Hello again friends and family. Sarah and Erin reporting from chilly Oneonta. Lauren last told you about some of our adventures in the beginning of the week while we were on Maui. Well, since then we had two back-to-back matches versus the U-18 Maui International men’s team and the Maui Red Devils a Women’s Open team. The results you ask, a split. We unfortunately lost to the men’s team 3-0 but we made up for it with a 2-0 win over the women. Christine Marra and Lindsey Brechbiel had a goal each and it was a great effort by all. After the game Liz and Dave treated us to a pizza dinner on the sidelines and we headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep to prepare for the excitement of the following day. We were all ecstatic for our snorkeling trip to see sea turtles, whales and beautiful coral reef! Bright and early on Saturday morning we all met in the lobby and piled into our mini vans. When we reached the harbor, we climbed aboard the “Pride of Maui” and received our masks and snorkeling gear. Our first snorkel spot was “Molokini Crater” rated one of the top 10 dive spots in the world by Travel Magazine. The sights were truly breath taking!! On the voyage to our next stop we had the rare opportunity to see several whales migrating from Alaska. Our second location was called Turtle Town, and the name alone made Vandenbergh, who has a deep fear of turtles, nervous. Here we had a few close encounters with some sea turtles and had fun going off the slide at the front of the boat. Unfortunately Mother Nature herself cut our trip short when the waves began to get too big for our boat to handle. Upon our return from snorkeling we began packing. While holding back our tears, a few girls went to get a last Hawaiian dessert at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The long plane ride home was one full of mixed emotions. We were all overcome with a sense of great sorrow to leave such a beautiful place behind but also happy to have shared so many memories with such a great team. As we pulled into the town of Oneonta the sight of snow welcomed us. We’re all adjusting to the cold weather again and we are really looking forward to some nice spring days.
Signing off this is Erin Boyle and Sarah Mikiewicz!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hawaii Spring Training - Day 7
Aloha Everyone!
The Oneonta State Soccer team is coming to you from the beautiful island of Maui. We had some complications for our flight and as you last heard, we were waiting in the airport. The flight went well and it felt fairly short compared to being on a 12 hour flight. In less than half an hour, we landed on Maui. The view from the take off was gorgeous because we left just as the sun set. We gathered our luggage, which is a pretty big task when you have 21 fifty pound red bags stuffed to the brim. It was dark on the ride back from the airport so it was a relief when we arrived at the hotel. We received our keys and broke off into our room assignments. You could hear shrieks around the complex as we entered into our rooms. These weren’t just ANY rooms, they were suites complete with their own kitchen, king sized bed and rock paneled shower. It was unbelievable. We passed out early in preparation to scout the island in the morning. Around 9am, the majority of us headed out to the beach to work on our tan of course. Once we arrived, it was nothing but blue sky and sand from there. The lack of tourists made it such a relaxing place to be. Maui definitely kept its reputation for its laidback atmosphere in our book. While most of the team was at the beach, a bunch of us went up and down Front Street (the main street in the area) in search of souvenirs and unique shops. We found a variety of places from Billabong to small art galleries to the Hard Rock Café. Due to our change in plans, we were unable to hold practice. Lucky for us, the local high school soccer coach allowed us access to the school’s field to practice in the evening. It was a ten minute drive up the mountain which provided us with the most gorgeous (and most distracting) view of the ocean. We worked hard and pushed each other for an hour and a half until we couldn’t see the ball anymore. Playing this hard reminded us that not only was this a vacation but a journey that we are taking together. After some team pictures, you could feel the unity and appreciation we have been developing over these last few days. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. Hawaii is the place to be especially over snowy Oneonta. Some of you parents might have a request to transfer to University of Hawaii this coming semester!!! Once again, we had to crash early because we had another big day ahead of us. Just a quick thanks to all our supporters, parents, fans and coaches for making this trip possible.
Mahalo and Aloha!!!
Lauren McGee #7
The Oneonta State Soccer team is coming to you from the beautiful island of Maui. We had some complications for our flight and as you last heard, we were waiting in the airport. The flight went well and it felt fairly short compared to being on a 12 hour flight. In less than half an hour, we landed on Maui. The view from the take off was gorgeous because we left just as the sun set. We gathered our luggage, which is a pretty big task when you have 21 fifty pound red bags stuffed to the brim. It was dark on the ride back from the airport so it was a relief when we arrived at the hotel. We received our keys and broke off into our room assignments. You could hear shrieks around the complex as we entered into our rooms. These weren’t just ANY rooms, they were suites complete with their own kitchen, king sized bed and rock paneled shower. It was unbelievable. We passed out early in preparation to scout the island in the morning. Around 9am, the majority of us headed out to the beach to work on our tan of course. Once we arrived, it was nothing but blue sky and sand from there. The lack of tourists made it such a relaxing place to be. Maui definitely kept its reputation for its laidback atmosphere in our book. While most of the team was at the beach, a bunch of us went up and down Front Street (the main street in the area) in search of souvenirs and unique shops. We found a variety of places from Billabong to small art galleries to the Hard Rock Café. Due to our change in plans, we were unable to hold practice. Lucky for us, the local high school soccer coach allowed us access to the school’s field to practice in the evening. It was a ten minute drive up the mountain which provided us with the most gorgeous (and most distracting) view of the ocean. We worked hard and pushed each other for an hour and a half until we couldn’t see the ball anymore. Playing this hard reminded us that not only was this a vacation but a journey that we are taking together. After some team pictures, you could feel the unity and appreciation we have been developing over these last few days. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. Hawaii is the place to be especially over snowy Oneonta. Some of you parents might have a request to transfer to University of Hawaii this coming semester!!! Once again, we had to crash early because we had another big day ahead of us. Just a quick thanks to all our supporters, parents, fans and coaches for making this trip possible.
Mahalo and Aloha!!!
Lauren McGee #7
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