A pithy title about Nationals

So, here I am.  It's been a long journey to this point, and for a while I wasn't even sure I was going to make it  -- just look at my last post on the subject.  But I'm here, and I'm glad I didn't miss it.  So, how did I get around the trials and tribulations that I brought up last time?  A bit was luck:  seeing as we're in IB and our course runs all year, midterms aren't always that big a deal and we didn't end up having exams in every subject.  In English and History we're just having a work period for ongoing projects that it isn't extremely critical to attend, and in French we have an oral assessment that only lasts around fifteen minutes and cannot be prepared for, so it is not too difficult for me to make it up at a later date.  I am missing a chemistry exam on energetics and a french test, but since it's just the two I feel more confident on my ability to make them up.  My decision was also a compromise; technically, the tournament lasts until Saturday, but I'm returning Thursday evening to make my biology exam and attend math class on Friday.  On one hand, that's still quite difficult as I have to now find time to study while I'm away, but I'd say it is a better option than having to catch up on our new math unit and the biology exam while also doing the chemistry exam, the french test, and my french oral assessment, as well as whatever new material we're covering next week.  In any case, that's all housekeeping.  I suppose I should talk about the tournament.  We arrived on Sunday, and there were some formalities to take care of in the form of accreditation and opening ceremonies.  No games that day, but that was made up for in the days that followed.  Two games on Monday, a game yesterday, two today, two tomorrow... our schedule has been jam packed (although I found some time to make my bio notes after our game last night).  We haven't been doing fantastically well in terms of scores, but that is to be expected at a big tournament like this:  all the other provinces have heaps of players to choose from, and a league of AA teams battle it out all season for a chance to go to Nationals.  Since we have such a small pool of players, we don't have that luxury.  In any case, our first three games were in the opening pool, and we lost them all by the seven goal spread.  After losing in that first bracket, we were bumped down from the medal running into the consolation round.  That may sound like a bad thing, but it means that we're now playing against teams that are more our speed.  Both our games today we played neck and neck with, being tied at half and even leading at some points, but in both we ended up falling apart eventually, losing by five in the first and the full seven in the second.  Our play is improving, though, and I feel optimistic about our game tomorrow.  And what about me, personally?  I think I've been doing alright; I've definitely improved over this year, that's for sure.  In our second game, we scored two goals, and I assisted on both!  Right now I'm completely exhausted and sore all over from so much hard play over the last few days, but I'll get a good sleep and be ready to be up and at them again tomorrow.

Or, you know, I could always just take a snooze on the ice...

Ringette problems

Over the last few months ringette has been going well, but recently I've hit a stumbling block.  We've been having a lot of practices lately in preparation for Atlantics next week, and that likely will be fine.  I will have to miss one day of school (Friday), which I don't want to do at all, but it's just one day and I'll manage to get caught up.  What worries me is what else is on the horizon:  Nationals.  I had always wanted to just go to Easterns, seeing as Nationals is kind of above our paygrade and we likely won't have as many close games than if we went to Easterns.  But the older girls decided right out the gate that for whatever reason they wanted to go to Nationals, and so that's the way it was.  I didn't like it then, and it's even worse now:  while for Easterns I'd likely only miss two days of school, for Nationals I will have to miss an entire week.  And not just any week: The week of April 2nd -- exam week.  I can't miss six major IB tests; I just can't.  I would have to do them right when I get back, and it would be impossible to study while I was there:  I'd be sharing a room with three of my teammates as we are forced to do to increase 'team bonding' and I'll have no time for myself.  Last time I was at a tournament like this I ended up sitting on the top landing of the hotel's back stairwell to read the novel that was assigned for French class.  Trying to study for six big exams is not going to end well.  So what am I going to do?  I don't want to drop provincial ringette entirely; if I tell my coach that I can't go to Nationals he'll blow his top; I can't even take a third option and drop down to the A team that they created to go to Easterns because of some 'roster rule' that states you can only be on one roster per season, even if you leave the other team.  That's a real bummer for me, as all I ever wanted to do was go to Easterns, and if I had known that they were going to make this team later in the season, I would have held out for it in a heartbeat.  I'm caught between a rock and a hard place here, and I have no idea what I'm going to do.

Silver linings

My ringette team participated in our first tournament of the season this weekend, playing against other provincial teams in the Maritime region. The tournament takes place every year in Miramichi (about three hours away from home), and let's just say our record in past years has not been stellar. We usually come fourth.. out of four teams. In any case, I left history class a few minutes early on Friday, hopped in the car, and drove straight to Miramichi, getting there just in time for our first game at 7:05. We worked hard, but we lost by the entire seven goal spread (in ringette, only up to a seven-goal difference is put up on the scoreboard, and at that point it goes into running time. If the team with less points scores, another of the leading team's points will be displayed on the scoreboard. If that goal causes it to become less than a seven goal spread, the game returns to stopped time). As much of a humiliating defeat our first game was, that team was the hardest in the tournament, and we remained optimistic that we could make a comeback. And that we did. The next day we defeated our opponents by the full seven goal spread, and I even scored the first goal of the game on a great cross-crease pass from my forward partner. I got a few assists too, although my biggest role was in forechecking. After that high, we went into our second game of the day too cocky. By ten minutes in the score was 3-0 for our opponents, and we just didn't seem to be able to pick up our passes. We were starting to get a bit panicked, but then I returned the favour from the previous game and shot my partner a nice cross-crease, and she scored, making it 3-1. Then our team scored again. And again. And again, and we were in the lead. The game wasn't as solid as our first that day, but even after that rocky start we managed to scrape up a 12-7 win (yours truly didn't get any goals, but she did end up in the box for a four-minute double penalty. Oops). With our 2-1 record we made it to the championship game against our heated adversary: the team we were creamed by in our first game. We all were super pumped up before the game, sitting in the dressing room, listening to "300 Violin Orchestra" and our coach's pre-game spiel. We were ready to take them on, ready to turn the tables and claim victory. The game started, and they scored. Again. And again. And again. And for our part, we got penalty after penalty and poor call after poor call. The refs, in all seriousness and with not an ounce of hyperbole, patted some of the opposing team on the head and gave them high fives after they scored. At one point we had three girls in the box, and the referee gave the ring to the other team when it should have been ours, and when our coach tried to talk to him, he said that he would only speak to a captain. Our coach pointed out that the ref had already put all our captains in the penalty box (on bogus calls, I might add), and the ref shrugged and said, "Well, that's too bad". Suffice to say, this is not the story of how the underdogs overcame adversity, defeated the cocky, obnoxious favourites, and won the day. This story ends with us creamed 1-25 (although, thanks to the seven-goal spread, the marginally less humiliating 1-8 was the official score). I guess that's how the underdog/favourite story usually ends when you're not in the running for the best picture Oscar.  While it's not easy to tell from my bellyaching, the tournament went phenomenally for us.  Our team won the silver medal, something I don't think a team from here has ever done before in this tournament.  I personally have been improving a lot; being sixteen years old in a U-19 provincial tournament and competing against the best first year university players isn't exactly the easiest situation to be in, but we still came out second-to-one. We'll see this team again at Nationals, and others that are just as tough, but we are going to work hard, improve, (maybe with a rock-fueled training montage), and by the time this season is over we'll be the odds-defeating underdogs Hollywood has been training us since birth to be.

And another thing...

Woah, two posts in one day?!  Slow down, hotshot.  I considered leaving this until tomorrow, but it's already a few days old, and tomorrow I'll likely be reporting on day one of GISHWHES.  I had my final tryout for provincial ringette on Saturday, and I made the team!  I also took about two whole minutes to get the ring in the net during a shooting competition, but that's beside the point.  In any case, I've managed to make the first hurdle, and I can't wait to meet the next few challenges that I'll face in the coming weeks and over the coming season.  Our first provincial outing will likely be the Miramichi tournament late next month, although I will have a house league tournament prior to that.  Speaking of house, teams have also been picked in that division.  My team is fair; not stacked or anything, but solid enough and hopefully it'll be a good year.  I'll be playing center (joy of joys), which is going to be an immense challenge due to my firm status as a member of the endurance-impaired.  Skating from one end of the ice to the next and back again for an entire shift has never really been my forte, especially when you throw scoring, checking, and thinking into the mix.  The higher you set the bar, the more you get to grow, so I guess that'll be my mantra this season while I'm dying of asphyxia.

Ringette adventures: continued

On Saturday I had my second provincial ringette tryout, and things are getting better already.  Endurance has never been my strong suit -- I've always been more of a strategist going in for quick spurts than someone who's able to keep at top pace for an extending period of time -- but this season is already proving to be the first step in changing that.  I am proud to announce that I experienced no lightheadness or dizziness, and I was no more exhausted than everyone else as the practice wore on.  Although I suppose that isn't saying much; it was another tough practice, and everyone was breathless by its end.  Still, compared to how horribly out of shape I was last week, I feel good about my progress thus far.  I did end up running some hills after my last post, although I only did one loop, so I'll try to do two next time and so on to work my stamina up.  I also had my first house league practice last week, which wasn't a big exertion compared to provincial tryouts, but every little bit of ice time helps.  I'm still unsure about whether or not I'm going to make the team; there were quite a few older, first-year-university girls at this tryout that hadn't been at the first one.  I wouldn't say I'm the poorest player there; there are at least two girls who I would say I'd rank above, and there's another few people with whom I'd probably be in the same skill bracket, but even if I do make the team, it'll be a challenge to keep up.  I'm kind of used to being one of the best, so that's a bit of hubris I'm going to have to get over if I want to improve and meet the challenge this season will pose.

Confessions of a seriously out of shape teenager

I had my first provincial try-out for ringette out in Montague yesterday.  The second I stepped onto the ice I felt great; it's hard to believe how rejuvenating the taste of cold rink air is, the feel of gliding across ice.  So for the first few minutes before practice started, I was just skating around in circles, shooting some rings in the net, and lost in the nostalgia of how much I'd missed this over the summer.  Well, those happy-go-lucky feelings don't last for long when one hasn't done any real physical activity since soccer season ended and everyone else is apparently in the midst of training for half-marathons, playing field hockey for their school teams, and practicing for national soccer; listening to the new MatchBox 20 CD, reading HG Wells's The Time Machine in French and studying for chemistry tests don't really keep a young athlete in peak physical condition.  Suffice to say, once the real practice started I felt like I was dying on the ice.  After around twenty minutes my head started doing that thing where the edges of my vision go black, I get dizzy, and all voices sound far-away and tinny.  Thankfully, I didn't end up fainting, and after that things got marginally better.  Despite my extreme out-of-shapeness, I did manage to impress the coach with some good dekes and being one of the fastest to skate around the ice after a drill, even though I did miss some very easy passes and it likely looked like I was about to pass out for the majority of the time.  There wasn't too many people there, which was reassuring, but it is Thanksgiving weekend, and players are allowed to miss one try-out and still be eligible for the team.  I know there were quite a few girls who weren't able to make it, so it's still hard for me to gauge my chances.  It'll be tough; this year I'm playing in the Belle division, and while all other age categories are composed of only two years, Belle is three, and making a team whilst competing against first-year university students will definitely be an uphill challenge.  Speaking of uphill, the next try-out is on the 13th, and I'm going to try to jog some hills before that to get in a bit better shape and hopefully prevent an ill-timed collapse.