Saturday, July 23, 2005
Opening Ceremonies at the Lagoon
By Natalie Miller, IVA College Team
Our author
After a week of breathing, eating, and sleeping volleyball (no we’re not complaining, we do love the game after all) we took yesterday afternoon off from training and visited the Lagoon amusement park. Many of the girls spent the day soaking up rays at Lagoona Beach, while others decided to endure the heat and enjoyed the various rides and attractions at the park. The day provided countless opportunities for us to bond with our teammates and the international players. Although we may speak different languages, the looks of excitement (or pure terror in some cases) on a roller coaster are universal, and we laughed with each other all day long.
Many Thanks to the Lagoon for hosting such a wonderful Opening Ceremonies for the teams!
After an eventful afternoon we all gathered together for a buffet dinner prior to the Global Challenge Opening Ceremonies. The dinner consisted of American favorites such as hamburgers, chicken, and hot dogs, which our visitors seemed to thoroughly enjoy.
After dinner Katie, Amanda, Deb and I proceeded to teach some country line dances to all of the players. The dancing was an absolute blast! Those of us who knew tried our best to teach the others how to do it, and they in return taught us their own style of dancing. The girls picked up very quickly, and after an half-hour almost everyone was joining in. A few of the boys did give up early and decided to just watch as the girls showed them up, which we usually do of course. It’s too bad we couldn’t convince many of the coaches to join - that would have been entertaining to say the least!
Once we finished dancing the ceremonies continued with various performances by a sign language group called “Good Hands” from the popular movie Napoleon Dynamite (no, Napoleon was sadly not able to make it) and the introduction of all of the teams. As the band started leading into the introductions we had the pleasure of watching a great break dancing routine by Dutcher, Micah’s little brother. I wish I could dance like that. He was incredible!
It was really cool to watch as all of the teams stood up on stage to represent their country. I have been lucky enough to play internationally a couple of times, and I know how great it feels to be in a foreign country proudly wearing USA on my back. It’s been a wonderful experience to be on the receiving end this time, watching the other player’s proud faces as they represent their various countries.
After all of the introductions the ceremony concluded, and we all spread out yet again to enjoy the rides, receiving a lot of curious glances from other visitors most likely wondering where all these tall people came from! It was a great night, and I am anxious to begin the tournament, it’s going to be tough competition, but all I can say is…bring it on!
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