Waner Checks In From Hoops Camp

Hello to all Blue Devils and Blue Devils fans!

November 11 is only two and half weeks away, and if you are even half as excited as we are to get the season started, then I understand the anxiousness you are living with right now! Here is a quick update on the Duke Women’s Basketball end.

Preseason came to an end not too long ago, and I’m not going to lie, I was by no means wishing we could have another week or two. I became entirely too adjusted to my alarm going off at 5:12 a.m., lying in bed for an extra three minutes, and then hearing Britt’s alarm go off through our very non-durable and non insulated walls of our apartment. When it gets to the point that on the weekends “sleeping in” is considered 7:30 a.m., you know it’s time for preseason to come to an end.

However, I must praise our team and coaches for a great preseason. Coach P has really stressed that if we want to be a championship level team that means every little thing we do is championship caliber. It took a weight session or three to really get that change of mind down, but once you saw my sister do more than 10 push ups in a row, it is obvious that our lifting mentally has been altered. It was unbelievable the progress that we saw at the end of those six weeks. Nish and Britt were both benching two times Jas’ [Jasmine] body weight at least, and B [Bridgette] tore the mile and a half run up!

Seeing as how I was hurt and on crutches/in a boot/casted up for most of preseason, my routine was strictly upper body. The team is doing agilities with Houser ? Abby is doing push ups. The team is warming up for the track workout ? Abby is doing push ups. The team is doing the jump roping test ? Abby is doing push ups. Lets just say that Coach P and I had a little heart to heart where she put it not so lightly that I need to up the strength factor.

Now here is my dilemma that I struggled with before. I would be in the weight room, and struggling to curl those 10 pound dumbbells, and when I was done I would be quite pleased to see just maybe the curve of a bicep. However, I would go home on a Friday night, put on that cute little tank top to go out, and there was that bicep curve that just did not look quite so little anymore. However, Coach P was quick to jump on that issue and I have now learned to embrace being a female athlete even more so ? which just might mean having some muscle and being proud of it! (And this is regardless if I am wearing my jersey or that utterly too expensive halter top from Bebe.)

Now, our championship mentality crossed over from the weight room to our swim workouts as well. That’s right, the women’s basketball team entered into the realm of Michael Phelps and Amy Van Dyken ? scary. I will just get right to the bloopers. First, I am so disappointed we didn’t have a camera to document just the flat out awkwardness we displayed. All of us wore those little floaty things that you strap around your stomach to help keep you afloat. Bridgette did not use one...but two. Her entire midsection was covered with blue floaty material.

There is a team tradition that the bright pink pool shoes get passed to the smallest player on each team. One day before we headed to the pool, Jas was prancing around the locker room in her spandex, sports bra, shower cap, and bright pink swim shoes. (Got the mental image? Go ahead; it’s ok to laugh out loud!) She claimed she didn’t want to wear them down to the pool because they “looked silly,” but Jas, I know you took those home and wear them around your dorm room every night!

By no means am I bragging about my grace and elegance in the pool. Britt and I decided it would be fun to start off the swim workout by jumping off the diving board. I haven’t jumped off a diving board since I was 11 and slipped off the edge of the board and covered the mistake by nicely belly flopping into the deep end. Well, this time probably didn’t look much different. We wanted to coordinate the time we jumped, obviously I went on three and Britt wanted to watch me make a fool of myself before she proceeded. My attempted cannon ball turned into me holding my nose, legs tucked as tightly as I curled into a ball (with my flexibility instead becomes legs sticking out at awkward angles), and a just ridiculous splash as I struggled to come back to the surface.

Needless to say, the actual swimmers who were in the pool at the same time got their entertainment for the day. If you ever need a pick me up in your swimming confidence, ask me to go swim a lap for you.

Preseason is finished off with a much needed fall break trip where Emily and I made the trek back to the Rocky Mountains. We caught a Colorado State football game (Yay Jesse! Go #59!), watched my brother tear it up for ThunderRidge HS JV football, and I went with my friend, Tyler, my dad, and my brother to watch the Rockies finish off the sweep of the Phillies. That being said...Boston Red Who? Go Rockies!

Practice has been going smoothly for the past week and we would love to get all the support we can get for our Blue White Scrimmage on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Because, team, we are just getting better, right? Just getting better! We are just getting better! (Team inside joke...how am I doing, Coach P?!)

Lastly, Emily and I are struggling with choosing our Halloween costumes. Feel free to give your input, here are the options:
- Galenda (the Ga is silent) and Elpheba from the Broadway play, Wicked
- Dottie and Kit from the movie A League of Their Own
- Wendy and Tinker Bell (we need a Peter Pan if there are any offers!)
- Serena and Venus
- Britney Spears then and Britney Spears now
- Kelly Hathorn and Erin Hathorn of Duke Women’s Soccer
- And a singular costume of Miss South Carolina (...because most Americans don’t have maps...The Iraq...such as...)
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Hope to see you all this weekend!

P.S. Just want to give a little shout out to my favorite teams at Wash Univ....I was able to make a trip out to St. Louis to visit Tyler and shot around with a few players from both the women’s and men’s team who are both preseason top 5! Go Bears!

Waner Checks In From Hoops Camp

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