Summer journal - Week 1
Note: Each week throughout the summer, a captain from the Razorback soccer team will write a journal entry to share with fans their thoughts on the upcoming season and what the team is doing to prepare. The entries will rotate among sophomore Allie Chandler, senior Camille Flores, junior Kendal Winston and senior Britni Williams. This week’s installment is from Flores.
We met in the weight room at 6:30 a.m. (on May 28), after getting through the obstacle course of busses, Wal-Mart shareholders and road blocks along the way. We stretched, preparing for the finale of our weekly workouts, "Fun Friday." It is an obstacle course that consists of things such as tire flips, hurdles, box jumps, sleds and sometimes much more. Teams are drafted by the strength coaches the night before. They are made up of athletes from all of the women’s teams. On Fun Friday, we see teamwork, athletic ability and competition at its best.
We lined up in strategic order, depending on strength and speed. Beth (McVean) started off for my team and Tilly (Anna Heintz) for the other. Box jumps were first and although Tilly was a step ahead, Beth quickly caught up at the plate carry. Lauren (Hallauer), (Brittany) Hudson and the basketball girls continued to maintain our lead. I was the last to go. The nerves and adrenaline kicked in when we realized that the winner was going to come down to the very last two.
As I pushed the weight across the weight room, I could hear Beth walking alongside, "keep it up Cami, don’t stop," she said. "You’re not tired! You’re almost there," Lyndsay Harris, a basketball player, echoed. My quads burnt and I could feel my body wanting to slow down, but I knew I couldn’t because the other team was not too far behind. The girls on my team followed me to each station, encouraging me the whole way through. And by the last event the encouragement came from both teams. It was still a competition, but when it was all said and done, we are all the same team. We are Razorbacks.
As we sat in a group stretching out, I looked around at each one of my teammates. I noticed the sweat dripping down their faces and the tiredness in their body language. It was in that moment that I felt a rush of excitement for the season. Not because we were tired and sweaty, but because I was able to see the work that was being put in paying off in a couple of months. Like I said earlier, Fun Friday is where we see teamwork, athletic ability and competition, but it is not Fun Friday that we work for, rather Fun Friday is just a step to where we are going. Although Fun Friday provides some of the elements of being a Razorback, nothing compares to the rush that you get playing under the lights, on a freshly cut field, in a 90-minute SEC game.
