Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

PREPARATION CAMP FOR OLYMPIC QUALIFYING 23rd March 2008

No more rest for the players of the Women's Soccer squad. We all left our various places of rest and recuperation for Los Angeles today, off to a camp prior to the Olympic Qualifiers.

After our trip to the Cyprus Cup and the friendly match in France, we were given a week off. It was a chance to go home, or to go wherever we wanted to be. We needed some TLC and some rest for our weary legs.

I had decided to fly home to Montreal for my recovery time, so when we reassembled, I first flew to Los Angeles with Amy, leaving at 9:00 am on Easter Sunday. It was hard not to be able to go to Easter dinner with the family, but I was well stocked with chocolate, which helped to ease the pain.

At LAX, an airport with which we are familiar, Amy and I met up with Kiss and KK jr, and we were soon joined by Tank, Lexi and Jonelle. The seven of us then had time to grab a bite and a coffee at Starbucks before our hour and a bit wait for the vans to come pick us up at the terminal. The rest of the squad was already loaded up in the minibuses, and we were off for Oxnard, California. Most of the team is now here for the start of the camp, but there are 2 or 3 teammates who will be joining us in the next few days: They are suffering from school obligations.

On the way from the airport to the hotel we stopped for lunch on the way. It was a Mexican place, and after a good feed, we arrived at the hotel just after 3:00 pm. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and settling into our living accommodations for the week.

Later, we had a walk and stretch at 6:00pm, and this turned out to be an interesting experience. The whole area where we went for our walk, was packed with families, all having barbeque Easter dinners. There were kids everywhere and they seemed to really enjoy our presence in the middle of them all. In our tracksuits, we were quite the oddity and everyone seemed to be staring.

After the walk and stretch, we had supper and were soon heading back to our rooms for bed. There are quite a few of us who have arrived from the East, and we are all suffering from the 3 hour time difference. For myself, I was in bed by 10:00pm. I did try to read a few pages, but I was soon fast asleep - training starts in earnest in the morning.

Before signing off, I would like to send out my congratulations to Nikki Bratta a great friend and teammate of mine, and my roommate for 5 years in University. Two days ago she gave birth to her first child, a son. Welcome Nate!!!