Hard to believe all the work that has been put in has reached fruition and today is the last day of games, well for South Africa seems as we were given this amazing schedule………..NOT!!!!!!
I woke up, late, at 10am; freaked out and rushed to our 10am meeting. Right before waking up I was dreaming I owned two lions…….yeah enough said!! Arrived at meeting and apologized for been late, it is not professional of me but was an honest mistake. We then spoke about hockey, the game last night and what the day held for us. We missed practice today as there isn’t much point in beating a dead horse and a lot of players are beat. We used the time to take sponsor pictures and they turned out really good, best we have ever had. I look forward to sending them on to Paddy with our Carlton Gym t-shirts on. See below:
After the picture taking was over we gathered up those who needed to go to the bank to change dollars or Euros as we are going on a sightseeing trip tomorrow, called the Golden Circle tour. Seeing geysers and volcanoes and possibly more. Then we went into the liquor store next door and playing around taking silly pictures. Liquor/alcohol sure is very expensive in this country………a single can of beer costs roughly $3 each, that’s from a liquor store imagine when its jacked up at a bar.
Then we were off to eat, again!! It was yet again an amazing yummy lunch……..pasta again, yum yum!! I Then back to the hotel and guess what I did? Yup that’s right…I took a nap. It was an amazing nap too, well then again I don’t really know when naps are not amazing!!
And again we were off to the rink again at 3pm to get warmed up and ready for the game….puck drops at 4:30pm. Taking on New Zealand was a tough prospect, they were unbeaten and an extremely strong team both physically and within their systems. But we were ready to give them a run for their money and obviously an upset would be sweet!!
We came out strong, we held them off…..they scored….but it took a while for that to happen. Then on a play, we won it and it went deep into our attacking zone. I was determined to win the race to get to the puck, I did…….I took it behind the net and passed it off to Dalene, she shot and scored!! It was pretty sweet, I took the puck to keep 🙂 .
After that they went up by some goals, I can’t recall the score between the periods as it worked out. In the 3rd period Dominique scored again!! The final score was 7-2. Shaylene had an awesome game, really a stand out performance. She got the best player of the game and it was very well deserved!! I think the shots on net against her was over 50. We did well against a very talented team and we had fun out there, as clichéd as it is, that is really what matters.
After the game, the award presentations and national anthem I had the team gather around, arms around each other’s shoulders………….and the tears flowed!!! Realizing this was the last game I’d pull that jersey over my head, the last game for South Africa………and what an outstanding experience it’s been. The countries I’ve seen, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met………NONE of it would have been possible without this game, without the support I’ve received from my parents throughout all the years and without all the sacrifices that have been made!!
Then we got changed, showered, dressed and Marina, myself, Shaylene and Kristyn headed off to dinner. Then back to the rink to watch Romania vs Korea and borrow the free wifi at the rink, the wifi that allows you to upload pics……..
Korea beat Romania 4-2 and we were on the bus again on the way back to the hotel where Marina and I consumed an adult beverage, a Gull beer, a $9 beer, hahaha!! Wish I could say it was the best beer I’d ever had, but it wasn’t LMAO…….but I sure as hell made sure I drank it all.
After which I came upstairs to my room, spoke to Jeanna for a bit that was fun. She was hanging out with Jenny and D1 (although I am D1 in Jeanna’s book…….or at least I hope so haha!).
That was the night……..and the day!! The day I ‘hung up’ my skates on international hockey………what a ride it has been and given the chance to redo anything…………. I’d change nothing!!!!!!
