"Let the ball do the work."

VEGAS
WAS
AWESOME!!!!

But it's still always SO tough to transition back into real life (and the Northeastern tundra...).

As usual, this experience has just added on to my rugby resume and made me propel onward in my rugby career. Every time I am blessed with the opportunity to play at this level (and even at any level, when many are stuck in an "off season"), I return stronger and with more knowledge in my back pocket. I cannot convey how extremely lucky I have been to be able to participate in these tournaments - I'm doing my best to take advantage of what I've already been given and use it to the best of my ability to keep moving forward.

The entire coaching, training, and managing staff on the team made me get so much out of every minute on that trip. Even from the beginning, it was like the coaching staff read my mind. If you look two posts down to the February 11th post, I discussed some areas that I would like to specifically further develop. On day one, our coaches answered pretty much every single question I had in my mind. 

I'm going to break down a couple of things I learned by the specific quotes from our coaches that have stuck in my brain:

• "You're GOING to get hit....expect a hit." I appreciated this explicit statement from one of our coaches when practicing the timing of passes. It took the hesitation out of my brain about whether or not I would get hit from an oncoming defender when deciding to pass. Either way, whether or not I do get hit, I should just expect it anyway because it's a good guideline to ensure that you have completely drawn in your defender. Even in drills, after a pass if you're bumping into a teammate playing touch against you that's a good thing!! You should be aiming for some sort of contact after a pass to prevent the defense from drifting.
  
• "Let the ball do the work." Especially in sevens, this is another simple yet VITAL concept. Instead of tiring yourself out going into contact, rucking, etc. you can save yourself and your teammates so much time and energy just through ball movement.
  
• "Hit the bloody gap!" ....I don't even fully remember the lesson I learned from this statement since it already speaks for itself pretty much, but I just love it hahaha. It's still a great way to remember the importance of running at angles and utilizing space while on attack. Keep your head up, communicate, and get the ball moving to those gaps!

And it goes without saying that once again, all the people I had the pleasure of meeting or seeing again added to my success on this trip. I think that one of the reasons that I'm able to keep moving forward in rugby is simply from the sport itself - how welcoming, supportive, and generally friendly rugby players are. They make it SO EASY to work as a team, it's really no surprise that you're able to communicate and work better with teammates that you trust and actually LIKE! I'm sure all teams have their fair share of problems, nobody's perfect, and nobody gets along ALL the time....but I've been so lucky to play with the people I have. 

Thanks everyone - Liz, coaches, players, trainers, parents, coworkers, friends, family....who keep me going. I would be NOWHERE without the support from so many venues. And this is just the beginning - the fire continues to be fully ignited inside of me. I have lofty goals and my eyes on the prize. I'm going one step at a time, and no matter how many times I'm tripped up, stumble, slip on a banana peel, told to turn around, told I'm going the wrong way, or bang into a brick wall...

I won't stop.