Keeping The Dream Alive

Sports have always been a major part of my life! Backyard games were a daily activity with neighborhood friends and family growing up, and as soon as I was old enough I joined community soccer and basketball leagues. I continued to play soccer until my senior year in high school with many successes and wonderful memories. Basketball lead me to an incredible senior year of high school placing second at state and then onto two years at the College of Saint Benedict. It was within these teams that I have met some of my best friends to this day. Being apart of a team with my best friends has become a main source of laughter, competitiveness, and pure enjoyment. I definitely owe much of my competitive nature to my two brothers and father, despite my grandma Arloa's claim that it came from her:) Sorry grandma! Growing up I had to be competitive in order to stand any chance against my brothers and my fathers competitiveness was always something that I strived for.

My love for sports lead me to this opportunity to study abroad at Coventry University where I am studying Sport & Event Management while having a Marketing Internship within the Sport & Event Management department. Unfortunately though, studying abroad in the spring hindered me from playing basketball for a third year at CSB. It was so fun to support the team in the fall, but I just wanted to be on the court!

This week I went to check out the women's basketball team at Coventry University and see if I could get involved at all. I ended up practicing with them on Tuesday and officially became a part of the team Wednesday morning just in time to play a game with them. It was so exhilarating to get back on the court!! Even though I haven't played basketball since last season and I only have running shoes here, I didn't play half bad!!

Collegiate sports in the UK are much more relaxed than the US. We will be having practices on Mondays and Tuesdays then play on Wednesdays. The rest of the week we are free. How strange. Also, collegiate sports here at Coventry University don't really get spectators. There isn't room for them to watch and no one really cares too much ha. My parents wanted to know if they could watch via streaming... Ya that won't happen. The level of play is definitely different than what I am used to as well, but like all other experiences abroad, it is something that I will have to adapt to. There are a few girls that just started playing basketball this year even.