Liz Strunk's Preseason Diary: Entry 2
10/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 18, 2005
Boone, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's basketball team took a different approach to open the season and held its first practices in Boone, N.C. Here is Liz Strunk's diary entry from the weekend away.
Well, looks like we survived the mini camp getaway to the mountains. It was an amazing weekend both on and off the court. The team was broken into two groups with one staying in a huge house located on the side of the mountain and the others (including myself) in a condo down the winding road. These cabins were fully loaded and we were by no means roughing it like we expected. The house is where we spend most of our time and could easily sleep eight people. When we weren't practicing, we were lounging in one of the four living rooms, playing ping-pong in the rec room, or eating the food cooked by Mrs. Pete.
That brings me to my next topic... the food! It was probably the thing that kept us going. We ate three times a day -- before and after each practice. I am not talking about sandwiches... I am talking barbeque chicken, taco salad, shrimp and rice, green beans, biscuits and gravy, and the list goes on and on. We would get on the bus right after breakfast on our way to practice and discuss in detail what we thought we were having for lunch. That is how you know we are BIG GIRLS! We had team games that were fun, but very competitive because the winning team got to be the first in line at the next meal. That is just asking us to take it seriously! Mrs. Pete's cooking was truly a lifesaver and definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.
As far as on the court, we were all about business. We had one practice in the morning on Friday before we left for Boone. 15 minutes into practice, Coach P had us line up at half court and one by one dive after the loose balls he threw. I feel like he set the tone for the weekend by having us do that. Once we were in Boone, we had four great practices that were very productive. The intensity and enthusiasm levels were high and consistent throughout the weekend. I know we were all excited to be out on the court getting better. The practice on Sunday was very encouraging because even though we were extremely tired, our concentration was still there. We had very few execution errors on offense and got after it on defense. Overall, I feel like this weekend was a perfect way to start the season. We had a chance to bond as a team with no distractions, while getting better on the court and preparing for the upcoming season. We had on Monday off to rest, but are all looking forward to picking up where we left and carrying this momentum through preseason and on into our schedule.
And as always... GO DEACS!