BROOKLYN, NY :: BIGGIE 10 is the crazy-rowdy-awesome 10+ day summer XTEAM event where our rising juniors see a ton of colleges, bond with their teammates, eat a ridiculous amount, work on their college +/or recruiting stuff and ... learn about themselves. All of the activities are boosted by our "LAUGH. FIGHT. RISK" way of life. It is an unprecedented lax experience full of practices + games, but as many of our members will say, it does more to get them psyched about + prepared for life than anything else they've been through so far! Read below for a DAY by DAY re-cap of the ups/downs/arounds of BIGGIE 10 - we did a LOT!
BY THE NUMBERS
900 GATORADES
885 TOTAL MILES TRAVELED
166 TOTAL ROOM NIGHTS
55 TOTAL PEOPLE
30 TEAM MEALS
13 COLLEGE VISITS
4 BUS DRIVERS
2 RECRUITING TOURNAMENTS
1 BROOKLYN BRIDGE
PRE-DAY 1 :: ARRIVALS
PRE-DAY 1 is always full of craziness. Girls are nervous because they have heard about the "Crista Runs" that will inevitably happen + the threat of a TRACK WORKOUT stays in the air thicker than the East Coast humidity. Returning members are revisiting with each other + new members are bravely working their way into conversations. The first night's meeting is long and full of introductions, rules and what all will come to love + hate simultaneously ... essays + assignments.
DAY 1 :: UVA, RANDOLPH MACON
Rooster wake-up call to get on the CHARTER BUS (1 of 4 buses we would occupy). Willie is the bus driver + he talks about driving Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Marilyn Manson and Kurt Cobain. And, since he just came off of the Rihanna tour, we feel pretty badass in his bus. We practice at UVA beginning with a "Crista Run." It's everything we've heard ... it challenges your soul, makes you lace up your heart and put on your big girl boxing gloves. UVA Assistant Coach Colleen Shearer meets us at practice + gives a tour of the amazing UVA facilities and hops on our bus to send us off with a 20 minute Q&A. Arriving at Randolph Macon about an hour later, we are tired + it's super hot/bright outside. We are greeted by Head Coach Caitlin Moore and then head on a tour with the amazing guide JoJo! Stepping back on to the bus with lunchboxes already in our seats, we go to the tournament facility. We play our game + fill in for some teams stuck in some CRAZY traffic from a big accident on Southbound 95. We head to Bertucci's for some pasta + then back to our meeting room for chalk talk, essays + night assignments.
DAY 2 :: TOURNEY PLAY
We get on our new ridiculously plush, wooden floor bus and meet our weekend driver Rodney. He's funny. We play our games at the main facility - beautiful turf fields. BLUE team is improving every game + BLACK has a tough afternoon, capped by a spirited talk from their coaches including Crista. What do you play for? is the theme. With a long break in between, BLUE stays at the hotel for meetings and BLACK goes back to the tourney to finish the day. They explode with awesomeness, putting the pieces together after an emotional day. We learn honesty is key to building trust as the XTEAM system gets buy-in from the individuals and subsequently, lift-off for the teams!
DAY 3 :: WORLD CUP, RICHMOND
We finish a morning of games and keep postponing our trip a few miles down the road to Richmond as we watch the never-ending USA vs. Japan game in the IFA Women's World Cup Final on the big screen in our hotel meeting room. We are up! We are down ... We are headed into overtime? Penalty kicks? It was exhilarating to be together cheering in sync for our country. And, it sucked to see them choke. Hungry for our own World Cup win and heavy with thoughts of representing our country, we headed to Spider town. Richmond Head Coach Stephy Mantziaras met us at the dining hall where we ate all we could eat before strolling around the campus lake and ending up in the pre-game room next to the stadium. Coach Mantziaras did an epic 2 hour Q&A sesh. We head back to the hotel to pack for our big travel day tomorrow. Of course, we have a chalk talk, essays + assignments.
DAY 4 :: CATHOLIC, DELAWARE, VILLANOVA
The rooster cries again, this time at 4:45am. We meet the Great Ray on our 3rd bus of the trip, which we call "not-so-great bus". We leave Richmond and head to Catholic. We leave Catholic to head to Delaware. We leave Delaware to stop by Villanova. We leave Villanova and end up on the West Side of Manhattan eatin' Healthy Mexican at the Taco Truck. Yum. We check out the HIgh Line Park + meet our charismatic photographer, Rob White. Bus heads downtown to 5th Ave + 14th St. We get out and head to Kimball Studio on the top floor; Crista's acting studio. The coaches tell their recruiting stories + Crista leads us through our own improv class where coaches + brave players get on stage, under the lights and do "1 minutes". Crista gives an opening line and they create the story from there until she says "cut". It's breathtaking. It's magnificent. It's crushing. It's uplifting. LC. Rovzar. Scharkey. Jack. We call it "cry sesh night". We get back on the bus - A NEW, FANTASTIC BUS THAT HAS REPLACED OUR OTHER ONE LIKE MAGIC IN THE MIDDLE OF NYC - with Abe. We head to Brooklyn, get our room keys and head to our tiny units at the ALOFT Brooklyn. Tired.
DAY 5 :: BROOKLYN BRIDGE + COLUMBIA
"Just bring your water bottle" is always a scary opening statement from Crista at 6am, especially when she is dressed in her ninja spandex gear looking like she wants a few friends to accompany her to a workout with Rocky Balboa. We walk through Brooklyn and turn down a street, which is actually ... the Brooklyn Bridge. All 55 of us run over the Brooklyn Bridge + back. We see the Statue of Liberty (she is waving at us), we see the makings of the Freedom Tower. We see the Empire State Building. We stop at the top for a half hour of chatting, of breeze and of water + traffic underneath our feet. We take pictures. Back in DUMBO - home of BOUNCE headquarters - we sit in the park looking into lower Manhattan, just off the East River. We take pictures. A brisk walk back to the hotel + we check out, pack up, load on to the bus to head to Columbia. Assistant Coach + former XTEAM Coach Courtney Lubbe gives us a tour + an amazing info session. We take some more pictures and get on the bus leaving Harlem and going North to Connecticut. NewLax, our BOUNCE sister team, greets us with a competitive night full of scrimmages. We take pictures. To re-fuel on food + fun, we stop by PLAYER/COACH Jessie Ambrose's house where her parents - Kim + Dave - welcome us with so much good grub + a refreshing pool! We mix + mingle with NewLax girls + listen to Drew Jackson sing "Landslide". We get on the bus, pass out + check into a hotel for less than 12 hours. Sleep.
DAY 6 :: UMASS, AMHERST, REV
And, we are UP again! On the bus and driving to UMASS. We practice, do a "Crista Run" and work more elements of the XTEAM system. Two words: Dining Hall. Another two: Amazing food. Afterward, a tour with UMASS Head Coach Angela McMahon + Assistant/former NewLax Coach Eileen Finn. We say thanks + head to Amherst to see their breathtaking town + campus. We rush out of there to get to Boston on time to play against REV! We love playing! What an amazing facility, hugged by the city of Boston. Their coaches are just like ours - awesome! Their Director is just like Crista - crazy! It's fun + amazing and Rev's tailgate of food is yum-diddly-yum! It's late. We leave and finish with a meeting at our final hotel. We talk. We write. We laugh. We get our night assignments.
DAY 7 :: BC, BROWN, BENTLEY
It's the day of the track workout. And, before that, we have college tours. Dreading the running in the heat + humidity (it's 95+ degrees outside), BC Head Coach Bowen Holden takes our mind off THE TRACK WORKOUT during her awesome Q&A. On the bus again, we head South to Providence to check out Hermione Granger's school (Emma Watson). After a picnic (we have not forgotten about the TRACK WORKOUT) under a great big tree, Assistant Coach Jill DePetris takes us around campus. Brown is beautiful. Not done yet + we still haven't done the TRACK WORKOUT. We quickly stop by Bentley and visit with Head Coach Carissa Medeiros. Finally, we are on the bus and headed straight to pain. Our hearts are beating in our throats, our skin is chilled with fear and we see Crista in full spandex (again) jump roping as if she is just trying to get tired so she doesn't make us run too many laps. AHHH! Wet get off the bus + do a warm-up lap around a weird neighborhood because the track is too muggy, Crista says. TOO MUGGY? AHHHH! We jog forever, down a big hill, up a big hill - this is NOT a warm-up. We convince ourselves we may hyperventilate, puke - whatever. We come around a turn and slow down ... we are confused. It's a movie theatre. Cassie comes out with 3-D glasses + tickets for all of us to see HARRY POTTER! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The best moment ever. We watch. We regenerate. We get back on the bus and eat BBQ at the hotel. We meet. We write. We do recruiting stuff. We chalk talk. We THANK THE LORD. We get in bed early-ish.
DAY 8 :: HARVARD, the RISE
Sleep in day. We wake up at 7:30am! Go to Harvard where Jenn Leffew - XTEAM 2010 (FL) - gives us a tour and talks about her experience playing DI at an Ivy League school. Lunch is our coaches making sandwiches outside of our bus as we hop on to go the tournament. The tournament is AWESOME. Fields awesome. Experience is awesome. Fran Sartori wins the dance contest. Essays and assignments. Early night.
DAY 9 :: the RISE
A great day of play. Both teams are kickin' butt. LC wins the dance contest. We get home early. We do recruiting work. We send THANK YOU notes. We get our essays. Assignments. Crista asks someone to stand up + recite the poem we were assigned on Day 1. No one gets up. Over half us us raise our hand to admit we didn't memorize it. It feels horrible. She walks out of the room. It's over.
DAY 10 :: CIRLCE of X, DEPARTURES
We play our games. We see our parents. We bring the group together + each say our piece/peace. We acknowledge. We laugh. We cry. Heather Harman steps inside the circle and begins the poem. "Today is our day to settle the score. Today is the day to prove we have more." 20 stanzas later we realize we all share this experience. It just takes what you have IF you are willing to give what you've got.
