Preparing for Provincials

Hehe... Just kidding. Provincials??? We aren't in Canada here. Or maybe we are, eh? No, but seriously State is super close (and by State, I mean High School Water Polo State Championships). I am so excited to go because we have about twelve people going! It's in Cedar City again, just like our last tournament called Summer Games.

So, our main competition at State will be Cedar City. I mean we are so much better than them but they think that they are awesome. At the last tournament they said, and I quote, "Park City's not going to know what hit them at State." What idiots. We are going to CRUSH them... no question. It will be like a 200-pound person stepping on a little ant. Except Cedar City is more characteristic of the person if you know what I mean :).

Sweet Dreams Cedar City
Photo Courtesy of : ATRL

Since State is coming up soon, we have to buckle down and work hard at practice. Unfortunately, half the girls on our team don't know what the word "commit" means, but we really need them so we can't kick them off now. We are doing more scrimmages and working on plays in practice to get us prepared. Practice is becoming a lot more fun now that we don't have to keep learning the basics which my sister and I (and a few others) already know.

We are also practicing our team cheers. Our team has the best team spirit out of all of them. Some of the boys aren't as enthusiastic as others, but that is their problem. We have made a whole list of cheers to do at different times during the game. Screaming them out is my favorite part of the games. The girls team (not so much the boys team) are doing a lot of fun things together. We just recently went to a movie with more social outings to come in the near future! Here is a pic of Jessi, Carolann, and I getting some healthy slurpees at 7-11:

Yum!
Photo Courtesy of : Ashton Strauss-Hook

Besides practices, social outings, and planning on defeating Cedar City, we are all just having a really fun time preparing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Teams Review

So, there are some teams that I hate, and others that I L-O-V-E Madonna. Just joking, I don't really like love any teams, but there are some that I like way more than others. These teams are just a few out of the many that we play. So let's get into it (hehe I sound like the stupid beauty guru channels - jk I watch those like every day).

Kearns

Kearns has an A team and a B team because they are the hearth of water polo down in SLC. Their A team is pretty good, but their B team is pretty close to our level. Kearns is nice for the most part I guess, but their parents are the worst. They are so rude, and they think that they own water polo. They should probably use some of their annoying energy on an exercise bike instead of being rude to everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of friends on Kearns, but their parents need to take a chill pill.

This is what the parents look like - even the moms.
Photo Courtesy of : LA Times

Murray

In my last post, I wrote about our tournament in Cedar City and how we had that gold-medal game. That game was against Murray. I don't really have any feelings about Murray. They are pretty nice and good at water polo. They aren't even annoying. So ya...

Tooele

I actually really enjoy playing against Tooele because they are actually nice! Compared to Cedar City, they are like angels sent down from heaven.  Their team isn't that good (we beat them every time), but they have a really good goalie. She blocks a lot of our shots. One time at our last tournament, their goalie got two goals! Like what the heck - how does a goalie get goals? Well, she swam all the way out to half way and shot it top corner! It was pretty amazing

Cedar City

I thought I would save my least favorite for last. So Cedar City is so annoying. Basically we beat them every time, but they still think that they are way better than us. It's really quite confusing. We beat them even if half of our team is gone. After every game, they cry and cry and cry. Their coaches make such a big deal out of it. Apparently they want to beat us at state but that is NOT going to happen. This is my interpretation of what they look like in and out of the water :

Out of Water
Photo Courtesy of : Totally Top Ten

   

In Water
Photo Courtesy of : Andrew Hibbitt 

                                     













Okay well that's all I have to rant about today, but stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Tourney with Namaste

Red head, afro, colorful tattoos, yup! That's Namaste for ya! Okay, so Namaste is this annoying referee who likes to bag on our Park City Water Polo team. He always fouls us and makes up all this crap that really doesn't make any sense. He looks sorta like this:

Photo Courtesy of : Tri Radar

Photo Courtesy of : my mum

We traveled to Cedar City last Thursday for the annual Summer Games tournament. It was the first time that our team had ever gone, so it was pretty fun. The car ride down consisted of sour patch kids and Pringles (I'm really healthy). My friend Alexa was eating her usual meal similar to a bird's diet: carrots and trail mix. When we got there, we stayed at the Abbey Inn which was really fun because all of our rooms were close to each other. Here is the girls team getting ready to drive to beautiful Cedar City :



The first day that we got there, we played one game against our rivals Cedar City. Apparently they hate us, along with everyone else. I really don't understand why no one likes us, but I'm pretty sure it's because we are good, and we are a brand new team. Anyway, we beat them (obviously), and watched the boys game later that night who won as well. The next morning we had a game at 7:50 AM and won that against Tooele. Our next two games were mid-day and night against Herriman and Sourthern Utah who we also crushed. So, getting back to the Namaste part, he was really annoying as always, and kept ejecting people from our team. It was a blast.

Let's talk about team spirit! (and not about my face)
Photo Courtesy of : Blair (the Summer Games coordinator)

So in our gold medal game, we were playing Murray. The score was going back and forth, but the problem was that Namaste's friends (the other referees that hate us) kept giving our set offensives. An offensive is when the team on offense gets a foul, so then the possession is given to the defensive team. So basically every time we would get down there, it would be an offensive. We still played really well considering that we had a lot of bad calls against us. It was great, though, because our team is really good about losing. Here is a pic of us being happy afterwards:

Silver Medal baby!
Photo Courtesy of : Blair (the Summer Games coordinator)

When we were in Cedar City there was an amazing pizza place that we went to called Centro. It was literally the best thing ever. And shoutout to our awesome waitress who made jokes with us! Well that's all I got, but stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Getting Ready for Pura Vida

FOURTEEN MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!! until I go to the beautiful land of Costa Rica. I am literally so excited right now. We are going with our close family friends, the Beyers. I actually didn't realize how close it was, so I basically have to order a bunch of things today. We leave April 1st, at 11:59, so it's coming up. I will miss two days of school, but who really cares when you are going to an exotic getaway. Here is a basic view from our house that we are going to rent:

Osa Peninsula
Photo Courtesy of : Destination 360

Anyway, I have very many things that I am going to pack, but the problem is that I can only take 27 pounds! This is because we are flying on a really small plane once we fly into San Jose. My packing list is as follows :

• bucket hat (so I can look cool while I am going on adventures - oh, and to keep the sun out of my face)
• hiking shorts (even though we will spend most of our time at the beach - and to look cool)
• hiking pants (I heard that there are bugs there)
• sunglasses (it's really weird how I don't have a pair of these)
• hiking boots (to go along with my shorts and hat)
• keen sandals (I used to gag when I saw these, but now I see the purpose)
• bug shirts (again... BUGS!)
• rash guard (when I surf!)
• swim suits (no explanation needed)
• sun dress (if I actually feel like looking nice)
• toiletries (I would list them all but ya)
• undergarments (^^^)

Osa Canopy Tour
Photo Courtesy of : Osa Tropical

The lady that is renting out the house to us, and she has told us about many activities that we could try out! There are many, but the one that really stood out to me was zip lining! I have been convincing my dad to let me build one in our backyard for so long, but he hasn't quite agreed so this is amazing. The zip lining company says that the rides are 1.5 hours long on different lines, and you go right over the tree tops! It sounds amazing. I even heard that they have one of the longest zip lines in the world! We also might be trying water fall repelling, jungle hikes, and snorkeling. Surfing is supposed to be amazing on the beaches that our house is situated at, so that is a major plus!

Photo Courtesy of : Surf Trip

Since my blog is about water polo and my life, I should probably incorporate some of the sport into this post. The problem is, in Costa Rica, there is literally no water polo. Most of them are probably too busy surfing or zip lining! The only picture that I could find of a water polo player from Costa Rica is this one below: 

Photo Courtesy of : News Gov

Anyway, I hope you are jealous of me and my future travels, and stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

The Curly Fries Take Riverside

You're probably all thinking WHAT? Why am I even talking about curly fries? Well there is a very important reason, and it relates to water polo (oddly enough).

This weekend, my team, called the Curly Fries (I can here your Ohhhh's already), traveled to Riverside, California for a water polo tournament. Actually it was the ODP Youth Women's Nationals (results). Zones from all over the US came to this tournament to compete which is pretty cool. Our team traveled in different ways at different times, but we all managed to get to the hotel on Friday night before our tournament which started on Saturday and continued onto Sunday.

My Sister and I @ the Airport
Photo Courtesy of : Kendall Morrison (my mum)

When we got to our Hampton Inn on Friday, we were given our room assignments. I ended up rooming with my friend, Georgia, from Colorado who also stayed with us during one of the camps. we hung out in everyone's rooms until it was time for supper. The food that was brought to us were gross sandwiches from Subway and foreos (fake oreos) that were also not very good. We wanted to get ice cream, but the parents said no (sad face). After dinner, we went up to a few of my team mates' suite and had a team meeting. We basically talked about how we were going to lose but we should still try!

The next morning, we woke up at 5:30 and had some breakfast before our 7 o' clock game. The breakfast literally sucked. There wasn't even any bacon OR bread which are my two favorite foods. I settled with honey nut cheerios and orange juice. We drove to the pool in our huge mini van and played three games. We had about three hours between each game, which allowed for me to get my tan on (which was my main goal of the trip). The Mountain Zone Team (us) won our last game against Hawaii that day but lost the first two against crazy California teams.

Bus Selfie!
Photo Courtesy of : Becca Hurst

After a long day of games, we went out for pizza at this small, family-owned restaurant. We then went to this weird restaurant/ice cream parlor called Farrells for some amazing ice cream. The whole restaurant was circus themed which was also pretty cool. There were a lot of loud noises and horns going off that my friends and I weren't too excited about.



On Sunday morning, we woke up an hour later than the day before and got the same, gross breakfast. Our first game that day was against Florida, and, even though we lost, we all played really well. Before our next game, we tanned even more and got smoothies and snow cones (which was probably the best part of the trip). Sadly, we lost our last game to Hawaii, which was disappointing since we had beat them 11-3 beforehand.

From Left to Right : Rissé, Me, and Sarah
Photo Courtesy of : Sarah's Mom

My family flew home last night and didn't get in until twelve! I am currently sitting here at school, my eyes half closing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my post about my weekend, and stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Playing w/ The Cool Kids

About two months ago, I wrote a blog post on high school swimming called Swimming w/ The Cool Kids, but now it's........ WATER POLO SEASON!

So I am literally so excited because water polo is my boyfriend, besides the other twenty lined up at my door. The sport itself makes me feel so relaxed and happy because it is my passion. I only started about two years ago, but it was love at first sight. Okay, now I am going to stop pouring out my emotions and move on to the real details of Park City Water Polo.

The first day of it started February 17th, which, sadly, was during our school recess. This means that there were only a few of us there because who wants to spend their one week break at a pool?? Oh right, me. Basically the season is from the middle of February to the end of May, which is a pretty good chunk of time. We have practices every week day, and I think we are going to start to add Saturdays and morning practices (optional, of course). We mostly just have games during the week like a Tuesday or Thursday, but it depends.

Women's Varisty Team
Photo Courtesy of : Mike McDowell (my dad)

Practices are usually pretty fun. First, we pass on land while we wait for the elementary kids to finish their "swim lesson". Then, we set up the pool by taking out the lane lines and the flags and putting in the goals. Most people like to get the balls in and start shooting but Coach Josh gets mad, so we just swim to get warm. We do some drills and probably start passing again. Next, we either do a shooting drill or a passing drill which gets us moving. Sometimes, we scrimmage (which are the best days ever), but we mostly just do drills that sometimes don't make sense.

Most people think that they can just join water polo whenever they feel works for them, but that isn't going to cut it this time since we actually have a full girls team! There are about eleven of us girls who play, and some are still deciding whether or not they want to do it. Our team is coached mostly by Josh Loyens, but Jeff is also a major contributor. As captains, my sister and I like to plan all of the social events, since that's the best part! Last Friday, we had a team sleepover, which was so fun! We made really cool bags that had glitter and even fur on them! If you are looking for a fun team to be a part of, our girls team would love to have you!

Team Bags (notice the "Bite Me")
Photo Courtesy of : Me

ANYWAY (I realize that I say that a lot), I hope you liked reading about my life, once again, and stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Swimming w/ The Cool Kids

I hope everyone is having a great winter break!! So, if you have been on my blog for the past few weeks, you may have noticed a little poll on the side of the page. I was asking what you guys wanted me to write about; and y'all said high school swimming! Let's dive right into it... (haha get it, "dive" like actually "diving" in swimming... OK never mind). The following picture shows major muscle action from a professional diver (and it's pretty funny).

Photo Courtesy of: Funny Place

The high school swimming season starts in October and goes until February. It's pretty long. You have to practice EVERY school day, but it is kind of nice because you don't have to swim when there is no school. Although, it is highly encouraged to swim on your own, but who wants to do that? There are a variety of meets, some dual, tri, or invitationals (which include a lot of teams). We just finished our annual PCHS Invitational, which was super-duper fun. A total of fourteen teams came! My team mates and I swam very well. We placed first in all of the relays, and in most individual events. The following are pictures from our previous meets!

Pre-Meet Talk
Photo Courtesy of: Coach Folber

Setting Up the Pool for the Meet!
Photo Courtesy of: Coach Folber

Post-Meet Victory Talk
Photo Courtesy of: Coach Folber

Swimming is a very important sport to do, if you want to get serious about water polo. It helps so much, especially on counter attacks, and coming back on defense. The high school season works perfectly with the water polo season because they are right after each other! Trust me, I know that swimming doesn't sound very appealing, but high school swimming is the bomb-diggity. I love being apart of the team and going to all of the parties! Get to know the team by following us on Twitter!!

Well, I hope that you guys enjoy the rest of your Christmas break. Make sure that you are having fun with your family during this holiday break because that's what Christmas is all about... JUST KIDDING! Everyone knows that it's all about the presents!! Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Wait... What?

So everybody knows that I have a huge problem with procrastinating and I really want to just get all my homework out of the way before the weekend. So then I was thinking "let's get this party started" and then it struck me. All of you non-water polo players have no idea what I'm talking about half the time! I mean I have never really explained the whole game rules and stuff. So that's why I have called this post, "Wait... What?" just to enhance what everyone is probably thinking when reading this blog.

Photo Courtesy of: Tails Doll

So I am basically just going to go through the game start to finish... At first, everyone lines up on their opposite walls, and the swimmer is the one closest to the lengthwise wall (I'm one of the swimmers on the team). When the ref blows the whistle he drops the ball right in between the two swimmers, everyone on either team swims towards the middle of the pool. The swimmer goes the fastest to try to get to the ball first, so they can have the advantage.  In higher level games, the ball will be placed in the very middle of the pool, on a magnetic ring.

Next it goes on like any other game, and the offense lines up in a D-shape. Look back at my previous post for a view on how the offense lines up. Your team has thirty seconds to get the ball into the net. A variety of passing and plays happen during this thirty seconds.

If the ball is shot into the net, the ref blows the whistle, and everyone lines up again; this time in the middle of the pool. The ball is given to the opposing team. If the ball misses, and the goalie gets it, then the previous defense switches to offense and attacks the opposite goal. If the thirty seconds has gone up, then the ball is turned over (this is usually a good time to swim as fast as you can).

Photo Courtesy of: Download CNet

Above is a picture of a water polo score board. There are four quarters with breaks in between each quarter and an even bigger break during half time. They are all 6, 7, or 8 minutes long, depending on the age of teams playing. The top number shows the time. The period (actually the quarter) shows what number out of four. The two numbers on the side of the period number are the goals scored for each team. underneath the goals scored are the T.O.L 's which are the ejections for each team. Finally, in between the ejections, is the shot time which counts down from 30. Here is a video (courtesy of YouTube) of the beginners guide to water polo (the video doesn't work on this site, but it will give you an option to watch on YouTube)

I hope you enjoyed learning what water polo is, and your time on this blog isn't just a whole lot of "wait... what?"'s. Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

ODP But Not Really

With the Water Polo Fall Ball season coming to an end, the tryouts for ODP commence! ODP is the Olympic Development Program and has different zones. The zone that I will be trying out for is the Mountain Zone Team. This team includes Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. There are two tryout camps that are both two days long. The first one is in Salt Lake at the Kearns pool. The second camp is in Albuquerque, where we will be traveling to shortly before winter break ends. There are a few players on our team that are hoping to make it.

The reason why I have called this blog post "ODP but Not Really" is because we are trying out for ODP, but they make it sound like we are getting ready for the Olympics. In reality, it is just a step up from the club sport. Now, don't get me wrong. I am REALLY excited for this opportunity because you get to travel places, and you might even get to go to Nationals! The team that I would be trying out for is the U15's. There are about eleven people to a team, so I am hoping that I am one of these lucky few.

It's really important to get out of your state sometimes to see how sports work in other states. In Utah, water polo isn't very good because they don't play the way that should be played. In California, they teach Olympic-style water polo which would obviously be the best choice. There are a few techniques that are taught in Utah that should definitely be shut down if a player ever wants to get past the club level.

Team Suit

Team Jacket

Overall, I am very excited to start ODP camps, for I think that it will be a great experience. If I make the team, it will be even better! Below are some pics of the cool gear you get if you make ODP. Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!


All photos courtesy of : USA Water Polo

Team Bag

Team Shirt

Team Pants

The Building Blocks

Blogs and sports are relatable because both have something that they build from. In a blog's case it's the first post, but in a sport, it's the team. Even though it is not always shown, teams should be one of the biggest aspects of a sport. The teams that I am on include swimming and water polo. This blog will focus more on the water polo side which is what I like to focus on in every day life.

I play with Park City Water Polo. Since water polo isn't very big in Park City, there isn't enough girls for a high school team. Lately, my sister and I have been playing games and doing some practices with the Wasatch High School girls who train in Heber City, Utah. On the Park City team, I play with the junior high mixed team which is also very fun. This includes girls and boys from grades 6-9.

Our 2014 Girls Park City High School Team
Photo Courtesy of : Kit Selznick

Water Polo is not only my hobby, but also my passion. Even though the game and the sport is amazing and exhilarating, I don't think I would love it as much if I didn't have a a fun team. At practice, you work together and learn from each other.  You push each other to make your team better as a whole, and that is the fun of it: improving, succeeding, and even sometimes failing as a team. During games, seeing your friends' smiling faces next to you is such a cool experience. Playing a sport together brings friends closer than ever which makes being together so much fun. If I didn't play water polo with my teammates or even be around them, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

Stay tuned for more posts coming soon!