wouldn’t bother us anymore. Katie hesitantly returned to washing her gear in the sink, but left the cabinet open to keep an eye on things.

Katie was scrubbing away and we were talking about evolutionary reasons for certain fears (we are a bit nerdy to say the least) when suddenly, our friendly neighborhood spider reappeared. Barefooted Katie started jumping up and down screaming for me to kill it, which in turn startled me into running away. Finally, I figured out what she was saying and stomped on it with a satisfying crunch. We crushed it one more time with a paper towel, just to be safe.

Moral of the story: when spider hunting, don’t miss!

2013 Thanksgiving was my third time not being home to enjoy my family and friends. At my house on Thanksgiving we normally have a big dinner and everyone plays spades! My cousin Chad and I hardly ever lose. My favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving is the country ham and candy yams! Mmmmm just thinking about it, can’t wait until Christmas dinner. 

 

Coming into Thanksgiving, I really had no idea what to expect because they don’t celebrate the holiday here in Ireland. I just knew that I would have class on the day and dinner with the SCL fam at Villa Italia.

 

It was great to have all the scholars up to Belfast, since I haven’t seen most of them since the first couple weeks we arrived here. Even though it has been a couple months our conncection was like we never missed a beat.

 

I would have to say the highlight of the night was the videos that each family sent! My family sent the longest video, so I had to sit through 7 minutes of them making a fool of themselves, especially my father! But it was good to know that everybody back home is thinking of me and wishing me well. I nearly shed a tear. I am truly grateful and blessed to have a great support system!

 

With that being said, I want to end this blog with a special thank you to everyone who made this years Thanksgiving a success and one I will never forget!

 

#INSPIRE #VICTORY

 Before I left for Ireland, my college coach told me there was a Holy Cross Women’s Basketball (HCWBB) alumna living in Dublin. Obviously, we had to meet each other to discuss the glory days living on the hill, which consisted of trying to avoid all stairs/hills by taking the elevators through campus, rushing to chicken parm night at Kimball after practice, hanging out on Easy Street, Caro and Boyden (specifically 4), and most importantly being a member of HCWBB.  Coach Gibbons told me he would send her my email so we could meet up.

 

This is where it gets good. I was walking into training (aka practice) last Tuesday and knew our new assistant coach was coming. She walked in and was introducing herself when she saw my Holy Cross long sleeve I was wearing (REPRESENT), there was some, “wait Holy Cross in Worcester?” “are you…” “wait are you..” I’m sure you can guess where it goes from here, but my new assistant coach was Eileen Bradley, the same Eileen Bradley that Coach Gibbons had told me about! I was so excited because she would understand why I shout “Shuumba” or “Shoot the piano man” if I miss a shot, why I always tell myself to “bank it up high CG,” where no man’s land is on the court, and why I may yell out “Here we go purp!” at any time during practice.

 

Anyway, Eileen has been an awesome coach so far and I am really enjoying playing with the Meteors. We have our first preseason tournament this weekend! It will be weird not being in purple, but I am excited to be wearing green (I think it brings out my eyes lol)! Everything is almost in full swing over here, my classes start Monday, basketball has been ongoing, and coaching is starting to get into full swing! I’d like to report to all my fans–so far, so good! This sounds cliché, but I cannot wait to see what this year has in store for me or what the candy store around the corner has inside it! I will keep you posted so keep up with my blogs!

Be thankful! That is the only phrase I could think about this Thanksgiving. Everyone around me had already shifted into Christmas mode, but I couldn’t let one of my favorite holidays be forgotten. I must say I am a fan of the Christmas jumpers though, but no matter how far away from home I am, I will always be take time to remember people who have helped me throughout life. I was sad that I couldn’t make it up to Belfast with the other victory scholars, but I was thankful that my dad spent the last week with me.

           

We went to an Irish concert, visited King John’s castle, and he came to my game in Cork against Brunell. My dad surprised me because I wasn’t sure if he would make it. I showed him all around the campus and at night we would surf the web checking in on all my friends who still play basketball. We also went to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire and we spent one night giggling to Hangover 1 and 2.

         

His favorite part of the campus was the living bridge….until he looked down! Then every time we walked over it, he said he felt like he was in the middle of Hunger Games all over again. I go home in less than 20 days, but I still have business to take care of academically and athletically. I made a sacrifice not going up to Belfast because our team will be playing live on aertv and I know it is important for us to be sharp.

           

I want to personally thank the board members and partners, my SCL family, and everyone else involved who helped make that thanksgiving dinner happen for the others. They really deserved it and none of us would be here without the relationships established between the hardworkers involved at our respective institutions and everyone who supports the mission of SCL. 

If I could name one thing I am thankful for, it is family.

 

Back home in the states we have a holiday called Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated by pilgrims and Indians back in 1600s. It is a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and a celebration in acknowledgment of kindness. It gives families the time to reflect on the year and give thanks for all their blessings. It is one of the true homegrown non-religious holidays in America that is celebrated by pretty much everyone. Americans gather with family and friends to enjoy an enormous feast, which almost always includes a roasted turkey with all the trimmings and the traditional pumpkin pie. Even hardcore professionals use this holiday as an excuse to take a long weekend away, which normally begins anytime midday on Wednesday, since Thanksgiving is always the last Thursday of November. Many Americans associate Thanksgiving with the three F’s – Family, Food and Football. Some of the biggest games of the year are played on Thanksgiving Day. The best part? It’s no biggie for people to travel thousands of kilometers to be with loved ones and it is the largest traveled day of the year in the States. This is what my Aunt Karen, and my younger cousins Clinton, Clayton, and Carlton did to be with me in Ireland for Thanksgiving. They traveled from Atlanta, Georgia to Dublin then took a bus to Belfast. It was great having them here for a few days. We got to do the open top bus tour, go to the Christmas Market, and do a little bit of bowling. Family is everything to me.

 

So the only question is, why don’t we have a holiday like this in Ireland? Sounds like we’re missing out right?

 

On behalf of Sport Changes Life we as Americans & Canadians didn’t miss out this year on thanksgiving, because we had to the opportunity to enjoy the three f’s for celebrating thanksgiving. Family meaning our new family here in Ireland, along with touching videos from our families back home wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving, Food because we ate a good meal at Villa Italia, and no football here, however there was Foundation. I am so thankful for the foundation of Sport Changes Life giving me the opportunity to be a part of a great program that is making my dreams come true with the opportunity to change people’s lives through sports. I also get to coach, play basketball, and get my Masters Degree. I would have never imagined it, but this was a great Thanksgiving!

This past Wednesday the Dart and I got into our first altercation. The Dart is equivalent to the T in Boston, basically a train around Dublin that Shelby and I have been taking to Kubs and I’ve been taking to Meteor’s training. Until Wednesday, it had been smooth sailing.

 

We had returned from working in schools (got to and from via the Dart) a few hours before and Shelby and I had used the time to go grocery shopping, make an amazing stir-fry dinner, and just enjoy our precious time off. As I got to the station, I went into autopilot and got on the same train as I had that morning. MISTAKE #1. My training is in the opposite direction. I realized about 3 stops later, jumped off that train and onto one on the other side of the tracks. MISTAKE #2. The chairs looked unfamiliar and my gut told me to abandon ship (or train), but like on a test where you convince yourself one of the distractors is correct, I ignored that gut feeling. As soon as the doors closed, I realized my mistake because we took off in the SAME direction. This was a commuter train, and it makes far fewer stops and I have no idea where it ends up. As we zoomed through the next station without stopping, I worried for a moment I was going to end up in France (please note that yes, Ireland is an island). I got off at the next stop, hoping one quick switch would be all it took to get to where one of my teammates was waiting. But no, the sign overhead informed me the next train in the opposite direction was in 24 minutes!! At this point I knew I was going to have to admit my mistake to my coach as there was no way I was going to make it to training on time. Jade, my teammate who was picking me up texted me she was going to be late, so I reassured her that no matter how much traffic there was, I would be later. She responded, “You’re grand,” and instilled in me the confidence to overcome my foreignness and figure out how to get back.

 

I hopped on that commuter train back to Connolly where I could switch to the Dart and get to my stop. But the next Dart was in another 20 MINUTES! At this point, it was already 20 minutes into our two-hour training session. Shoot. But I toughed out the wait, so glad I got an iPad mini for this trip for these long train rides. Luckily I have a very supportive coach and teammates, who were highly amused by my adventure. 

 

Sorry to ramble, but this was too good not to share. Please read Shelby’s blog for a recap of what happened the next night with our new, furry friend. Needless to say, they do not have screens on the windows in this country.

 

 We need to have our own sitcom, the Shelby and Katie Show. #whenindublin

 

I haven’t been on here in a little while because I’ve been caught up in school work and our Just Dye It Socks business so I figured I would give an update on how the business has been going.

It has been doing pretty well lately and we have finally distributed a good amount of socks. We got a lot of orders from the kids in the schools we work at so it was good to see how happy they were to actually receive the socks. The whole time we’ve been working there they have made a bunch of comments on how much they like them so it was amazing to get a chance to actually give them some. Brittney and Bryan have been working hard tye dying a bunch of pairs over the last couple of weeks because we had a chance to set up our own table at the school and sell them to students. We didn’t sell as many as we wanted to but it was a good chance to get used to selling to people before our big day on Dec. 5 (My birthday) where we will be selling at Forestside Mall all day. The craziest part of marketing our socks was that we actually got a few emails and orders from people down south that wanted to buy some for their basketball team. It was good knowing that our hard work put into the business was paying off and that some people down south had even heard of us! Our socks have also started to become a hit on our own Elks basketball club so hopefully they bring us goodluck for the rest of the season!

 

With Thanksgiving coming up in a couple days I will definitely miss being with my family but it will be nice to share this feast with the Sport Changes Life family too. On that note, I do have to update everyone on how my cooking has been going so tune in for some updates and pictures on some of my latest meals! My friends and family will be stunned!

 

P.S. Make sure to ‘Like” our Just Dye It Socks page on Facebook!!

 

 

#VICTORY #INSPIRE #JUSTDYEIT

It was a great day at the Leopardstown Racecourse for the Irish Championship Stakes before heading to Nicole’s game and spending the night in Dublin with our fellow scholars.

Ronnie and I tied our bowties, or as they say “dicey-bows,” and we were off to the races with Caroline, Aimee, Pat and Melissa. We were lucky enough to have an opportunity to attend the Irish Championships Stakes at the Leopardstown Racecourse thanks to Coolmore and Poly for generously providing us the tickets.

We met up with fellow scholars Jen Morabito and Christine Ganser, Katie Ganser and some of the Maguire clan. Although I had been to Carolina Cup once before in the US, I never closely watched a horse race nor made a bet. Given that my funds are limited at the moment, I was resisting the temptation to place a bet. However, Aimee told me to pick a horse and she would put up a Euro each way.
I quickly picked #4 named Elleval (which immediately makes me think of the late great Brett Favre). Once we got out to the stands to watch the race, I looked up and viewed the odds for Elleval…. 25/1. It did not appear as though I would be winning any money in my first bet, but I figured there is always a next time.

The horses were racing around the home stretch! Enya and I were trying to find Elleval at the middle or back of the pack. Given the dense pack and the speed at which the horses were moving, it was difficult to identify any of the horses. As they neared the finish line, we realized that Elleval had been at the front of the pack. At the end, it appeared as though Elleval placed second. I went to collect my winnings, which turned out to be 4.50 for every Euro. Unfortunately, I only got 4.50 in winnings, but it was a great feeling none the less.

After another tough loss with my Premier League team Liffey Celtics this weekend in Waterford, Katie and I were headed to Maynooth with our Trinity Basketball girls for our first game. We had been anxiously awaiting our first appearance in Trinity gear. Not only that, but it is the first time since my guest appearance with the Meteors against Yale back in August that Katie and I have been able to play together. Needless to say, we were amped for the game.

We all piled into cars and headed to Maynooth (which has a beautiful campus) to face their women’s team. The girl who drove, Stephanie, brought us nicely down memory lane with a good dose of Akon for our pregame music (can you say freshman year of high school?) followed by a little Michael Buble Christmas album. It was great to get to know the girls a bit outside of training, and we were all in a festive spirit by the time we got to warm ups.

With a strong team effort, we were able to top Maynooth quite comfortably en route to our first win as members of Trinity Basketball. I can’t even begin to say how nice it was to play with Katie. We definitely have that roomie connection on the court. I am certainly looking forward to what this college season will bring! 

I still vividly remember the national anthem playing on my senior night last February. And then every national anthem during our amazing playoff run, hoping each time it wouldn’t be my last. The roller coaster of accepting that your time playing basketball has ended is a steep one. I had so accepted this as reality that the prospect of playing this year, essentially emerging from my emotional retirement, was confusing. Now deep into the season and close with my new teammates, I find myself approaching that tipping point again.

 

Today I had probably my first real coaching experience, and it ended in disappointment. Shelby was at an away game, so I was the solo coach for the U17 match this afternoon. We made some adjustments to their 3/2 zone and maintained a 10 point lead for most of the game. In the final few minutes, however, the other team came back and went up by 2. We ended up getting an open look to tie on the buzzer and the girls played really well under pressure but this one just wasn’t meant to be.

 

On the ride home, my adrenaline still pumping, I was talking to Hugh about how challenging it is to coach in those situations. As a player, I know instinctively what I would have done in that situation. Yet as a coach, all you have is the power of words and a white board (according to FIBA rules you have to wait til a dead ball to call a timeout—so coaches are even more powerless). Coaching is the logical next step for all of us former players, yet it takes so much more than basketball IQ. Learning to shift those instincts into a coaching framework is both exciting and challenging.

 

Although we didn’t get the outcome we hoped for, I think everyone got a little bit better today, myself included.

 

One of my girls Katie instagrammed this photo last night when I was shoulder-deep in financial analysis, and it made my day! Get it–Ganser means goosekeeer in German, HAHAH.

 

 

The first time Shelby and I arrived at Kubs was back two weeks ago to play Yale. When we were warming up, I tried to discretely inhale a Special K bar. Someone ran up behind me, tapped me on the back, and said, “You can’t eat that during warm-ups” in an adorable Irish brogue. Still getting acclimated to this culture, I wasn’t sure how to respond to this bold 10 year old. After I offered her the other half, it seemed to alleviate her distress and she darted off.

 

At halftime as I ran out of the locker room, the same little voice behind me shouted, “Hey, what the heck happened?” implying that she fully expected our team to have the significant lead.

 

Later, upon formal introductions, we found out that both of our names are in fact Katie. Little Katie is quite the baller, and as a regular at Kubs, we have gotten quite familiar with each other. The first time we played one-on-one, she bounced the ball between my legs for a layup. The second day of camp, she exchanged her full Kobe uniform for her KG one in my honor, we had some photography lessons, and we’ve been tight ever since. She gets her own blog as a late birthday present, because I couldn’t be there to celebrate with her on Monday. But more than anything, she is the reason why we are working in Ireland. Sports have and will continue to change her life. And she is changing mine.