My teammates and I woke up to sun and sea breeze in beautiful Falconara. We ate breakfast in the hotel, and then had some free time to catch up on rest. Some of us ventured out to the beach for a little more sun and others took naps in our rooms.

Around noon we packed up our belongings, loaded the bus, and began our trek into the Sibillini Mountains. The two-hour drive was absolutely breathtaking as we took in the Italian countryside. I have never seen mountains that actually touch the clouds.

When we arrived we ate lunch and went to an indoor gym for our first training session with our coach Mitja. Mitja is from Maribor, Slovenia and coaches a professional team there as well as the junior team that we are playing on here.

We practiced for an hour and then drove even further into the mountains to the place where we would stay for the remainder of our trip. It is old monastery surrounded by lush, green woods and is called “Casa Gioiosa” which means “House of Joy”. We showered and got ready for opening ceremonies.

It is a tradition for all the teams participating in the Sibillini tournament to march through the streets of the town. Locals line the sides of the streets to watch each team introduced and hear their national anthem. It was exciting for us players as well. After opening ceremonies we drove back to the monastery to get rest. Tomorrow will be our first match in Italy!

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For more information, and some great photos, please see the past years journals: