Mexico Trip Wrap Up!

The Team in San Luis

The girls courtside

Supporting the team

Team Doubles

Our opponents

Nayelly's Family and our Hosts

Last Night in Mexico

We are back at Trinity and adjusting to the courts and the frigid weather. The trip was perfect in everyway - the girls had intense training and very competitive matches. We are ready for the season! The benefits have already shown in the girls games and in their court fitness over the last few training sessions and matches. But we miss the sunny warm weather of Mexico and the friendly people.
I just wanted to thank everyone for following our trip and a big thanks to all the supporters of Trinity Women’s Squash for making this trip possible.

Looking forward to seeing all of you this season at our matches!

Coach

The team at the Festival of Lights, San Luis Potosi

We are back in the states!!!!! Thank you for reading and continue to check back as we update the blog and keep you informed about our season. More pictures will be added soon. Our next match is tomorrow at 12 pm at Brown. Come support us if you can!

Day 10: (TBN (to be named))

The girls were excited to enjoy a morning in the sun. For the first time on their trip it is cloudy. More later..... 

Day 9: California here we come!

After a day off, the girls were ready to wake up and get back on the court. The girls arrived at Deportivo and played with the San Luis Potosi womens' again. The girls were finally not sore warming up and only had one photo shoot the whole practice! The owner of the club gave the girls Mexican candy, again confirming their maturity level. Unfortunately, nothing else really interesting happened. 

The girls returned to La Loma for their sprinting and strengthening session. The girls were terrified of another sprinting session, but surprised themselves with their speed. Finishing the sprints and ending strong with the strengthening, the girls retired to the pool to catch the last rays of the day. 

La Loma offers massages and other spa treatments in the afternoons and the girls have been taking advantage of this luxury. One bantam though found the spa treatments a little difficult with the language barrier... Katie Sammis thought she was getting a relaxing massage and was surprised to find herself in a steam room and could not see anything. It started out fine, a normal massage until they covered her in salt and started scrubbing her body. Now this would have been a nice exfoliation treatment except that Sammis was covered in sunburns...

After a day of sun and sauna, the girls retired to their rooms to enjoy their new favorite pastime, the OC. The girls have been watching three to four episodes a night of the OC and are almost finished with the 2nd season. The girls sing along with the opening credits (Californiaaaaaaaaa, Californiaaaaaaaaaaa) and watch in awe at the soap-opera like twists. Some of the girls have already seen the show, but are enjoying watching it again with the new viewers. After about four episodes the girls went to bed to get a good nights rest before the play the San Luis Potosi Mens' Team. 

Buenas Noches! 

Day 8: Ohhh Freshmen 

The Bantams arouse early to depart on their site seeing trip in San Miguel. The girls were excited for their first day off and much needed break from their rigorous training schedule. The girls climbed on to the bus to depart  for San Miguel which would be a 2 hour trip. Paco, our ironman/engineer car driver turned friend, picked out a movie for the trip, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The movie is possibly the worst movie ever, it features talking chihuahuas, the only redeeming part of the movie is that it takes place in Mexico. The movie made the bus ride that much longer. 

Finally arriving in San Miguel, the girls were famished and excited to eat at the famed San Miguel restaurant, Mamma Mia. After the first round of guacamole the girls realized that they had over ordered and would not be able to finish their main courses. Emily and Emery ordered ceasar salads for their first course, and were surprised to find small fish on top. The girls were unaware that sometimes caeser salads are served with anchovies... The meal was absolutely fantastic though besides some minor bumps in the road like anchovies and hair in Tehani's food. Mamma Mia had both Mexican and Italian cuisine so the girls ate a wide varied of food. The meal was quite a lengthy procedure, taking almost two and a half hours. After lunch the girls walked around San Miguel to shop and take in the sites. That is when we lost the freshmen.....

San Miguel is beautiful old city that is full of small artisan shops and gorgeous cathedrals. In one of the cathedrals a couple was getting married and there was dancing and life size puppets of the bride and groom parading in the street. The boutique little shops had fun little trinkets and jewelry which we eagerly spent our pesos on. San Miguel had old cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture so it was just as fun to walk around as it was to shop. After walking around for an hour, the girls returned to the square to meet up and return to San Luis Potosi. 

The Bantams were supposed to meet back in the square at exactly 4 o clock, however, four of the girls did not return at the agreed upon time. Having told Wendy that they would be gone for five more minutes to go back to a jewelry store, forty five minutes later everyone was pissed off and worried. Turns out that the girls needed to get a ring refitted and rather than sending someone up to tell the group decided to just wait... We don't think they will ever be late for a squash meeting again......

The girls were absolutely exhausted after a long day of eating and shopping and were eager to return to San Luis Potosi. The bus ride back featured a more tolerable movie, Kung Fu Panda. Paco must have noted our maturity level when he chose the movies... Arriving back to La Loma, the girls retired to the apartments to retire for the night. 

Buenas Noches! 

Hola!

Lo siento por no escribir! (sorry for not writing!) We have had two back to back fun-filled days and have had no time to write. 

Day 7: Dos Mil Doce (2012)

Seven days into the training trip, the girls woke up to a hot morning in San Luis Potosi. After breakfast at La Loma, the girls departed to play another round of matches with their team mates and the female squash players of San Luis Potosi. The girls took to the courts to sharpen their racket skills and improve their fitness. The girls were lucky enough to play with the world's number 108th (former top 60) female squash player, Karina Herrera. Our very own Tehani Guruge defeated her in two games--Tehani claims Karina was not warmed up yet, but we like to think differently. 

The girls returned to La Loma for their favorite activity--tanning (Don't worry those of us who are sun challenged use SPF). During their pool session Tehani and Chauncey were approached by a photographer of El Heraldo for a picture. The girls who were in their bikinis, quickly covered up being sketched out by the strange reporter. The picture has yet to be printed in El Heraldo....

That afternoon the girls returned to the La Lomas country club to watch Tehani and Nayelly play Samantha Tehran. Both matches were very exciting. Tehani, who won five points in the first game, shouted after her match "Woooo FIVE POINTS" just as Samantha walked on the court....The spectators were very excited to watch the match between Nayelly and Samantha. Old rivals and good friends, Nayelly and Samantha had a great match. The Bantams were again surprised by their celebrity status. You may think that we are joking about the autographs, but all the little girls who watched the match begged for our pictures and signatures. After a long day of squash, the girls were ready to go out to dinner and out on the town. 

That evening the girls enjoyed the fine dining of Pueblo Bonito which was only a hop skip and a jump away from La Loma. Desperate for guacamole and salsa, the girls devoured all food in sight. The Bantams treated the Hernandez family to dinner to thank them for their amazing hospitality. The Hernandez family has taken such great care of us and we are so thankful. 

After dinner is when the real fun started. Our friendly driver, Paco, who is an engineer by day and ironman by night, took the girls to the swanky night club Dos Mil Doce. The club is named 2012 because that is supposed to be the year the world ends according to Mexican lore. Strange name aside, the girls entered the night club much earlier than the other revelers. Lucky for the Bantams, that the early hours of the club are devoted to  karaoke. Not so lucky for the club goers, the girls entertained the crowd with renditions of Madonna's "Like a Prayer", Cher "Believe", "Summer Nights" from Grease, and "Man I feel like a Woman" by Shania Twain. An eclectic playlist one might think but the Bantams managed to pool it off. Well most of us, Emery may have been a little tone deaf due to the loud music.... With some spirited dancing before anyone actually got to the club, the girls departed by 12 and were snuggling in bed to get a good night sleep before their day off and day trip to San Miguel!

  

Day 6: Baby Come Back

The Bantams arouse to a warm and sunny morning in San Luis Potosi. The women's team ate a lovely breakfast at the La Loma cafeteria. Tehani, who was served too much yogurt in her fruit, deposited half of the contents in a neighboring plant in her efforts to further save the environment. Go green Tee. The morning also consisted of a cut throat race between the boyfriends of the girls on the team to become followers of the blog, with Stephen Simchak in the lead, Perrin close behind and Brendon bringing up the rear. We are still waiting on you Zach, Chris and Chiley. Shout out to Chauncey's Mom, Anne, for also joining the race.

The girls arrived at the courts eager to hit with the newest member of the team, Pamela! We were also joined by Nayelly's younger sister, Rosita, to bring the Bantams to an even fourteen for a morning round robin. The girls played three different opponents to mix up the training regiment. The Bantams learned a new trick today while playing at the Deportivo courts. The floors of the courts at Deportivo have been worn smooth and slippery from countless hours of play. A way to combat the slipperiness was to soak a rag in Coke-a -Cola and step on the rag to make the soles of the shoes sticky. This trick proved effective; the girls were much more agile and did not slip all over the place. 

Rushing back to La Loma, to get in a quick sun session, the girls scarfed down their lunch and hit the pool for one precious hour. The girls were very excited for the afternoon to meet and watch Samantha Terhan, the number 16 ranked squash player in the world, and for her to play our number one, Nour!!!!!!

The match was epic. Nour stepped up her game to world class level and had long and exciting rallies with Samantha. The girls cheered on their teammate as she dove and reached every ball with grace and speed. Though, Nour did not beat Samantha, she played an amazing game and impressed us all. Following the match, the girls listened to Samantha give advice about the game of squash--in both English and Spanish. We were all surprised at the club to see our very own Nayelly Hernandez featured in a Mexican Squash calendar as Miss October. Thats right we have centerfolds on our team. At the conclusion of Samantha's talk, the club presented Wendy with a box of medical supplies. An odd gift one might think, but incredibly useful for our group of accident prone hooligans. 

On the drive home from the club, the girls learned something new about Mexican culture. The girls have noticed that it is not uncommon to see public displays of affection along the roadways. A young couple, who could have not been older than 15, were showing their affection for one another while the girls were stopped at a traffic light. The mature group in the car started whistling and hollering to the couples dismay, who quickly ended their embrace. One rowdy bantam yelled "Baby come back" just as the girl's mother rounded the corner. Timing is everything. 

The girls are settling in now for a night of saunas and a group viewing of Sex and the City, the movie, after all the movie partly takes place in Mexico. Today was a day of intense match play and incredible exhibition games from some of the world's best. We can't believe that the trip is half over, but have had such an amazing time thus far training in high altitude. We are thinking of continuing the blog throughout our season to let you keep up with our training and triumphs in our matches to come :) 

Tomorrow Nayelly and Tehani will take on Samantha Tehran in more exhibition games! Good luck girls!

Buenas Noches

Xo Xo

Alison and Chauncey 

(Chauncey is on the injured reserve list and thus has been named self-appointed head blogger, but will be mixing up with different partners in crime to report to you the latest on the Trinity Women's Squash Team) 

Day 5: What Happens in Mexcio....Stays in Mexico

With three days of training behind them, the Bantams woke up sore and tired from all their hard work. After breakfast at La Loma, the girls departed for a morning session at Deportivo. On the way to the courts, Nayelly flagged down a man selling the San Luis Potosi Newspaper which had an article about the women's team and the match we played yesterday. The girls have been enjoying celebrity status here in San Luis Potosi, Schuyler has been offering to sign autographs but nobody will take them.... Some of the girls that played in the match yesterday came by to watch the practice this morning. One of the girls, named Andrea, brought a fruit, called jicanma for the team. Tehani ate the whole bowl...the girl looked a little disturbed. 

Back at La Loma, the girls hit the track for a quick two mile run. The run loosened up the girls sore legs and gave them a chance to get a little more sun. Wendy led the group in plyos and light stretching. After a long morning of hard work the girls, again, retired to sun. The whiter of the bunch and Jee, hit the pool to work on their tans. Tehani and Nayelly hit up the jacuzzi and the saunas, pampering themselves with the luxuries offered at La Loma. One girl was M.I.A. due to overexposure in the sun the day before (Robyn Williams). 

The day culminated with a fun filled dance class featuring our fearless leader Wendy Bartlett. Zumba, a hip shaking, fast paced dance class had the girls shaking it like a polaroid picture. Palo, the Zumba class instructor, led the group through various dance moves with his quick hips and energetic music. Needless to say most of the girls were not cutout for the latin dancing, and their athletic ability is much more appreciated on the squash courts. After the class, Wendy commented "That was easy", the girls exchanged puzzled looks...is Wendy secretly a Zumba enthusiast? 

During dinner, the girls welcomed the newest addition to the Trinity Women's Squash Team, Pamela Larromana. Pamela is a new freshmen for the spring semester and a fantastic new player for our team! 

Sunburned and sore, but finally adjusted to the altitude the girls retired to their apartments for a good night's sleep. Buenas Noches. 

xo xo

Emily and Chauncey

 

Buenas Noches!

Day 4: Vuelta Por Favor! (Continued....)

Last night the Trinity Women's Squash team ventured out into the streets of San Luis Potosi to see the sights of the city and to watch a light show. San Luis Potosi is known for its beautifully lit skyline (We were told they placed second in the world) so walking around the city at night was spectacular. The light show was a walking tour of the cathedrals of San Luis Potosi which were illuminated by projectors from neighboring buildings. In total there were three cathedrals on the tour, whose facades were transformed into moving pictures each with a unique theme. The first light show showed a brief history of Mexico, and the second showed views from Xilitla, a neighboring city, and the final showed another city in San Luis. The light festival showcased the beauty of San Luis Potosi and gave us a good excuse to walk around and check out the city. We will upload the pictures from the light show as soon as we figure out how to do this.... excuse us we are new to this blog thing. 

The girls enjoyed walking around the city and consuming ice cream and other Mexican treats. While ordering our ice cream, we learned a new word in Spanish. Chispitas, the Spanish  word for sprinkles, kind of sounds like cheese pizzas.  Alison does not eat her ice cream with out cheese pizzas... gross. The language barrier has been challenging while we have been down here, luckily our resident spanish speakers Andrea and Nayelly have been translating throughout the trip. Emery, a graduate of Trinity College Spanish 101, has also been very helpful and literally will not speak English to anyone anymore. 

We would like to thank everyone who has been reading the blog thus far! A special shout out to Stephen Simchak, our only registered blog "follower". If you have any suggestions for the blog or questions about our trip please feel free to comment on the posts and we will address your questions! Adios!

Buenos Dias!

Day 4: Vuelta Por Favor! (Let Please!) 

Yesterday, the Bantams woke up to a windy day in San Luis Potosi. After eating breakfast in the La Loma eating facilities the girls departed for some early morning squash. It should be noted that when traveling from La Loma to Deportivo, the girls are driven by a car service. It just so happens that one of the drivers, Francisco or Pancho, is training for his fourth Iron Man and may be considered by a few of the girls as being "easy on the eyes". We suspect Alison or Emery may have acquired his number, though it may have been a dual effort.  The girls arrived at the Deportivo courts at ten o'clock to do a light practice in preparation for their afternoon match against the San Luis Potosi's Women's Team. Their women's team consists of girls of many different ages--for example one of the girls, who could be no older than the age of ten, was scoping out the competition that morning while we played. They may have looked small, but the Bantams would be in for challenging afternoon matches against very skilled, although young players. Also during the morning session, the San Luis Potosi news crew showed up to interview our team. Nayelly and Andrea gave interviews to the local news crew, some of us may have been jumping up and down in the background trying to get their fifteen minutes of fame.....Chauncey......

On the way back to La Loma, a wild game of punch buggy began due to the large quantity of VW beatles on the San Luis' streets. After returing to La Loma, the girls lay out in the sun at peak sun hours, the paler of the bunch now are sporting sun rashes. 

 

Off to the courts for the first competition of the training trip. Introductions were interesting, the language barrier caused a lot of confusion. Thank goodness for Nayelly who arranged the match and got us through the dilemma. The games commenced with high intensity and long rallies, some of which were immediately won by the girls with home court advantage. However, the Bantams persevered in the end with an overwhelming victory.  After the matches, many games of 3/4 court (not 3 against 4 as Chauncey interpreted the girls saying) were playing amongst the American and Mexican youths.  At one point, almost 20 kids were crammed into one court playing a wild game of King of the Court. The girls were exhausted from their matches and 3/4 court and returned to La Loma for a quick dinner before going out to San Luis Potosi to watch a light show!!!!!

We are off to the courts now for a grueling morning session, but will write more about the light show when we return! Adios! 

Welcome to the 2009 Trinity Women's Squash Training Trip

Greetings from Mexico!

Day 1: The Eagle has Landed

The Trinity Women's Squash team met at 3 o'clock at Newark airport to depart for their winter training trip to San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Despite some minor bumps in the road, like Alison forgetting her passport and having to overnight it to the airport, we all made it through airport security and on to the plane in one piece. We nearly missed our connecting flight in Houston, all fourteen of us sprinting through the airport only to find out that there was no room in the overhead storage compartments for our squash bags and had to check them plane side. 

The Trinity Women's Squash Team finally landed in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on January 3rd around 11 o'clock. Arriving at La Loma High Altitude Training Center around midnight, the girls were ready to go to bed. Upon moving into the spacious, luxury apartments the girls were amused by the rules of the facilities. Not only are we not allowed to "visit the knights rooms or vice versa" (we are assuming this means "gentlemen") but also "Serenading, loud singing and obscene language is forbidden". Nour soon realized that her in door voice was more appreciated inside the gates of La Loma. We all had a good laugh about the dorm "restrictions" and went to bed to get a good night sleep before an intense day of training.  

Day 2: Up and At 'Em

The team started off the training trip with a morning practice at the Deportivo 2000 courts, and endurance and core strengthening exercises in the afternoon. Exhausted from all the hard work and the long day of travel the day before, the girls retired pool side to catch the last rays of the setting sun. Sunburned and more exhausted than before, the girls hit the hay early. However a few hooligans may have stayed up late, sitting camp-like around a fire burning heater telling "real life" ghost stories. Emily, Robyn, and Tehani started off their "fireside chats" with fairy tales but this soon turned to ghost stories. Let's just say Andrea will not be sleeping for a couple of nights, regardless of the amount of stuffed animals she brought. While the scary stories were being told, other crazy antics were going on upstairs. As Schuyler and Emery explained the rules of the card game B.S. to Nour, they had no idea what they had gotten themselves into for the rest of the trip.......

Day 3: Catch Your Breath

The second day of training was very challenging for the team, but yet each and every one of them surprised themselves and the coaches (wink, wink Wendy). After grueling morning session at Deportivo of squash and fitness, the girls took to the track. The super fit, super strict, Christopher Gordon, presented the girls with their next fitness test. Chris explained the strenuous sets of sprints to the girls, taking their fatigue to a new level. Regardless of the challenge, lap after lap the girls continued to push themselves through the pain. With the high altitude and burning sun, this was no easy feat. Gaining Chris' respect and losing about five pounds of water weight, the girls were ready to take in some sun (o tomar el sol, we are so bilingual). 

At night, each girl chose a different fitness program offered by the La Loma Club. From the crazy dancing styles of Zumba to Hot Yoga, the girls each chose one to get their fix of fun fitness.

Tonight we will probably watch a movie, now that we have a DVD player, and pass out in the apartments seeing as visiting the "kinghts'" rooms is out of the question! Do not fret, the Trinity Women's Squash Team will be regularly posting throughout the day now that we have the blog up and going! Check back for more news and soon pictures!