Gliders in Manchester 3

26 May 2012 

Grand final day!!

I went shopping for the first time since being away with the Gliders. SV and I found the jewellery shop selling Thomas Sabo so I could buy a new charm. They are cheaper in this part of the world compared to buying them in Australia. My newest addition is a cute little Sabo Doll :)

Because it took ages to choose which charms we wanted and the lady took her time at the cash register we had to basically sprint (as much as two wheelchair bound girls can sprint across english streets) back to the hotel to make our team meeting on time.

We left for our game early so we could watch the bronze medal game between GB and USA. It was a close game but USA got the win.

USA v GB

Grand final nails - green and gold shatter

We had a great game against the Germans but unfortunately we didn't get the win. It was a very exciting close game - the leader changes several times. We were only down by 3 points when the score board decided to not work at 1:03 minutes to go. When they finally rigged up an alternate score board and shot clock the game started again and we resorted to end game tactics. Unfortunately it didn't go our way. We had an amazing defensive game but 0/8 free throws and a few missed easy baskets let us down.

We were in good spirits after the game though - we were happy with our efforts this tournament. While we waited for the bus to game, the walkers of our team created a new game: Amputee cricket - with an empty water bottle as the ball and prosthetics as the bats. It was very funny! We even got a few staff members involved and a random englishman.

 

At night we were able to relax at the bar on lower ground floor and the Gliders Player's Player was awarded jointly to CC and SS. My custody of C-Money (orange toy cat below) was very short after winning her by being Player's Player of the Frankfurt tournament (I kept the gold clutch though).

Player's Player is something that is awarded after each tournament. After each game during that tournament, each Glider votes for three Glider's who they thought contributed the best to the game. 3 votes to your first preference, 2 votes to your second preference, 1 vote to your third preference. It doesn't neccessarily have to be someone who got heaps of minutes and played really well - we can vote for someone who was very supporting on the bench or someone who did their role very well during their time on court. I have won it a few times over the years I have been playing basketball. It is a very humbling thing to be awarded - to know that your fellow teammates appreciate what you do for the team.

27 May 2012 

Travel day!

We don't have to leave the hotel til 3.30pm so in a bit I will start packing and then head out for a wander around Manchester city.

It has been a fantastic tournament but I am ready to go back home for lots of cuddles from my two boys :)



- 94 days til London Paralympics!

Gliders in Manchester 2

23 May 2012

Hydration: 17

Feeling a bit better today. I stayed in my room as much as possible, only coming out for compulsory team get togethers like meetings, food and training. I wasn't 100% going into the game but when the game started, the rush you get of playing basketball kicked in and although I was sniffing back bubbles, I think I played pretty well. Got a steal which always feels pretty good as a low. I shot like a dog though. Our team shooting percentage was a bit embarrassing which is why we lost. Our other stats were actually pretty decent compared to Germany but unfortunately the most important stat is what let us down.

24 May 2012

Hydration: 18

Today we got the win against the Great Britain girls though we still played pretty ugly. We know we can do so much better than what we are currently doing at this tournament. All the teams seem to be having lower shooting percentages. Is it the court? The bright lights that heat up the stadium? The brand new fully pumped GL6's? The ring / backboard? A combination of all of those? Who knows. I remember similar comments occuring during the last time we were here. No matter what, we are athletes who should learn to adapt to different environments, so we can only blame ourselves really.

During warm up I got a bit excited to see NOTT on the scoreboard.  They changed it to BURZYNSKI for the game but not before I was able to take a photo using DG's phone (I will try get that off him at some stage).

25 May 2012 - Happy birthday Dean "Thunder" Underwood and Amanda Nott!

Hydration: 11

I can definitely feel the difference this kind of tournament is having on my body. Compared to the tournament in Germany where we smashed out 4 intense games in 2 days - this tournament has lots of rest opportunities by having only one game a day. I am not feeling fatigued at all and my sickness feels like its starting to go away (though still blowing bubbles every now and then - not nice).

Today we had a morning training session and we worked on the thing that has been letting us down in the games. Uncontested shots. So we did lots of layups, bounce stops and and various shoots around the key.

Lunch was a treat from BA - pizza at an Italian restaurant in Manchester. We then had a small amount of time where we were able to wander the shops before heading back to the hotel which was only a short push away. We then did whatever we wanted in the hotel. Some Gliders may have napped. Other Gliders tried getting other teams involved in our new music video (hopefully this actually gets published - its currently in production but time is of essence!).

 

We then had a 7pm game against the US. In Germany we beat them so we wanted to beat them again. We did! It felt great :) I personally was proud of the way I played, 7 points in an international game is a bit of a warm fuzzy for myself. The team did really really well - we played tough defence and we were hitting some clutch shots after working some smart offence.

Tomorrow we are in the grand final - guaranteed medal = smiles all round!!

- 95 days til the London Paralympics!!

Gliders in Germany / Manchester

20 May 2012

Hydration: 15

Today was the first day since being in Germany that I actually woke up to an alarm. I didn't wake up at all during the night so I was surprised to get a semi-decent score on my hydration test. Breakfast was at 6.35am so we could make our bus to the stadium for our 9am game versus the USA team.

We haven't played the USA in a few years so we weren't sure what to expect. They won the major tournaments in 2008 and 2010 so we were expecting them to be tough opponents. The Gliders came out tough and beat them quite convincingly. One quarter the USA got donuts (ZERO!) shots in. We were feeling pretty awesome after this game.

Because we had lost the first two games it didnt matter that we had won the game against the US. We were still only playing for third. So after only a few hours rest we were playing in the play off for third against Netherlands. We lost. Like I mentioned in a previous post - no matter what excuse we had (tiredness), it was a matter of the ball not going in the hole enough times.

We weren't very happy after that game but because we still have one more tournament to go, we did our recovery session in the ice cold showers before going to watch the next game. We eventually got home for a dinner and then bed. We were at the stadium for about 12 hours that day.

21 May 2012

Travel day! Not that much to write about for this day. We had to be packed and ready to go at around 11am. We took the bus to the airport. Said goodbye to LDT who was flying back to Australia. Flew to London and then flew to Manchester. I had woken up that morning with a cold so I hated the flights. Trying to unblock my ears without blowing boogers out my nose is a skill I had to learn quickly.

By the time we got to the hotel it was dinner time, but I skipped dinner so I could go to bed early. I have a room to myself again which is probably a good thing anyway so I don't contaminate anyone else. I had a nice hot shower to try clear my head and I then took the night cold/flu tablets and went to bed.

22 May 2012

Hydration: 16! (massive surprise becaues I didn't think I drank much water last night)

Because I skipped dinner last night I missed any information regarding today - including when to wake up for breakfast. I woke up around 6.30am and lay in bed til around 7am umming and arhhing about whether to call MW to ask what time breakfast was. I eventually got the guts to call but found out the room phone had no dial tone so I couldn't call anyone anyway. It wasn't until I actually got up out of bed until I found the note by my door.

I got ready and then snoozed until it was time for breakfast. After breakfast the Gliders went for a wander to the shops but I stayed behind. After re-painting my nails with OPI 'Fly' and 'Alpine Snow' with gold shatter on top, I slept until my alarm went off at 1pm - just enough time to get ready for lunch.

After lunch we had a team meeting to talk about ze Germans who we are playing first at this tournament. Afterwards we had some more time to ourselves. I took the plunge and bought 24 hours of internet access in my room so I could Skype hubby. The Gliders had a training session in the evening. I sat on court side while watching the others do shooting drills and a small amount of 'defence against the Germans' drills. I hate being sick. I feel like I am missing out on opportunities to make my basketball better.

Dinner at the hotel was nice - some sort of port in sauce dish. The choc cake was even nicer but I couldn't finish it all. Too many bread rolls prior to cake.

I have one more set of night time cold/flu tabs to take so hopefully I feel much better when I wake up tomorrow.

- 98 days til London Paralympics!

Gliders in Germany 2

18 May 2012

Today was quite a simple day. A Gliders day always starts off with hydration testing which basically involves peeing a tiny bit into a small jar and then having our physio MW test it and giving us a score. More than 15 usually means your dehydrated. A score of zero means your peeing water and are over hydrated. I had a pretty good score (under 5!) which is unusual for me. I am usually very dehydrated in the mornings but my body clock wasn't in German time last night so when I woke up and was having trouble getting back to sleep, I was drinking more water.

The rest of the day consisted of a buffet breakfast, then an on court training session, then lunch (fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil pizza), then a pool session, then treatment/massage, then a team meeting watching heaps of video footage of ze Germans, and then an official dinner with all the teams.

Mmmm pizza.

Mini buffet tables! So cute!

At this tournament the womens teams are Germany, Netherlands, USA and Australia. The mens teams are Germany, Japan, GB and USA. It has been a while since the Gliders have had to play USA so it will be interesting to see how we go. But first up (tomorrow) we play Germany. We have played Germany numerous times over the last few years so we have a lot of scouting notes about the team in general and the individual players. We have won games against them and we have also lost games against them. But because I am completely biased and have faith in my team - I am sure we will come away with a "W".

19 May 2012

Hydration: 21
Today we played both Germany and Netherlands. I'm not really going to write too much because we have a REALLY early morning and will be at the stadium all day. Long story short: we lost both games. Jet lag? Being a little rusty? I'm sure there are plenty of excuses but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of basketball - the ball didn't go in the hole enough times.

I sit here watching a lightning storm on the German horizon (not too spectacular - just flashes) while also reading other Gliders get fraped by their room mates. Before writing this I had my psoas / hip flexor's stretched so now it's time for bed.

- 102 days til the London Paralympics!

Gliders in Germany

16 May 2012

Left Perth at 3.30ish pm. Nearly forgot to pick up my duty free Clinique because the airport employee took us through a secret doorway which bypassed the duty free pickup zone. Fellow Glider SV reminded me so had the airport employee run upstairs to grab my moisterizer. Thanks SV!

5 or so hours later we were in Singapore airport waiting for the eastern states Gliders to arrive. 11ish pm we were on our plane to Frankfurt, Germany! I slept for a bit then woke up for dinner (some sort of curry). Then slept til breakfast (some kind of egg that held it's shape). Then read my book until touch down.

17 May 2012

My first stamp in my new Nott passport!!

Waited in an airport chair for a very long time as the ground staff tried to find our day chairs. They had brought up our basketball chairs and sent our day chairs off to baggage claim, so it took a while for them to swap them around.

DG, KG, CC, SC and myself went on a bit of an adventure because we followed the wrong 'baggage claim this way' sign and ended up in the wrong terminal. DG and I were going to go one way but we saw the other three going the other way so we followed (hinesight, doh!). We went past the point of no return (past passport control) so we had to take the airtrain to the right terminal where the rest of the Gliders were waiting for us. They were still waiting for the bus to arrive so we didn't feel too bad!

Short bus trip to the Radisson Hotel, Frankfurt. Turns out that I am the luckest Glider (in my opinion but I am biased!). I have a room to myself with a double bed. AC has her own room as well but has a single bed (which makes it ideal for the physio table, therefore, is now the treatment/massage room). All the other Gliders have roomies and single beds each.

Not as messy as it will probably be in a few days

Double bed - a luxury when on a Gliders trip

I had a bit of time for a quick shower and then had a breakfast buffet with the girls. We dragged this out for a fair bit before finally leaving to go for a recovery swim in the pool which is on the top floor (level 18) with the glass slanted roof. We had a small amount of 'own time' before having a compulsory wander around the block to keep us active.

Our hotel

We then watched some video footage in small groups to scout ze Germans before having some down time before dinner. In the down time I started to feel a bit down and tired but then hubby logged online which perked me back up. Its always great to be able to chat with him. In the past I have gone on away trips where internet access is hard to come by and chatting with our loved ones back home becomes hard. The Gliders aways get a bit excited when we find out there is free wifi where we are staying. Its a bit sad though when we chat via fb/twitter instead of in their room a short push/walk down the hall.

For dinner we walked to a Thai restaurant. I had a penang curry and it was fantastic! Conversations were hiarious as the Gliders became over tired. Turkey basters - what!? If you have ever watched Offspring (channel 10) you might have a clue what we might have chatted about.

I am now back in my room sipping on my Gaterade bottle filled with water and Shotz so tomorrow mornings pee test gets a good hydration testing. #athleteproblems (oh wait, this isn't Twitter..).

Apologies for any spelling or gramatical errors. I'll fix them later! Bed time!

- 104/103 days til London Paralympics! (depending on what time zone your in).

Basketball, Education and Life

BASKETBALL
Wednesday 16 May 2012 will see 3 Perth based Gliders flying out of Perth to go to Germany and then to Manchester a few days later. The Gliders will be competing in a tournament in Frankfurt, followed by a tournament in Manchester.

I love Germany! One of the nicest countries I have visited (been there three times now). Friendly people and cute little cake/pastry shops. I haven't been to Frankfurt before though, so I am looking forward to the new experience. Not looking forward to the weather while the Gliders are away though:

Taken from Google.com

So I won't be wondering around in my Lulu tanks this trip :( Swifly tech and manifesto long steeve tops might be seen though!

I will try write about any Gliders adventures on here to keep you up to date.

EDUCATION
My uni exam is on the 4th of June (we arrive back in Australia on the 29th of May) so I might try be a good student and take my uni text book away with me. For the Manchester tournament I have a room to myself so I will (hopefully!) get a decent amount of spare time to myself. Though knowing me and the way I tend to study - I will be catching up on the unit chapter readings over the few days before the exam. Unfortunately those few days before the exam is actually a WNWBL round in Perth.

Can't wait for the semester to be over!

LIFE
Make sure you read Flash and Thunder's blog as well and then follow the links to donate (even if it is just $5). Lee and Dean are in training mode for Tough Mudder and all the money they raise goes straight to Wheelchair Sports WA.

My guy wears Lulu too :)

I will be plugging Flash and Thunder numerous times because I fully support what they are doing. I'm so proud of them both! I had a dream last night that they reached $1000. Help make my dream come true! (and yes, I agree - it is a weird thing to dream about!)

- 110 days to go til Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympics!