7th or 8th. boo

Its hard to express the disapointment our team feels after tying the game against Great Britain. That puts us in a position to play for the 7th or 8th place spot in the tournament. Our goal coming into the olympics was not to be in the position that we are in now. Unfortunately, its sport and thats what happens. After the game our coach said to us "Sometimes you do everything right in a game, and you still don't win." And as much as it sucks to hear, its true. We dominated and ran all over the british team for almost the whole 70 minutes and we could not find a way to score. So tomorrow this team will be facing Spain for the placement match an it will be the last time that this team takes the field all together :( 

 All around the village right now there are feelings of heartbreak all around. Of course there are celebrations and wonderful things happening, but you can definitely feel the heaviness of the people who didn't fulfill their dreams. As much excitement as there was to be an olympian its as much disapointment we are feeling now for not gaining the result we desired. Our goal tomorrow is to finish this tournament with everything that we have to offer and to come out with a win. so our one last hurrah... 

Our first win...

2 days ago we got our first win of the Olympics against New Zealand. We scored 40 seconds into the game with a nice backhand shot from Keli Smith. The final score of the game ended up being 4-1 with us finally getting 3 points on the board. This helps our chances in getting into the medal rounds, but a lot of things have to happen within the pool for us to get in. Right now we just need to concentrate on our game tonight against Great Britain and we NEED to win in order to have a shot at getting into the medal rounds. Right now its hard not to look back and be frustrated with our previous ties against argentina and japan, especially when you know you have missed chances, but I guess that doesn't really help us right now. 

After our game against New Zealand on the 16th, we had the afternoon to spend with our families. I took a Taxi with some of my other teammates over to the Bank of America house again to hang out and eat lunch there. It was a pretty low key afternoon just lounging on the couch and watching some other olympic events on the TV. Other than that the day was pretty uneventful. Yesterday, though we had an exciting practice. Our captain, Kate Barber, has the nickname of tiki, and that drew some attention from the NFL star Tiki Barber. He has been doing some announcing for NBC and he came to our practice yesterday to observe and do some interviews with Kate. We gave him a stick to hit around with.. not too bad for never doing it before! After practice we then threw the football around with him. I tried to persuade my team to do the E-A-G-L-E-S chant, but I couldn't get them to do it... would have been funny though! 

So that was pretty much all the excitement from my last blog. Now we just have to wait the day out until we play tonight. If anyone feels up to it, our game will be on live at 6am on USA!! So here we go, last game of pool play in a must win situation...

3 down, 2 to go

Yesterday morning we played Germany. We ended up losing 4 to 2 but played well. We scored first and had a lot of pressure on Germany's defense. From the statistics we matched up almost completely even with them, Unfortunately we weren't able to convert our corners and turn our shots into goals, and they could. The loss put us into a must win situation with the final 2 games that are creeping up. We play new zealand tomorrow (16th) at 830 am and then we will finish pool play with Great Britain on the 18th. After that all of our games will be determined by the our finishing rank in pool play. 

Other than the games I haven't done much since my last blog. The day between our games we went over the the bank of america hospitality tent to spend some time with our families. They had a reception for us and a little pep rally led by Kate Barber's family. They made signs and made a little train chanting USA around the building. It was nice to get out of the village and get our minds off the games for a little while at least, and its always nice to be around the family. The most interesting part of the day had to be the cab ride home though. 4 of us got in a cab and showed the driver our little taxi card that said "please take me to olympic village" in chinese. The guy didn't seem like he had a clue, so we just hoped for the best as we went. Needless to say we made it and the guy ended up being really friendly, with his hand signals and our complete lack of coherent communication skills it made for an interesting ride. 

Today wasn't very interesting we woke up early and had practice. We played a little warm up game of soccer (good thing we stick to field hockey, cause we are pretty terrible). Then we just did some corners and shootings drills. The rest of the day we spent over at the Beijing Normal University doing a little swim recovery. We also ate lunch over there which was amazing. The USOC brought in a catering company from the US to cook for the athletes over here... good idea. 

So tomorrow we play in the morning and then we have another afternoon that we can spend with our families. Thanks for all the support and encouraging posts :) Its nice to know people back home are rooting for us! Tomorrow's a big one for us... GO USA! 

Game 2 vs. Japan

Last night we played Japan, and once again we came out with a tie. Overall we were pretty happy with our performance, but we definitely have something that was could have changed, especially in the first half. We came out a little flat and got ourselves under pressure early on. Japan is a team that we are pretty familiar with because we play them so many times during the year, and we seem to always struggle to score goals against them. We got scored on early in the game and had to fight to come back the rest of the match. Our captain, Kate Barber, got us on the board with a great shot from the top of the circle to get the tie for us. We hope to move on from all the ties when we play Germany tomorrow morning. So far our pool is up for grabs. Argentina has 2 point (they tied both us and great britain), Germany has 6 points (with 2 wins against Great Britain, New Zealand), New Zealand has 0 points, Japan has 4 points with a with against New Zealand and a tie against us, Great Britain has 1 point and We have 2 points. These next 3 games are going to decide a lot when it comes to going on to the medal rounds. Its funny because a lot of people are congratulating us on getting ties because they all thought we were going to come into the Olympics and lose all our games, but we really are here to compete for a medal. Hopefully everyone back home is able to see the games..keep on supporting us!!

Today we have completely off. We woke up and had breakfast and at 12 we are going over to see our families:) The Bank of America has a building here called the Hometown hopefuls where all the family members of the olympic athletes can go and have free food and dinner and wireless internet and tv's to watch all the games. Today we are going over there to meet all our families which is going to be really nice. It'll be good to get some distractions away from hockey for a bit. 

We haven't gotten a chance to see any other events yet other than what they show on tv over here. I think we are trying to organize to get to some other events and really make this the complete olympic experience. So we'll see! I'll update again soon! Go USA!!

Game 1

Last night we had our first game of the Olympics! Nerves were definitely going crazy as it got closer to game time. I think our nerves showed a bit because we were down 2 to 0 only 15 minutes into the game. We made some silly mistakes and it cost us goals, But we were able to come back and tie the game. We had a chance to win the game when we got a  corner with 30 seconds left, but we weren't able to convert. Overall, I think we played pretty well for our very first olympic game. We had to play for 15 minutes with a player down because of yellow cards and we came out of those situations with out letting in a goal and even scoring one. If you want to see some pictures from the games or a full write up on it you can read about it on usfieldhockey.com! 

So now, I am an olympian. All of my teammates are olympians. Wow. I never thought i would say that. Now that we have that out of the way..we have to go win some games!! 

Today we are going over to BNU (Beijing Normal University). This is a place that the USOC set up to be an American base for us. We are going to do a pull recovery swim to move some of the lactic acid out of our legs. We are aslo going to have some lunch over there. Then we will come back to the village and go to practice. 

Tomorrow is game day again. We are playing Japan (also a team that we face many times a year). I'll update some more later. Go USA!! 

Opening Ceremonies!

Yesterday there was a buzz around the Olympic for the much anticipated opening ceremonies. but of course, we still had to practice. We practice at 1230 and did some running to sharpen up, then we headed back to our rooms to get shower and dressed for the opening ceremonies. The US delegation had to meet outside our dorm at 5:30 to head over to our first stop. All the members of the US that were marching got on busses and were taken to the Fencing hall. We were put in a large room to put the final touches on our Ralph Lauren outfits and take group photos. It was nice to be around just US athletes and be able to enjoy this event as the United States Olympic team. 

While we were waiting there was a big bustle on the other side of the hall... we all thought it might be the president coming in, but no, it was just the USA basketball team! Everyone went nuts for about the next 30 minutes trying to get pictures with all the big stars. Me on the other hand, I got a little shy and kinda just watched from afar. I did take a few pictures of my teammates with Kobe Bryant. I was feeling a bit star struck. The whole atmosphere was just so incredible for me I couldn't get up the nerve to ask anyone for pictures (so I just snuck them from afar!). I did finally get a picture with Lebron James towards the end though. So anyway after the whole excitement of the men's bball team coming in everyone seemed to calm down a little. President Bush then came in to make a speech to the entire US team. His speech was nice... he told us he was proud of our team and that we should go out and win all the gold medals we could. He also said how proud he was to be an American and that we should go out and represent our country well. I think during this time might have been the first that I realized the amazing thing we are all doing in beijing, which I am sure will be the first of many in the next 2 weeks while we are representing our country. (I can't wait to put on our uniform!) OK anyway, back to the opening ceremonies. 

After the fencing hall and all the group pictures we were moved to the national indoor stadium where all the teams were housed before the march. They had huge screens so we could get glimpses of the action that was going on inside the bird's nest. It looked pretty amazing from that. We were then called country by country to march. we were #140 out of 204 countries called so we had a long time to wait. But after we were called we all filtered out of the stadium to wait in a long zig zaging line up to the birdnest. The excitement was building fast. the front of the group had the flag raised up and you could hear the noise of the crowd from inside the stadium. We finally got to go through the tunnel and out onto the track. We chanted U. S. A. the whole way through the tunnel. I don't even have words to describe the thrill. We did our lap around the stadium, I was just taken away by all the cheer and american flags in the stands, it will be something I won't forget for the rest of my life. After our lap we were shuffled into the infield where we just got to hang out and enjoy the rest of the athletes marching until the lighting of the torch. I tried to to mingle with some other athletes and meet some people from other sports and try to make the time pass until China came in for their march... 

Finally the moment we were all waiting for.. the lighting of the torch. No one really knew what to expect we all had guesses of how it was going to be done, but no one could have guess the way they did it. It was incredible. I am sure most of you have seen it on tv by now. Wow I feel like when I am writing this I can't do justice to the experience I just had. 

So now the opening ceremonies are over and now its time to journey into the real reason why were are here... to compete. We play our first game tomorrow against Argentina, our pan american rival. We have practice today at 530 to go over some last minutes things before our big day tomorrow. I think the game will be aired live (which will be sunday morning, 630am EST.) I think it will be on MSNBC, not for sure though. 

I will update again soon. GO USA!!! 

 

The Great Wall & then some...

So today is August 8th in china (Opening Ceremonies day!!!) Which I will blog on in full detail tomorrow!! But on the 6th our team took a little trip out to the Great Wall of China. And wow, it was HIGH! We climbed over 700 stairs (one of my teammates counted) to get the the top and when we got there we were covered in sweat and short of breath... I thought we were supposed to be olympic athletes! But the wall... It was amazing.  When you were on top you could see the wall stretching for miles across the mountains. The size of it and the amount of time it took to build is just unfathomable. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.  We spent some time walking along the wall and taking pictures. When it came to getting back down we had 2 options, we could either walk back down or ride the slide. We Chose the slide. It was awesome. Some of our teammates raced trying to get the fastest time. I did not win...oh well. After our visit to the great wall we got on a bus and rode to Leisure city where we checked into our hotel at the hot springs. This was a chinese version of a spa... kinda creepy though. They had hot springs all over inside the spa, some with fish in it, that if you would sit in they would eat the dead skin off your body.. Needless to say we didn't sit in that one. Overall it was a pretty exhausting day so we were ready for bed. The next morning we went to breakfast at the hotel and ran into some fellow americans who are members of the bouncing bulldogs. These are teenagers that are professionals at jump-roping. The group did a little exhibition for us in the lobby of the hotel. Our team went nuts. 2 of the girls, Rachel Dawson and Dina Rizzo then gave their best shot at double dutch. They actually did pretty well (we think it was because of the people spinning the ropes. They definitely made them look good. 

We returned to the village around 1pm. We had lunch then just spent the rest of the day relaxing trying to get our feet rested for our scrimmage at 8 against Korea. We played 2 25 minute halves. We tied 2-2 and we played pretty well...you can tell we are ready for competition!! We open our slate against Argentina on the 10th at 6:30pm. I am pretty sure it will be aired on nbc. For sure you can check nbcolympics.com or usfieldhockey.com for full schedule of when we are going to be aired. Right now  I have to get ready for practice, but I will update after opening ceremonies! I can't believe it's finally here! Look for me on TV, I'll be the one in the blue blazer!!  Go USA!!!!

Life in the Village

Hi again! Life at the village have been nothing short of amazing. Yesterday we had our first training run and surprisingly it went pretty well. The heat isn't bad, just a little more humid than we are used to. We haven't done anything too strenuous yet, just some basic skill and penalty corner practice. After practice we just went to the dining hall and then came home and went to sleep. We are still adjusting to the time change so we have a hard time staying up past 9! 

This morning we had practice again at 10:30. We are looking like we are really coming together well in this last week before competition starts. Our skills are sharp and you can feel the buzz among the team. Its thrilling to see the facilities that we are going to play in. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was really impressed with what they did. They have to competition fields, A & B. The field A is the larger stadium where the medal games will be head, but they are both beautiful. They have a two tone turf and a huge stadium surrounding the field.  The venue is only a 5 minute ride from the village which is awesome. 

After practice today i went to the USA athletes lounge, where you can call home to the US. They also have access to wireless internet. It's pretty cool cause you get to hang out with other us athletes. Today was an eventful day at the dining hall. We saw Michael Phelps, Misty May & Kerri Walsh, Roger Federer.  It was pretty awesome. I have never been surrounded by such greatness before. 

Tonight our team is going to the flag raising ceremony in the village. I am not really sure what that entails but I will update you all on it! Tomorrow we are leaving the village for a night, we are going to see the great wall of china and then do a little bit of exploring. I will update when we get back! I am gonna update my pictures on a picture website and put the link on my blog because it won't let me upload them on here.  I'll check back soon!!! 

Beijing!

We Made it!!! After almost 12 hours on a plane, we arrived at the Beijing International Airport.W We were greeted by hundreds of Chinese people taking pictures and asking for autographs (I felt famous.)  We had about a 30 minute drive to the village, which was entertaining, we drove past most of the venues, including the bird's nest, which is breathtaking (I'll add some pics a little later). But the village is pretty amazing. They have beautiful landscaping all through out it, with little ponds and coy fish. The dining hall is about the size of 2 football fields (and it has mcdonalds!!) After we had breakfast we took a walk through the village and went into the International Zone, This place had really almost any kind of store you could imagine, even a nail and hair salon! They have tea houses, cell phone stores, and my favorite, the souvenirs.  We have practice at 4 o'clock and thats about all we have for today, so we have the day to explore and get our bearings around the village. 

I can't believe it's finally here. This is so overwhelming. I am trying to take it all in, but at the same time try and stay focused on what we are hear for. I'm sure practice will help with that! I will post again soon and add some pictures of around the village! GO USA!!!

Team Processing

Hi Everyone! I guess first I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in Green Lane and I went to high school and Christopher Dock in Lansdale, Pa. I then went to play field hockey at the University of North Carolina. I just finished my college eligibility this fall (and our team won the NCAA championship!) I took the spring semester off to train with the national team in Chula Vista, California... and what a wild ride it's been. 

 So today my Olympic journey started... and I am already blown away. This morning we woke up at 5 to catch a flight up to San Francisco for team processing at San Jose State. We spent the day getting completely outfitted for the Olympic games, and wow... Nike and Polo did an amazing job. I have never gotten so many clothes at one time before.  We also got our opening ceremonies outfits today... they are classic. When I tried it on I got goosebumps. I still can't believe I am going to the Olympics. Somebody pinch me. There are so many emotions going through me right now, its overwhelming.. Our whole team is about to experience their very first olympic games, none of us no what to expect or what we are in for. I think everyone is feeling a little anxious and we are ready to get over there! 

So tomorrow morning we are up early once again to get on our 12 hour flight to Beijing. I will post some more once I get over there. 

From Green Lane to Beijing

Former area field hockey player, Jesse Gey, has been chosen to be on the first U.S. Women's Field Hockey team to compete in the Olympics since 1996. She will be leaving for Beijing Aug. 2 and will be reporting on her experiences live from China right here on her blog, The Striking Circle.