More on the Danish match

7/19/08
Lauren Allen & Stephanie Scheele

Odbojka! We are two members of the U.S. SCVA Junior National Team. We are currently in Slovenia staying in a hostel called Veselova. We are honored to have the whole hostel occupied with foreign teams that include the Danish National Team and the SlovenianNational Team. Each team has one room and each floor shares a two shower, three toilet bathroom (tight quarters to say the least!). We are constantly interacting with all of the girls in the hostel and downtown is only a five minute walk, so we can also interact with the locals who are very friendly. During our stay we have the luxury of practicing in a nearby high school gym that is very similar to a high school gym in America, except for none of our highschool gyms have mini rock walls. We have practiced everyday since arriving in Slovenia and last night we were given the opportunity to play a friendly scrimmage against the Danish team. We started off nervous and timid on the court but towards the last game we really pulled together and started to look like a team. Although we only won 1 out of 3 games, we all felt that it was a big accomplishment given that it was only our third day playing together. We were told that the Danish team has been playing together since they were 12. The language barrier was frustrating. We felt like we were at a disadvantage because they understood English and we didn't understand Danish. It was a learning experience getting ˝a taste˝ of competitionbefore the tournament in Croatia to see what we are up against. We will be leaving for Croatia tomorrow and we will be staying there for 4 days for the Global Challenge Tournament. We are excited to be able to put our hard work from Slovenia into the matches ahead. The experience here in the hostel and in the city has brought together our team and allowed us to carry that bond on the court. Our intention is for that bond to flourish and grow in the up coming week we have left here.