Chapel Hill

I did not have your typical experience growing up, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, the home of the University of North Carolina. When the students are in the town, there are always things going on and people everywhere. When the students are off on break, it is almost a ghost town; it turns into a small Southern town where those who are full-time residents run into each other no matter where you go.

I love both sides to this town. Luckily, my High Performance team in based here and I get to return home for a week every year while still in training. In preparations for National Championships this year, I have returned to my hometown for what seems like the first time in ages! (Well, months really!) Not only do I love being able to see my family and friends that still live in town, I get to see some of my old college teammates as well!

Our High Performance team, the South, is made up of players from mostly Wake, UNC, and Duke. I have always enjoyed being able to combine the players from our schools in a fun, competitive tournament, when we are so used to being bitter rivals on the field during the college seasons. So now, as I return home and back to the High Performance team that I've always played with, it is great to see the many faces of the younger players behind me, but also the new faces as players graduate and new ones step up.

And after training with the National Team day-in and day-out, it is nice to be a part of a team with different players that proposes different challenges to overcome. Not only does it give me a chance to be a leader in new ways, I get a chance to see new things the younger generations might be doing, and it's always fun to see how much those youngin's have improved over the last year!

So although I have only been home a few days and attended a couple practices, I am excited for this years National Championships, with this team. I think we have a strong possibility to vie for the title! Watch out for us!! GO SOUTH!