My Journey to Tokyo

Hey Everyone! This whirlwind of a quarter has come to an end.  What an experience.  I am beyond grateful for the opportunities that playing for Team Canada has presented me.  It is hard to believe that a few short years ago I showed up to a Team Canada tryout in Vancouver, not having a single clue of what to expect.  It has now been an amazing three and a half years.  I have played on three different continents, in six different countries: Canada, the United States, Venezuela, Columbia, Mexico and now South Africa.  I have seen so much of the world, simply playing the game I love.  It has opened so many doors for me.  It brought me to Sorcerer, to the All-America game my senior year of high school and of course, to the University of Washington.  Team Canada has honestly changed my life and I am thankful every single day. These three weeks flew by.  I am now back in California, sitting on my couch looking through pictures, already...

Hey Everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to post this....I simply wasn't able to put into words the emotions and everything I was feeling yesterday.  We lost our game to Chinese Taipei 2-1, booting us out of the tournament.  Not only did it mark the end of our tournament, but also the end of my career on the Canadian Junior National Team.  Chinese Taipei came out with more fire and energy than us, and unfortunately it was reflected in the score.  Although it was sad knowing our run at becoming the 2011 Junior World Champions was over, this trip was so much more than that.  I was able to meet amazing people, tour the beautiful country of South Africa, and play the sport I love for an entire three weeks. Since we were no longer playing games, we had the entire day off to spend with our families.  My Dad, Karissa, Natalie W. and I all spent this morning climbing Table Mountain.  Table Mountain is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is...

Hey Everyone! As many of you have heard, yesterday didn't go exactly as planned.  We had our big game against the Japanese - the winner guaranteed a medal - and we lost a tough, but exciting game 7-1.  Although it sounds pretty lopsided, the game was intense and we made some great plays.  I brought eye-black from home and thought it was the perfect game for its' debut...and it definitely was!  Our team came out with more energy and enthusiasm than ever before.  We threw out runners from the outfield, picked runners off at both first and third and played great routine D.  We can only tip our hats to the Japanese, for they played a flawless game of ball. Our lone run came in the third inning with the score 3-0 Japan.  Kristy Noble led off with a double to the wall.  With one out, Jenny was hit by a pitch and now runners were at the corners.  I was up.  After taking a few pitches, I lifted one to deep left field....man, I thought it was...

Hey Everyone! (this was supposed to be posted last night – lack of Internet, sorry!) When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself “there’s no way we’re playing today…”  I looked out my window at 9:00AM and it looked as though there had been a flash flood.  And let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be an international softball tournament without a rain delay! Anyways, we arrived at the field and it was in surprisingly good shape! With tarps covering the field all night long and the field crew in the outfield with sponges collecting the excess water, the field looked more than playable.  After a delay of only forty-five minutes, we were sent to the practice field for a quick warm up before our first pitch against the Czech Republic.  We ended up run-ruling the Czech in four innings, 11-1…finishing up pool play with a 6-1 record and snagging second place.  This tournament’s playoff round is very different in that four of the eight qualifying teams play double eliminat...

Hey Everyone! What a twenty-four hours it has been!  We played South Africa last night and after a slow start, ended up mercy-ing them 7-0.  Standing at 4-1 before this morning's game, our game against China would determine whether or not we would clinch second place in our pool, behind team USA. Our game against China was at noon today and although it started slowly, it ended with a bang.  Here's a full write up of the game courtesy of Softball Canada: http://www.softball.ca/main.asp?page_url=/display_news.asp?newsid=960.  In short, we were getting runners on base constantly, but until the fourth inning, we were all tied up 1-1.  With the bases loaded, I was up and hit a single through the middle, scoring two runs and putting us ahead 3-1.  After holding the Chinese scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning, we had a huge nine run fifth inning.  With one out in the fifth, our hitters strung a couple of hits together to load the bases. ...

Hey Everyone! It’s Tuesday morning and we just returned to the hotel from our morning practice.   Last night I was able to spend some time with my Dad for a few hours at a local mall on the waterfront.   We had dinner with Jocelyn and her dad John in the food court and browsed the mall for a few hours.   This mall was absolutely beautiful.   It had every store you could imagine, both American and African.   Unfortunately, the difference in price when it comes to jewelry, shoes and nice clothing is pretty much negligible, so I didn’t make any big purchases.   But before heading back to the hotel, my Dad and I stopped by one of the largest grocery store chains in all of South Africa, called Pick N Pay.   My Dad bought me some instant coffee, an ice cream bar and an Aero bar.   If you’re an American, chances are you’ve never had an Aero bar.   By Nestle, it’s a Canadian chocolate bar apparently sold here in South Africa and it is to d...

Hey Everyone! I finally have a minute to sit down and write.   Since blogging last we have played against USA and Botswana, losing to the Americans 11-4 and beating Botswana 7-0, each in five innings.   The game against the USA was brutal on both sides: errors, walks and poor execution all around.   With that game behind us, we came out and scored seven runs against Botswana.   Although they might not have been the strongest team, a win is a win.   Tonight at 5:30 we are playing Puerto Rico.   For the past three years, many of my teammates have called the Puerto Ricans our “rivals”.   Many important games have come down to a face off between the two of us.   Most recently, in Bogota last summer, Canada triumphed and went on to participate in the championship game against the US.   Playing Puerto Rico is always a big game: full of emotion and intensity…I can’t wait to get onto the field later tonight. Having been in Cape...

Wednesday December 7, 2011 Hey Everyone! I just got back from our safari and a little batting practice.   After getting up super early this morning and driving an hour and a half to the safari place, we unloaded the bus, registered and walked into the caged park.   Waiting for us was a huge four-wheeler with four rows of seats and a small overhead cover.   The minute my teammates and I saw the four-wheeler, we sprinted to get our seats.   I landed myself a perfect spot, front and center.   I made sure to avoid the outside seats – just in case of a freak animal attack J .   Our ranger, Aubrey, introduced himself and started the vehicle up, it sounded like an old, rickety lawnmower.   The huge engine was working away, climbing over boulders, small trees and everything in its’ path.   It probably looked like one of those heavy duty Ford pickup truck commercials and felt like we were on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland…it was awesome. ...

Hey Everyone! I can’t believe the tournament officially begins tomorrow.   We have been in South Africa for almost a week now and everyone seems to have finally adjusted to the time change and new environment.   We just had our final exhibition game against the Aussies, and ended up losing 2-1.   Here’s a quick recap: we started the game off with a double by Jenny Gilbert and a double by myself, scoring our only run.   We held off the Aussies until the bottom of the third inning when they hit back-to-back bombs.   Not just homeruns that barely clear the fence, but bombs…the kind of homerun you don’t even need to watch go over, because you just know.   Our team played well, and I had forgotten how much fun I have playing with this group of girls.   We are always laughing, joking and having a great time, while maintaining our focus.   That game was it for our exhibition series.   After beating South Africa and losing to the Aussies, e...

Hey Everyone! -  I tried to post this last night, but of course, the Internet wasn’t working… Today we have been going non-stop!  We were up at 8:00AM for breakfast, headed to the field for practice at 9:30AM, were back at the hotel for less than an hour for lunch before heading out for a full afternoon of touring.  It is now about 9:15PM and we are left with two “free” hours tonight for homework before curfew at 11:00PM. The highlight of the day, and the trip thus far, has been visiting Robben Island.  For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Robben Island is the Alcatraz of South Africa; the only difference is that Alcatraz was for dangerous criminals while Robben Island was for political leaders and activists up until 1991.  Robben Island is most famously known for being the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned (along with other political leaders from South Africa for many years up until 1991).  Our team took a thirty-minute ferry over to the is...

Hey everyone! It is day three here in South Africa and this place continues to amaze me, it is hands down the most beautiful country I have ever been to. Palm trees line the streets and the drive to the field looks like it came out of a scene from the Lion King…exactly what you pictured, right?!   The streets and cars are backwards and kids ride in the back of pick up trucks on the highways, but other than that, it is everything I had expected and more.   We were scheduled to play against South Africa last night as our first exhibition game and it was quite the night.   Our game was originally scheduled for 5PM, got moved to 7PM, then after warming up for two hours, we were stuck waiting for another game to end, an hour later we finally stepped onto the field, forty minutes later, they called the game because they couldn’t turn the lights on.   So after all that, we ended up playing South Africa this morning at 10AM.   It was great to get the team tog...

Hey Everyone! Cape Town, South Africa.  It isn't too often one gets the chance to travel half way across the world, crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, to play the sport they love with some (and against some) of their best friends.  Since qualifying for the World Championships in Bogota, Columbia last summer (2010), I have been waiting eagerly for right now, December 2011.  I can't believe that it is finally here.  Here I am, en route from Johannesburg to Cape Town, on my fifth and final flight of the day.  After twenty-three hours of traveling, I have no clue what the time is, what time zone I am in, or what the date is for that matter.  All I know is that I can't wait to finally be on the ground and begin the trip of a lifetime. Here's an overview of what has happened today: I started my morning off in Mountain View, CA.  I drove to San Francisco, flew to Denver, flew to Washington DC, flew to Dakar, Sengal, flew to Johannesburg, South Africa ...