Reports will be posted when submitted by the team.
  

Today we all woke up early and prepared to cheer on our younger U16 Slammers who made it to the finals. At 7:15am, our whole team was up with only shorts and sports bras on, to put body paint on. Together on each of our stomachs, we were able to spell out “GO SLAMMERS FC #1.” We were quite a sight to see, especially some of the places like our keeper Christmas who took the extra effort to paint her face half white, half red and had her arms and legs covered with various paint and sayings. The whole team cheered and roared for the little ones, proving quite successful as they won the final against PDA 4-1!! It was great to bring home another national championship to our club, even though unfortunately it was not us. After the game, we all went back to the hotel to shower off our painted skin and finish up packing. We hauled our luggage into all the vans and then proceeded to Joe’s Crab Shack. Joe’s was excellent, and was a good way to waste time before our flight that evening. However once arriving to the airport we found out there was even more time to waste because our plane had been delayed. So for the next couple hours at the airport, we busied ourselves by eating, sleeping, playing cards, throwing little candies into cups strategically placed 15 feet away to create a new game, or by playing with a bouncy ball. Finally our plane arrived, and we made our approximate 6-hour trip. The plane ride was filled with mostly sleeping Slammers, but others found ways to make the time go by in the uncomfortable and stuffed combines of the plane. We touched ground on our home turf by 11pm, grabbed our luggage, and said our goodbyes. This was the last trip for 5 of our players because they were seniors. They truly will be missed, but we know they will continue great careers at their different colleges. We now must try to rest up for we have Surf Cup this upcoming weekend. Until next time… Cya!

Shout Outs: Thanks to all the parents, coaches, managers, and friends that made this trip worthwhile. Without you, none of this would be possible. Also, thank you to the seniors, who made our team complete and unforgettable. We love you all!!

Today was probably the most depressing day that we have ever experienced on a soccer trip! Today we attempted to shop at the outlets but we weren’t very successful because none of us can shop for more than an hour, yet we can play a game of soccer for a straight ninety minutes. After that we went our separate ways; a couple of us went to the pool to experience the beautiful humid, ninety degree, scorching hot, uncomfortable, non-stop sweating weather and others just went to wake up all the coaches from their naps to play cards. A couple of us went to the water park and a couple went to Disney world. All of while this was happening we were all thinking the same thoughts on how we wish we were stuck in our rooms hydrating and preparing mentally for the final game tomorrow. Now it is nine thirty at night and Sammy and I are writing this letter to let you guys know what we did today. Sammy is perfectly healthy but I have the worst cold ever, and my throat is killing me and all I want to do is go home and have my mom rub my back!  This eventful day is now almost over and we just want our younger Slammer girls to win so at least some of us can go home champions! We plan on painting our bodies in Slammer colors to show our support for them. We wanted to paint our butts but that seemed to be “inappropriate” according to Joanne. Well we are tired and sick and aching and just want to go to bed so we can go home and start our training for next years national championships where we hope to be even more successful! WE LOVE OUR MOMS! Night everyone!

Today we got to wake up at 7:00. Then we went to our game at 9:30 against CASL which ended up being really fun. Larry, Lexer, and Nat scored. Aarti tried to pull the reverse snake which was sick too. We won 3-1…finally!!!! But since we didn’t win the other games, that was the last game we will play in Florida. So though we were all really sad, we got back to the hotel, and had a pretty enjoyable day. Some of went to the pool, while others of us went to hang out with our families. The pool wasn’t even refreshing though. It was so hot and there were so many people in it. Because we aren’t playing anymore games, we were allowed to have some freedom and do whatever we wanted for dinner. Some girls went out with Walid, while others did their own thing. Tiffany, Lisa, Christmas, and I (Jessica) all decided to walk to Downtown Disney. Bad news bears. The rain came POURING down in buckets mid way through our walk. Being California girls, we were in tank tops, sandals, and shorts. To be honest, we were too cheap to by ponchos so we went to a store and put plastic Disney bags all over our bodies and the paraded around in the rain. It was awesome. However, we all got the after affect because all four of us are sick. Oh well, it was worth it. We had a lot of fun, though we would trade that all in to be in the championship But on the more positive note, we are going to stay positive with ourselves these next couple days on the trip and hope the Slammers GU-16 bring it home. Ok, that is all. Over n’ Out…..10-4.

Today was the worst day of the trip. We got up around nine to eat breakfast and were around the hotel resting for our game this evening. We proceeded to go to Panera’s at one for a big lunch before our game at 7:00. Finally the time came to go to the field. As we walked out of the hotel and began driving, it started pouring rain with thunder and lightening. We arrived at the field to sit in the vans until the rain let up enough for us to run up to the complex without becoming totally soaked. Once we made it up, we found out our game was delayed about an hour. All the teams stayed underneath the baseball stadium while we watched the lightening show and awaited our game. Finally the rain and lightening stopped, allowing our game against PDA to start at 8:10. Unfortunately, by the end of the game, our team was in tears because we had lost to PDA 2-0. Afterwards we ate at TGI Fridays at 11 for a late dinner, and did not get back to the hotel until late. So after taking showers, we hit the sack, and brought an end to this very lousy day!!

OK so basically the whole team is fired up for tomorrow and ready to go! On that note peace!

Actually, I was just informed that this has to be a half page, oh well! No, ok fine, so we endured a difficult loss today and now we have our “backs against the wall” which is exactly what we want. And were doing all this for Rick’s mom, a wonderful mother and person, who WE love; well, actually, I don’t know her personally, but if Rick loves her and I love Rick then by the rules of the transitive property of geometry, we too love her. So we are going to win and that looks like a half of page. Until next time.

…..We slept peacefully and comfortably all night and awoke at 10:00 am to the pleasant sensation of cool clear Florida sunlight streaming through our windows. While reclining luxuriously in the large beds in our incredibly spacious room, we picked up the phone and proceeded to order room service…..

WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP….our pleasant fantasy was rudely interrupted at 5 am by the sound of 4 cell phones ringing simultaneously to inform us, that for approximately the 4th night in a row, we were to venture into the WWF (Walid’s Wonderful Fun)…a.k.a sending Ali, our assistant coach, to lead us on a jog through the jungle of caution tape and invisible chains that is the Wyndham Hotel parking lot.

Assuming quite rightly that we had finished our exercise for the day, we returned to our room and attempted to resume our slumber, when, for the second time that day, we were awoken rudely and summoned to the Disneyworld training complex to practice at the entirely reasonable hour of 0700 hours. Blaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

…..what’s going on here?!.... We apologize for the interruption…the last “word” was typed by our mature teammate, Lisa, who desperately wished to be included in this cool journal entry.

Let’s see…where were we?...ah yes…practice…was fun to say the least….but the excitement really arrived when it was time to leave…we attempted to lose three of our ”slower” teammates by leaving them at the complex, but our dastardly plot was foiled due to the fact that we left them with a life-saving device: the cellphone…

We all gussied up in order to attend the tournament luncheon in style…you would hardly have recognized us…all heads turned when we entered the room...or at least that’s what we wanted to think….the luncheon was fun….right?...right?....this, according to the speaker…

After the lunch we were permitted to return to our rooms and while some of us tried to sleep… others felt it was necessary to sing Disney songs at the TOP OF THEIR LUNGS… after our attempted nap we were herded into a room and heard an arousing and inspiring speech that left us all dying to play right then and there. Our meeting ran a little over an hour and by the time we were done it was time for a little more WWF. Ok since this is dragging on we will finish up in normal Slammer style: WE ATE!

Goodnight

p.s. baseball stuff!!

To our dismay, Drill Sgt. Walid woke us all up at 5:45 AM for a “Wake-Up Run.” As we crossed the threshold from civilization to the Everglades (or so it seemed), the intense moisture engulfed our bodies. You don’t have to worry about the chance of dehydration, folks, because one breath of Floridian “air” is equivalent to 4 ounces of H2O. But I digress. We ran a few laps to get our legs going and continued to voraciously consume our personal breakfasts.

After breakfast, we ventured off to Disney’s Wide World of Sports for our first day of Florida training. Though we were only permitted an hour of field usage, we managed to achieve a great workout (despite broken cleats and swarms of blood-sucking insects.) It was rigorous to say the least.

The best part of our day had arrived: nap time. The sandman visited most of us and sprinkled enough powder to keep us unconscious for a few hours, until Mrs. Bak (Yoda or JoJo to some) screamed “LUUNNCCHH TIIIMME!” Though our team is very united on the field, we have complications on deciding where to eat. So in typical Slammer fashion, we all scattered about to eat whatever our hearts desired.

After lunch, we waddled back to the hotel (tummies stuffed) to watch normal California television (I.E. Jerry Springer, Montel, Divorce Court, Maury, and Peoples’ Court) to quench our entertainment appetites.

“Ho Ho Ho!” Santa Claus visited us and brought us good tidings!!  Packages of Gatorade goodies populated our rooms. Grand.

More training commenced. Amidst stretching and juggling, Walid impressed us with his enormous vocabulary, using such “words” as “biodynamic.” We ended the training off with intense games of soccer-tennis.

We then found ourselves at dinner. We stuffed our faces with scrumptious Italian cuisine. Moto Bueno! Finally, we made our ways into our beds. Some of us with miraculous sleeping aids (*cough* Nyquil *cough*), and others to the sounds of the television, endeavored to sleep in anticipation of our 5 AM practice in the morn.

El Fin

Omg.. Longest plane ride ever. But before we get to that point, let’s just say our wake up time was at 3:30am. Wow, not cool, too early. After dragging ourselves to the airport and to the gate, we found no yummy restaurants for breakfast. We had to choose between Starbucks and McDonald’s, neither were very appealing. Finally we were herded onto the plane, where we spent the next six grueling hours wedged into 90 degree-angle sleeping positions and in freezing conditions. To top it off, airplane food was once again, not kosher. We touched ground in wonderful, humid Orlando by late this afternoon. We proceeded to haul our luggage and sorry sweaty bodies to the rental car place. Once there, we had to sit in the humid weather for our rides. Yuck. We then drove to the hotel and experience the reality of the humidity when Jamie’s glasses steamed up. And, for the approximate fourth time that day, we had to wait in an extremely crowded room just to get our room keys. Tired and exhausted, we dragged our luggage up to our rooms and proceeded to the highlight of our day: DINNER!! Mmm wonderful Pebble’s. J After hitting our hyper peak at the grocery store right after dinner, we returned to the hotel with numerous breakfast and snacking goodies. Now, we are completely exhausted and are signing off. Peace.

Waiting at LAX

Amy and Natalie sleeping at the airport restaurant

Side note for those of you that understand: We did NOT find Julio.