Rain Rain (Don't) Go Away!

With tension mounting (as Rachel mentioned in her blog), Thursday's 4-0 win over Belgium was a much needed win for our team. With no game on Friday, we headed to the field for practice in order to continue refining some areas that the last few games have highlighted we need to address. As we got off the bus, we felt the light sprinkle of rain beginning to fall. As the many other rain "storms" we have encounter here in Argentina, we figured it was just one cloud that would soon pass. So we got down to the field and we waited. It didn't take long for the rain to turn into downpour though. Within minutes, the field was soaked, beginning to puddle. We experienced these types of storms just weeks before back in California, making the field unpracticable.

All of a sudden, Claire Laubach, Katie O'Donnell, Kayla Bashore, Lauren Crandall, and Sara Silvetti run out onto the field with the soccer ball (which we always bring with us for Friday soccer and it was Friday after all). In what seemed like a monsoon with the amount of rain falling, everyone on the team slowly decided to join. After an intense, and difficult (lots of puddles!) game of soccer, we convinced the coaches to join in the fun.

With the field covered, a slip-n-slide contest proceeded. The coaches even got into this one. Some local boys also came down with a boogie board to make use of the wet conditions. While this was going on, a game of whiffle ball began (also one of the accessories we travel with). Leeroy served up some nice curveballs, but most of the team got hits off, only to see Claire and Rachel come up with some big throws to first. As the game came to conclusion, the rain also seemed to stop.

With about 30 minutes left in our practice time, still soaking wet, we decided to play one last big game of soccer with all of the coaches and coaching staff to finish up. Although we did not even touch our sticks, I think this practice is just what we needed. We have been playing so much hockey, with few days off in 2010, and a day of fun games to get our minds away from hockey is just what our team needed to refocus and go into the last two games in Argentina fired up and ready to go! Although most teams would have just cancelled practice, our team always seems to find a way to make the most of altered situations, and of course make them fun! A little rain never hurt anyone!




Photos taken by Jamie Young