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Hello!
 
Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Its good to know that things are warming up, and spring is (hopefully) just around the corner!

It has been a good week.  I have officially been here for a week now, but it feels like I have been here a lot longer.  I don’t know if it is because I am comfortable here, or if it is because I am bored, haha but either way it has been good.

I have been super lucky in that there is a beach right across the street from where I am living at the moment, and I just go run down by the water everyday.  I have decided since being down here that I am definitely a warmer climate type of girl.

Other then running everyday, my schedule has been pretty flexible.  At the moment, I am living with the lady that got me over here in the first place.  Her name is Lori Chizik, and she actually played against my mom and aunts in university, and with My university coach when she moved to Calgary to play her last year.  I also played against her daughter in my 5th year as she played at U of C.  It is kind of cool, and we have a lot of little connections so we talk a lot of basketball.  She actually just got named one of the assistant coaches for the Australian Sr. Women’s National Team this week, and she is really excited about it. She also assistant coaches with their U 17 national team, and is a commentator for the WNBL (which is Australia’s highest league that plays during their summer).  That league just finished on Sunday with the grand finale, and I got to go with her to the game and watch live as she commentated.  It was a pretty great atmosphere, and actually really cool to see the set up that goes into a live televised game.

This weekend was a long weekend in parts of Australia, and probably one of the last nice weekends of the summer, so of course we got to the beach as well.  I attached a photo of a beach that I went to with a teammate on Saturday.  It was so gorgeous, and the water was warm (not like the 58F degree water we get at home).

Saturday we also went to a pre-season tournament that our league hosted, and watched some of the teams that we will play against.  Everywhere that I have been has played a different style of basketball, and in Australia it is probably some of the most fun basketball I have seen.  It is probably also the place that I think fits my game best.  It is very fast paced, with point guards looking to push the ball in transition as the first option, but then if there is no option, it is fairly structured. It is amazing to me the speed and the skill level of all the athletes here.  Even there youth athletes play that style of basketball, and are some of the most fundamentally sound athletes I have seen at any age.  It has been really cool to see a culture that has a love and passion for basketball that you don’t see in Canada, and I have already fallen in love with that aspect of Australia.  It is awesome to be in an environment that has the similar focus as you do.

As for our team, we have only had on practice and one test game, and I think that we will have a pretty good year.  In the test game we did a few really good things, but you could tell that we hadn’t played together much as we didn’t read each other that well, and struggled a bit offensively in taking good shots.  We had just put in our offense as well so we are playing it a bit too structured, but I am confident that we will move past this stuff and have a great season. I have a feeling that our team will be using more ball screens then I have been used to using, and playing the 1 position I will be the person using them a lot more then I have in the past.  So thanks to IMPACT for drilling ball-screen reads into my head! Woohoo for ball screens!!

Hmm, I can’t really think of anything else to update at the moment.  I hope that you all have a good week! Good luck to everyone who is going into playoffs this week/weekend!

Talk to you next week!

Lauren

Hey All, Hope you have all been doing well! I know it has been a long time since I last wrote, so I am just wanted to let you know what is going on with me.  I have been working really hard to get my knee back in to playing shape over the last 8months, while also looking for a place to play.  I worked at Moxie’s in Lethbridge while I was rehabbing, which was a REALLY great experience. I had never served before and thought “serving cant be THAT hard”, and let me tell you!! There were days when I thought I would never step foot in a restaurant again because it was that trying.  I am so appreciative to have had the experience that I had at Moxie’s and to have been able to work with some AWESOME people. I learnt a ton as a server and have gained a greater appreciation for servers and really, people in general.

Around December I started to have troubles with my IT band.  I was working a lot, and training too, and I think it was just too much.  I actually ended up getting a contract offer for a Div. 1 team in the Czech Republic right after Christmas, but couldn’t take it because of the IT band set back.  I was really happy to have gotten a Div 1 offer, so it was a bit crushing to not be able to take it. But, with the help of some really great physio, acupuncture, chiropractic, training people, they have helped me get through this little set back.  And all though I think they enjoyed the fact that they got to beat me up a little bit too much, I know I wouldn’t have gotten back with out them.  They ROCK!!

So after that, I decided I could be ready to play soon, and started looking again for a place to play.  I knew that Australia had a league starting in March as I had a friend go and play down there last March so through networking I got in touch with a coach in Melbourne, and that is where I will be playing for the McKinnon Cougars in the Big V league.  Our first game is March 16th and it all happened very quickly.  I got an email saying they wanted me there ASAP, so after a little family vacation in Phoenix, getting my passport renewed days after I got back and applying for a VISA I left Sunday night and arrived in Melbourne Tuesday around 1130 (Australian time).  I practiced with the team Tuesday night, and we have a test game tonight so it should be interesting.  The team looks really good, taller then most teams I’ve been on, and also much quicker.  They are asking me to play the 1 position, which will be fun as I will get to push the ball a lot more then I have in the past.

I am very excited to be able to play again, and to have this opportunity to play in a different country again.  I know, especially in this field, that jobs are not guaranteed so I am looking forward to making the most of this experience and being able to continue to grow and learn as a person and an athlete.

Thank you all for your support through these last 8 months.  Although there were trying times, I never once doubted that I wouldn’t be able to get back playing.  Your kind words and encouragement through out my rehab process really helped me to always believe in myself.  THANK YOU ALL!!!! 
Talk to you again soon,

Lauren