Going Global

As Friday approached, I had a few things on my mind. First things first — three loads of laundry and four overnight bags to pack for the kids. Teddy bears, favorite blankets and Star Wars guys were essentials, of course! How was I going to manage to pull this off? But I also had this competitive urge in me as I was prepping for our first trip to California, and our first international qualifier! It sometimes feels as if I wear many different hats?! I’m sure to many, that sounds familiar.

After goodbye kisses, I was off to Long Beach, California. Kat and I wanted to get in early Friday to prepare us for a two day tournament that would qualify us to represent the United States in either Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, or Mexico. We were mentally and physically ready to compete.

Saturday morning, 8am, the sky was very gray and the air was so damp and cold, we walked up to the site and saw 23 teams ready to compete for their chance to travel and represent our country. Kat and I had the first match; it was misting now and winds had picked up to about 20 mph, making for some tough volleyball. We had been training indoor in the sand all winter, and these elements were something that we had to consider. We made the necessary adjustments and won our first match in two games — 21-12 and 21-15. We never looked back! We won two more matches, taking us to playoffs on Sunday.

Sunday was a different day entirely — sunny and warm, and no wind!! We knew that every match was going to be tough from this point on as there were only twelve teams remaining. We won our first playoff match, 21-14 and 21-10. Then we won our second and third, and before we knew it, were in the finals!

We faced a very scrappy competitive team in the finals, but with the support of Chi-Town fans, that we somehow won the hearts of, we won the finals in three games, the third game 15-6. We will now have the opportunity to represent the US in May in a Norceca International Event!

I’m feeling so blessed and honored to be part of a great partnership with my teammate Kat, for the support at home, and proud to be able to represent this great country we live in!