We've adopted a special needs classroom at a local elementary school in Oneonta. The girls go down once a week and read, dance, hangout on the playground and do art projects with the kids, here are some pictures from last week!!
Today we took part in a charity fundraising kidney walk. As we anxiously waited to register at 11 am, we drank a lot of free coffee. Then at 1 pm we started to make our way around the Alumni Field House. There was a live band jamming as we walked and conversed lap by lap. Everyone was in a happy- go- lucky spirit. Also, coach took some phenominal pictures. It was a great experience had by all!
Authors: Jess Wimpel and Britt Passarelli
This past Sunday we had a tournament at RPI. There were 8 teams there in total and we played against Union, RPI, Cortland and New Paltz. It was great to watch the girls get together and participate in their first competition of the year. As a team we had an opportunity to get to know each other better on and off the field. It was a great start to fall ball and new beginnings for this young team!
We did different types of cardio, strength and conditioning, and toning workouts.
Since they know the basic techniques now we're going to add some music next time!
The team will be doing these types of workouts throughout the season so we use different muscles and don't wear out our legs by constant repetition on the ground!!
I thought the meeting for freshman athletes tonight was really helpful. They made it clear for me to understand what to do if we have to miss class for games. Also I liked how they emphasized guilty by association. I didn't realize how serious that was. I was proud of Becca for being up there in front of everyone! They were all pretty into their skits. They took it seriously, knowing that these are real situations that students can come across.
Sam
On Monday, September 15, we all attended a leadership conference hosted by Olympic runner, Suzie Favor Hamilton. She inspired many people in the room, including Hammer, who won a book for sharing a sports story. Hamilton talked about the hardships that came her way throughout her life, including her brother’s unfortunate suicide and her misfortunes at her final Olympics. She talked about her hardest times as an athlete and what she did to try and escape the pressure.
After Hamilton talked, the sophomores continued on to a sports psychology conversation. It was extremely similar to last year when the psychologist came into our locker room. She drew a curve that shows where we should be during a game and explained what can happen when we fall above or below the average- you either get too anxious or too relaxed. She told us that the best way to stay at the greatest point is to figure out as a team how to encourage the right emotions.
-Hillary
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This past Monday, Olympic runner Suzy Favor Hamilton came to Oneonta to share her story. Suzy told us that her best moments in sports were not always victories; she said that she learned just as much from loosing races than winning races. Her story told us all that as much as we want to we can’t win every game, meet, or race. She taught us that you have to learn from your mistakes to overcome them. After Suzy spoke the freshmen had to go to a separate meeting specifically about time management. Here we learned that its not always going to be easy being a student and an athlete but if you manage your time correctly you would do just fine. This was helpful because I know personally I waste a lot of my time when I could be doing more productive things.
-Krissi
So at the SAAC/Greek dinner we were all separated from our team mates and sat at a table of about ten. The tables were all mixed with different representatives of Greek life and athletes. Before dinner we had to discuss three main topics as a group and write them down:
1. How are greeks and athletes similar? my table said we all want to be a part of another "family" and we like the bond and unity that goes along with meeting new people 2. What are some stereotypes? greeks- party too much, big drinkers, conceited. athletes- dumb jocks, only care about staying fit 3. What are some activities that could include greeks and athletes? community service projects and supporting each other at events
We ate a delicious chicken parm dinner and afterward each table had a spokesman who answered the questions. It was a great way to mingle with people of different groups and get to know one another.
-Shelly, Hillary, Becca
Lindsey Moss
Jill Hutchinson
Michelle Hammer
Shelly Symons
The morning started off with an obnoxious call from Hammer to Jill at 5:31 am to make sure that we were awake. When we got to Alumni, people were already there packing the bus up with all of the food, bags, and lacrosse stuff. We left a little after 6, and everyone was basically passed out by 6:30.
Around 10:00, we were somewhere in Maryland and everyone was starting to wake up. We wanted to watch a movie, but of course it was a task for 25 girls to agree on one movie. The choices were between Hairspray and Clueless.
Jill: “Yeah that’s right, Hairspray won”
Hammer: “ This vote is totally unfair”
Jill thought it was the greatest thing in the world that our bus was “the chosen one” to get weighed at the weighing station. Than we kept going…
When we arrived in D.C. we viewed the gorgeous Potomac river, which Cheeks announced was the Hudson. We got off the bus and it was around 75 degrees (WOO HOO!!!). We saw the crying wall at the Korean War memorial, than we took team picture number 1.
Than we walked along the reflection pool towards the Washington Monument. We took team picture number 2 in front of a New York pillar.
Shelly: “I’m lonely over here in New Jersey!”
Jenna: “It’s the arm pit right?”
Coach took pictures of Jill and Cheeks “leaning” against the Washington Monument. While they were posing, some random guy put his child in the picture and scared Jill. We got closer and took a team picture in front of the Washington Monument.
We walked to the Lincoln Memorial and a lot of us thought that we had our workout for the day walking up the steps.
Hammer: “Lincoln is a really big guy!!!”
None of us thought it would be this big
We went to the Vietnam Memorial where a guy that worked there etched the names of 4 of the 8 women’s names that had died in the war; and he gave them to us. Our last team picture was in front of the statue dedicated to the women who served.
When we were going to the hotel, we were driving past the Capital Building and totally disregarded the ‘No Trucks Past Here’. We thought we had it made, but it quickly ended when a cop car came speeding in front of us and made us turn around.
As this was going on, we were having a “lesson”, initiated by Cheeks, about what goes on in the Capital building. Hillary was the one who cleared it all up.
So than, we got back on the bus and went to check in at the hotel. Than we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum where our picture scavenger hunt BEGAN!!!
We had to find an item within the museum that began with each letter of the alphabet. It was harder than we thought it would be.
And now we’re off to dinner at ESPN Zone to play games and do some team bonding!
