$5000 for 5th Place

Everyone is saying that we are gaining experience and this was a great learning trip for our team because we are so young. The thing is that this is my second Pan Am Indoor cup and my first one was my experience trip. So, coming here with a young team and not getting results is still a bit of a disappointment. The hardest part is that I am upset, frustrated and disappointed but a lot of the team is over it already. I think back to preparation, team dynamics, caliber of athletes and all the time spent gathering support for us to come down here... It makes me wonder what exactly has gone on between May when the team was selected and now. It sure wasn't enough.

The sad thing is that the teams down here are not unbelievably amazing but we were missing a few key players to our squad including a penalty corner ace and maybe an experienced center or defenseman. So much pressure is put on the outdoor national team girls; however, other than Zee we don't have much experience at this level in indoor either. I think I did the best I could down here especially having not practiced and having not played that much indoor before.

My preparation from the Vikes indoor program and from Carla, who coached us at the 2005 Pan Ams, gave me what I needed to perform at this tournament. Unfortunately, I feel like our team was just not prepared mentally for this level of hockey and tactically and technical skills were a lot less developed then some of the other teams. We had the right intentions and reasons but not the right preparation. It's unfortunate that we had to pay $5000 to be down here just to have an experience. I realize we may not have had the best fortune to WIN the tournament but with the right luck and if all the players brought their perfect games... we could have made it to the final and had a chance.

Would I play indoor again? Yeah! I think that it would have to be in different circumstances and I would know the amount of preparation a team needs. It's a tough learning experience for all of us but nonetheless I am glad that I got to play some indoor at this level and I have hopes that the next time with some more experienced team mates and coaching I will improve. I am still lacking knowledge of the game because I am just reacting right now not helping our team dictate the play but the next time we get to compete I will gain more out of it and hopefully help others along the way.

Losing is never fun and I feel like Canada is always in this boat. Hopefully this is a sign that the outdoor team is going to continue doing really well! :)

The indoor team has a lot of heart and the girls are all great people and athletes. It's sad to see that we could not pull this off but I am glad that I came down here. It may not have been a great hockey experience but it sure has been a life experience - dealing with certain situations, people.... You know in job interviews when they ask you those vague questions about "When have you been in a situation where you have had to deal with a problem in a group?" or "When you have made a mistake and have to  confront your authority figure.." that kind of thing? Well, I can think back to a situation for all those types of questions from this trip. That's a good thing. It's always good to know when you are faced with this kind of adversity that you can live through it!

Just my thoughts. Maybe a little bit of my emotions are clouding my overall outlook of this situation and I can reflect better later. Right now, I guess I just feel like this opportunity was wasted. I want to take a lot of that blame on myself but I don't really think that's healthy. I did what I could and we have to go the best we can and grab 5th.