Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S JOURNAL:

NCAA Tour April 2006

Day 9 April 15th

Morning was a little strange as we had our pre-game at IHOP; I've never done that before. I’m not sure that everyone was all that pleased with their platter of eggs, fried bacon, sausages, hash browns and a side of pancakes. It was the best option available to us though, and we all ate enough to feel like we would get through the game.

We had our pre game meeting right after eating. The starting line-up for the game was Karina in net, with Mel Booth, Sharolta Nonen, Latham and Martina in defense. In midfield was Amy, Britney Timko and Andy, with Sincy, Charmaine and I up front. We then headed to the University of Nebraska to play our last game of the NCAA series.

It was 88 degrees today, nothing compared to the 115 degrees of yesterday's game (they only told us how hot it was after the game was over). Nebraska’s facilities are awesome and the field is great, so we have no excuses. The Nebraska team was fired up, but so were we. This hasn’t been a long camp, but it has been a tiring one, and there was no way we wanted to leave on a bad note. This didn’t only mean winning though. Even expects a great deal from us, but we expect much from ourselves as well, and one last strong performance would make us all happy.

We won the match 4-1 with Charmaine scoring the first goal. I can’t remember who passed her the ball, but I do remember her receiving the ball at the top of the 18 and dribbling in on the left hand side of their net. Their goalie came out to challenge and Charmaine coolly chipped it over her and into the far side of the net.

I scored the second off a pass from Martina. I dribbled down field and slotted into the bottom left hand side of the net. The next two goals were scored by Sincy, which by the way, means she has scored 8 goals this series!!! Very impressive. The first came from a pass from Kara, who had come on to replace Charmaine. She chested the ball down and slammed it home. We had to wait till the second half for our last goal. The ball was played high and long towards the keeper. It looked to be the Nebraska keeper's ball, but Sincy didn’t give up on it, and just got a piece of the ball which spun in past the keeper. It was then an easy slot home for her second of the night.

Nebraska did get one goal back courtesy of some slack defending from all of us. Our legs were starting to get heavy by the end of the game, and we were committing more fouls then we would have liked. Tanya Dennis took a free kick from25 yards out, and calmly chipped a ball right onto the head of her on-rushing defender. It was a nice goal from them, but a lapse from us. We then buckled down and played a strong rest of the game getting a few more opportunities before the final whistle.

Post game is all a bit of a blur. A few of us really had to rush as we had flights to catch. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the Nebraska common room, Subways, and then jumped into the vans and went back to the hotel. Even gave us all a few parting words as a way of wrapping up camp. We won’t be together now till June, and then we were off. Robyn, Kara, Sincy and I were the players leaving immediately, and we met up with Aisha Jamani and Salenia (I’m not going to attempt her last name) who were catching their flight to Brazil.

Some bad news awaited all of us at the airport. Because of some bad storms over the Midwest, tornadoes again, all out flights were delayed, meaning that most of us would be miss our connections. I had three options: 1) stay in Omaha and catch a flight to Chicago at 6:00am, and I would then have to wait there till 5:00 pm when the next available flight to Montreal departed, 2) fly out to Chicago and stay there over night and try and get on to the 7:00am flight to Montreal. However, I would be going standby. 3) my last option was to fly to Denver, have a 5 hour layover, then fly to Boston and then onto Montreal arriving there at 7:00am on Saturday morning!!!! I went with option number 3.

I figured that at least I would be moving and that always feels as if I am getting somewhere, even if it is in the wrong direction.

I am looking forward to getting home and getting a few really good hours of sleep. The camp was a good one. I think we all got a great deal out of it. Even was pleased with performances and the effort put forth. We are now all heading to our respective homes and reporting to our W- league teams once we have finished with school. The whole of May will be spent with these teams, as our next national team engagement will be in mid June for a camp somewhere in B.C.

Thank you for taking the time to read my journal entries. I hope you have enjoyed them

Rhian

Day 8 April 13th

We never did have training yesterday, and it was one of the nicest gifts I have ever been given. However, even though we never had a practice, the day still filled itself up.

We arrived at the hotel, unpacked our bags, and then headed for the Kansas Alumni area. At least I think that is what it is called. Wherever we went, it was really nice, with pictures of their teams, trophies and a gorgeous banquet room replete with a great buffet style meal waiting for us. The food was brilliant, although we all had a little difficulty with the number of cutlery items we were meant to use. Not only did we not know which ones to use with which dishes, but we also had no room to put our plates down at the tables, as each place setting was so full. We need etiquette courses for the National Team.

To make the day even better, our bus pulled into a Dairy Queen parking lot!!!! And, even though Mel and I had already eaten ice cream earlier in the day, we felt we just couldn’t let this opportunity pass us by. We want everyone to know though that we only ordered a small size.

This morning's wake-up came at 8:00am, but it was only to find a paper shoved under the door telling us to sleep for another 45 minutes: Not an issue. We then had a little bit to eat in the hotel lobby, before heading back to our rooms and packing up our bags. Pre-game meeting will be at 11:00am at the University, and we will then only have a short amount of time to head back to the hotel, grab our things, and head of to the game.

The next two days are going to be insane. Tonight after the game we will be leaving almost immediately for Nebraska, eating pizza for supper. We will then have a little snack when we arrive, before heading to bed. The game tomorrow is at 12:30pm. and then I and one or two others will be heading straight to the airport. My flight is at 6:00pm. I’m glad we had a relaxing day yesterday because today and tomorrow are going to be beyond hectic. I told Amy Walsh that I might as well start running now and not stop until I am sitting on the plane heading home tomorrow; she seems to agree with me!

It is HOT today, 82F, which I believe is somewhere near 27 Celsius. As a result Even has made the decision to play a very low pressure game against the University of Kansas. Our starting line-up is KK in net with Mel Booth, Latham, Sharolta and Martina in defense. In midfield will be Brit, Amy and Andy with Sincy, Charmaine and Kara in attack. The idea is to let the other team advance till just below the center circle, and then overwhelm them with pressure within our own half. This is not the usual Canadian style of play, but Even thinks it is important that we learn a few different tactical systems. This is the type of system to be implemented in hot weather as well. In theory it should mean less running. We will see.

Well we won 1-0 in a…….different game. The first half was hard for us, as we weren’t used to playing with such low defense. Even though they came close to scoring on us a few times, the defense did play admirably in the horrendous heat, and using a system they weren’t comfortable with. This game was obviously a test for the back four, and even though they were under a lot of stress, they did fantastically once they found a rhythm.

Fifteen minutes into the second half we made our first substitution. I went in for Timko. My substitution was the signal for the system to change back to high pressure: Very exciting news. The game immediately changed gear as we all relished the opportunity to play our style of soccer: The in your face, constant attack style of Canadian soccer. However, even though the other team never left their own half during this second period, we just could not seem to put the ball in their net.

First, we came close when Latham, who was easily the player of the game in my view, ran up the whole field and challenged for an air ball in front of the net. The goalie took Latham’s legs out from under her. It was obviously a PK, but no call came. We finally did get our goal when Mel Booth took a through ball past the goalie, and she was chopped down from a back tracking defender. Sincy took the ensuing penalty and coolly slotted it home on the bottom left of the net, 1-0.

The game was totally exhausting. The low pressure was meant to conserve our waning energy as the tour has progressed. Really though, it did not help much as it took us a long time to get the hang of playing it. The heat also took its toll and I just can’t understand how the girls who played 90 minutes managed. I only played 35 minutes and nearly keeled over by the end. I’m not out of shape, but heat like that saps everything out of you. The game becomes a more of a mind over body deal.

Our score wasn’t a fantastic one, but I am still very proud to have been part of a team with so much fighting spirit. This was our fourth game; we played a different style than we are used to; and, we played in intense heat. Getting the win was important to all of us and we got it.

We are now on the bus heading to State number four on our mid West odyssey: Nebraska. The O.C. is playing on the television, baby Charlie is giggling, and the air conditioning is on full blast. Things are good.

Day 7 April 12th

Everyone was exhausted last night, so it didn’t take long for the hotel to become very quiet. I didn’t sleep that well myself seeing as I only played the first half, and spent the second half chugging water. I can’t be sure how many times I headed for the bathroom last night, but it was enough to wear a track in the hotel carpet and be thoroughly irritating.

Wake- up call came at 8:00 am. We ate breakfast on campus and then headed back to the hotel to load up the bus for Kansas. The trip itself went quite well. We watched "Hitch" which was a huge hit; I have a horrible feeling some of Alfred’s (a.k.a the guy from the King of Queens) dance moves will be showing up again- Beware Nebraska!!

On arrival, we stopped off in downtown Kansas city for some time off and to stretch our legs. I was impressed with what I saw, which I admit wasn’t much. But it was beautiful. Robyn Gayle, Mel Booth and I went for a little walk down the main road before hitting up the ice cream shop and heading to the park.

Instead of walking around and spending our money, we decided to laze in the sun: Lovely.

We spent just over an hour doing homework and reading under a big tree. The park was beautiful with a huge fountain and greenery and flowers everywhere. It was made even better by the fact that the day was so sunny and hot, and this meant everyone was out walking.

The team was particularly taken by two puppies out for a walk with their owner. Izzy commented that they must really be a chick magnet for the man leading him: No arguments from him. While a group of us milled around them all. Charmaine headed off to the fountain with Charlie. This also quickly drew a crowd. It felt like a movie, watching Charlie kick around in the water with all of us circled round clapping and laughing.

When it was time to leave we passed a big patch of tulips by the path. Amy, Les and I convinced Charmaine, (it didn’t take long) that it would be a good idea to put Charlie in the middle of the patch for a good picture opportunity. We were right: So cute. I’m happy we got a little time just to wander round because we are now back on the bus and heading towards the University. Still no news on whether training has been cancelled.

Day 6 April 11th

Wake-up came at 9:00am, but unfortunately I was already up. We are staying at the Ramada Inn in Columbia, but we were spoilt in Kentucky staying at the Marriott; I’m not finding the beds here all that comfortable in comparison.

We ate breakfast on campus at the cafeteria, and then headed out for a walk. This really is a gorgeous campus and we were all very impressed with the facilities. Our guide, I think he might be the Missouri team manager, took us to the Athletic REC center. They have an outside pool with a little waterfall, and a huge workout area, and they even have a rock climbing wall indoors!!! All very impressive!

Our next stop was the local coffee shop. We had been told that this was the place to go for top of the line caffeine, and judging by the quantity being purchased, I’m going t to have to agree. Seeing as we weren’t expecting this stop, and most of us had no money, Les ( our equipment manager), was nice enough to treat us all. My Chai was delicious.

Because we have a 7:00 pm kick off this evening, the rest of today will be looooooooong. Night games are hard on us, because we know we have to rest, but sitting around can be utterly boring; night game days mean multiple naps, lots of eating and scads of television. So, at 11:30 am we ate sandwiches, with the option of mayo with a little ham and regular Lays chips, or mayo with a little turkey with regular Lays chips or, finally and shockingly, mayo with veggies with….wait for it…….. regular Lays chips. I went with the ham. Then we had a nap and watched television till 3:00pm, when we had a meeting with Even.

Today's starting line up will be Erin in nets, Mel Booth, Sasha, Latham and Martina in defense. In mid will be Brit, Andy and Amy and up front Sincy, Charmaine and I. We then ate our pre-game meal; this one a little more varied, with options of pasta, chicken, broccoli, rice and some salad. Finally we returned to our rooms for another bout of napping and television before heading to the field at 5:30pm.

The weather is good this evening, but for one thing, a wicked wind. Our warm-up was a good one. And sometimes, even before the game starts, you know things will go your way, and they did. We played against the wind in the first half and played well; not an easy thing to do. It was one of those winds that catches the ball in the air and pushes it back from where it came from. It was one of those winds that makes a long pass on the ground barely make it half way to its destination, and then often change directions. We finished the half up 2-0 and Even was pleased with our performance in less than ideal conditions.

We knew that playing with the wind was going to change the game dramatically and it took less than 5 seconds to show the other team that this 45 was going to be different. Off the kickoff Kara, who had replaced me at half, took a shot and hit the cross bar!!!! We never did score any more goals than the 2 in the first half, but we totally dominated. We out-shot them 22-6 and had 10 corners to their one, even though the score was not a huge one, we still felt like we played our game and were always in total control.

Tomorrow we leave for Kansas and, we think we may just have the day off. We have been told it is a 3 hour bus ride, but that we are stopping half way for a few hours at some huge mall. I never did catch the name of it. I think we are all looking forward to some time to just sit back and relax. If the team isn’t, I sure am!!!!

Day 5 April 10th

Not a nice morning, seeing as our wake-up call came at 5:30am. We slept walked our way down to the hotel lobby and forced down a bite of breakfast, before heading to the airport. Now that our equipment has finally arrived, we were heavily laden with our own bags, plus an additional bag each, for the equipment and gear. Southwest Airlines were not impressed with us.

The flight was a smooth one, which is great news for me for two reasons: First, I hate flying when there is any air turbulence; second, airports always lose our bags. However, this time, Les, our equipment manager, had a plan of action for claiming all our luggage. He uses a system whereby you’re in charge of the bags you checked in. It's a novel concept, and we managed to gather our stuff in record time. The Missouri soccer vans were sitting waiting for us, and we were soon outside the terminal, and into the transport where Panera bagels and cream cheese were waiting! Wonderful. Things haven’t gone this smoothly in quite some time.

We now have an hour and a bit drive ahead of us, but I don’t think it will be bad considering how tired we all are. I have a feeling not many of us will last the entire drive without getting any shut eye.

We ate lunch at the University cafeteria. I was not all that excited about this thanks to my expectations form the University of Tennessee’s grease pit, but I was proved wrong. Missouri has a brilliant campus and their Caf is great. Quite a few of us braved the long line for the grill and it was worth it. You got to choose your veggies, meat, sauce, type of rice……basically good stuff.

Quote of the day, thus far, was from Doc, “I now know why university students gain weight; you need to come into these places with a game plan and blinders on.”

We now get to rest up before training tonight. We are all exhausted from the game yesterday and the travel this morning. I saw a few other guests in the hotel looking a little annoyed when we walked in; I think they were expecting us to be a rowdy soccer mob. How little they know us, and I’m going to guess that they aren’t going to have much to worry about. Everyone went straight to bed after dinner.

Day 4 April 9th

Game day number 2, and the game is at 1 o’clock versus Purdue University. Most game days start out the same way. Wake-up at 9:00am, team walk at 9:15 am, and the n breakfast and a meeting till about 10:30. Then we get our uniforms and relax for an hour before heading to the field.

Today our formation on the field will look a little different. Karina is in net, Mel Booth on the left, Sharolta and Latham as center defenders and Martina on the right. Our mids are Andrea Neil, Brit Timko and Amy Walsh while up from we have Sincy, Charmaine and Kara. Purdue will probably be a stronger team than Louisville yesterday so we will have to be ready to go, tired legs won’t be accepted as an excuse.

We are all very happy about having taken ice baths this morning. No matter how sore we are this morning, it would only have been 10 times worse had we not had one. Latham said her quads felt like they had been shredded by a cheese grater. Mine feel exactly the same.

Robyn arrived at the hotel right before we left for the game. Many of the girls on the team played with Robyn on the U-18 World Cup squad in Edmonton so it was nice to see all of them meet up again. Of course I was also excited to have my Ottawa roommate here, seeing as Diana and Taryn are both absent from this camp. I appreciate having one more Ottawa Fury representative.

Well, we won the game 6-1, but we didn’t have one of our best games. The first half was terrible, and we just couldn’t seem to pull it together. The second half was better. Our goal scorers were Sincy who scored two, one in the first few minutes from a Britney Timko corner. She just got a piece of the ball at the first post and it angled in at the back post.

Then, Kara had one; Charmaine had one; Amy had one; and, Amber had one. Amber’s was scored from a great play down the right hand side of the field. Amy fed Martina the ball, and she put in a great cross to Amber on the back post. Even would call this type of goal clinical. I would have to agree.

I would vote for Amy as our player of the game, although there were also some good performances from Andrea, Latham in the back and Sasha.

Our second half was a stronger performance than the first; I think we let our tired legs get to us. We can't afford to use this as any kind of excuse though. We are elite athletes and we are going to have to get used to dealing with things like this. I am a little partial to Amy being player of the match given that I was playing center mid the second half, and as usual, she helped me out tremendously.

I caught myself ahead of the strikers on a few plays, and these are the times Andrea and Amy really step up their own games to cover for my absences. They were like walls out there. I also had a tendency to drift out to the safety of the nearest line. I suppose that when you have played striker for most of your life, you miss having the line next to you - it sort of becomes a safety net.

After the match we all headed back to the hotel and were met, in the conference room, by Mexican take-out: Delicious. There wasn’t much talking going on during the meal, as we were all pretty concentrated on getting as much food into our mouths as possible and in the quickest possible time. I did well!!

Tomorrow we leave the hotel 6:00 am to head out to Columbia, Missouri. More than this I am not too sure. I have a tendency not to know too much about what is going on. I just follow the line of people in front of me. This afternoon will be spent sitting back and relaxing - which is exciting news, before supper in the evening. We have only got one training tomorrow, so we are all looking forward to a day of recovery.

Day 3 April 8th

We got to sleep in until 9am this morning, great stuff. I’m sure Izzy and Kara enjoyed it too, seeing as they both arrived some time after 2:00 am this morning. Sincy arrived a little earlier, just before 11:00pm last night. It was nice seeing them all at breakfast this morning. We are now only missing two of the squad: Amy Walsh, who should get in some time this morning; and, Robyn Gayle who is meant to get in tomorrow at some point.

Before eating breakfast, we went for a team walk to get our legs moving. It was FREEZING outside. After walking around in T-shirts and shorts yesterday, today's weather was a real shock to the system; it is only a little above zero. The walk was meant to be for half an hour at a quick pace, but we only made it around the parking lot. The coaches didn’t complain either. We were all ready to get back to the warmth of inside the hotel.

We ate breakfast in the meeting room, while Even discussed formations and tactics. Erin will start in nets, with Mel Booth, Sasha, Latham and Martina in defence. Andrea Neil, Brit and Sharolta will be our mids, while Sincy, Charmaine and I will play up top. We have no idea what to expect from this Louisville team, but we are going to feel pretty close to them come game time, seeing as our bags still have not arrived and we will be wearing their away uniforms!!!! It will be odd heading out to play a game in our opponents' jerseys, but there we are.

Later today. Well, the game went well, and we won 9-0. I’m not even going to try and describe how all the goals happened, but I will try and remember a few of them, the ones that really stuck out. The best goal of the game came from a brilliant cross by Mel Booth. She ran down the line, and put in a fantastic left footed, curling cross to the back post where it was met by the diving Brit Timko: Really great! Another good goal was scored by Sash Andrews from a rebound from a corner kick. I'm not sure how, or what body part it went in off , but the goal was a great one. Another good goal was scored by Kara from a free kick; it was about 25 yards out and a streaker right to the top left hand corner of the goal.

Goals were scored by: Sincy 2 Brit 2 Amber 1 Sasha 1 Rhian 1 Charmaine 1 Kara 1

Straight after the game, we headed off to the Louisville ice baths. Everyone’s legs are sore and we still have a bunch of games coming up, sso we felt that we should conquer our fears and just jump in. The baths felt terrible. I can hardly describe the pain, but I was close to tears. The good thing though is that straight after getting out of the water, our legs felt so much better. I’m glad I did it, especially now that I am out of the water!

The bus then took us to our lunch, at about 4:00 pm, which we ate at the same place as yesterday. I’m not actually sure what this place is. Perhaps it is some sort of Louisville Cardinal supporter room, but some really nice ladies had prepared us quite the spread. The safest way to keep our team happy, in terms of eating, is by giving us a selection of food, and and that is exactly what they did, so we were happy.

We are spending the rest of our afternoon sitting in our rooms catching up on homework, reading, MSNing and watching television. We are eating at 7:00pm and then will be heading to bed. Our game tomorrow is at 1:00pm against Purdue. We have hard that they are a stronger team than the Cardinals, so we will need our rest.

Day 2 April 7th

We found out this morning that our game this evening is cancelled due to bad weather moving in. The TV is full of news of a huge storm system moving in, but it is hard to take it too seriously as the sun was out in full force this morning.

When we came down to breakfast, we found out that about six of the girls had lost their luggage on the way here. Worse still is the fact that our equipment bags have also been lost. This means that these girls have NOTHING at all to wear, except the clothes on their backs. We scratched together a semblance of kit, and everyone was wearing the most ridiculous combos. I had red socks, black shorts, orange sliders and a blue top, while Charmaine did the whole practice in her polo shirt.

This forst practice was 9:30 am. The Louisville pitch is excellent, perfectly flat and I was excited about getting back to playing on real grass. The session went well with a few small sided games and some shooting. It is good being back all together especially seeing as we’re in the sun. We ended the practice with an older versus younger game. These games do not usually end all that well for the youngsters, but I am pleased to announce that for the first time in longer than I care to remember, the youngsters pulled through and won 2-1. It wasn’t pretty, but a victory’s a victory.

We had lunch at a local restaurant, and ate in the backroom where they had set up a great spread of lunch meats, soups and sliced vegetables and fruit. I was really hungry after a day of travel yesterday and a tough practice this morning. Not much was left on the table after we had finished with it.

This afternoon we are resting before our training session this evening at 5:00 pm. At lunch, the sun was still out and there wasn’t cloud in the sky. I think Even may have started to regret postponing the game. However, as I write this entry, I can see the dark clouds moving in and I can hear the rumbling of the approaching thunder. I am not looking forward to the next session in the pouring rain, especially as the kits have still not arrived and we are all running desperately short of clothing. Those of us who didn’t lose our bags are lending our gear out, so even we are now running low.

It is after 8:00 now and we have just had quite a scare. We trained at 5:00 as as planned, and had a hard 2 hour training session. Well, I found it hard anyways. When we arrived the sky was blue and the weather hot, but this slowly changed. By the time we entered the last 10 minutes of training there was a thick black cloud hanging over us and, as I remarked to Amber, it seemed to have a circular edge to it.

We were rushed off the field at 7:30 pm, and as we pulled out the parking lot the hail started to fall. It wasn’t golf balled sized, as I’ve heard it described, but it was big and I was VERY pleased the game had been postponed. As we neared the hotel our manager Les got a call letting us know that a tornado had touched down in Louisville and that until further notice we had to stay in the lobby.

We had the TV blaring as the lobby filled up with guests from all six floors. The news was a little nerve-wracking as two twisters touched down on either side of the area we are in. Thankfully, we were able to miss out on a total twister experience, and I am happy with just a close call. Karina and I braved the storm for a few photos so I am hoping to send these soon. We had to borrow Les’ camera as we were barred from going to the rooms to get our own.

We are now all about to head to eat. I’m looking forward to some nice grub followed by a lovely evening of sitting around and watching television. I think I’m also going to have to have an ice bath. We are still only on day one, and already my legs are achey.

Day 1 April 6th

1:45 pm is a pretty good time to start traveling. It works out well for me as it means I was able to eat brunch with my father on the way to the airport. I’m always ready for a delicious omelet on the way to the airport. I am not; however, quite so sure how great the omelet is going to feel once I arrive in Louisville, and we have to start training, I will let you know.

Well the good news is that we don’t have training tonight; my stomach is thrilled. I arrived in Louisville about an hour late, courtesy of a Kentucky high school group who were coming back from Paris. I guess their plane came in late to Chicago, and they had to sprint across the airport. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but students and teachers seemed to have become completely separated. It was a total free for all and as a result two students went missing. If anyone has been through Chicago's O’Hare airport, you will know how easy it is to get REALLY lost. As soon as I saw the confusion and heard that students were lost, I knew we were going to have a late departure. The students were never found, at least not while we waited, so a teacher got off the plane to catch the next available one with them. She looked really annoyed. Good luck kids!!

In Louisville, I was met off the plane by a Louisville, Kentucky University representative called Zak. He is in a leg cast from one of the girls breaking his foot during a recent training session - bodes well. We waited for my bags, which of course were the last ones off the carousel. Then we had to wait for Sharolta to get in.

Once all our bags were retrieved, and Sharolta was found, we set off to the city, about 2 minutes from the airport. We are staying at the Marriott hotel,and I love the big pillows, and there is an amusement park in the backyard. No joke there is a Six Flags Park just outside the back door. Too bad we won’t have time to check out the rides; not that I would want to go just now, as it is pouring rain here.

The rest of the team isn’t here yet, but my roommate is Mel Booth, and it is good to have her back with the team. It was great seeing her again. The rest of the players and staff are trickling in slowly, and the majority of them should be here at about 9:00 pm. I can’t wait for them all to get here. Of course it will be great to see them again, but more importantly, we can’t have supper until they have all arrived!!

First match is tomorrow!!