Allison Schultz: Getting to Know Your Teammates
The whole team met at our van for a surprise Team Building trip on Saturday. We didn't have any idea what Coach Hollingsworth had in store for us. All we knew was that we had to pack a swimsuit and not bring any computers or books. We each had to pair up with another teammate to share a bag and turn in our cell phones before we loaded up. Excited to find out where we were going, all 12 of us took a seat and were ready to get on the road.
With this being the first road trip for the five new freshmen, we started out more tame than usual. However, it didn't take us long to begin belting out some of our classic tunes. The freshmen began to join in soon enough, and we all learned who plann to be the Broadway stars of the group! After about 30 minutes in the van, we arrived at Maumee Bay State Park, finally learning of our destination. It felt weird passing the golf course without even thinking about playing, but we instead got to our own personal cottage and were more excited to spend time together without our clubs.
Before our activities even started, we saw a familiar face on the golf course out our back window...our very own Drew Scales. We had been busy filling some water balloons, so naturally we snuck out the back door and greeted him with the surprise. Poor Drew did walk away quite wet, but we re-paid him with some tips on his next shot. Our next thing on the list was a trip to Walmart to do our grocery shopping. We were split into two teams, one responsible for dinner and one for breakfast. In our own version of Supermarket Sweep, we all came out under budget!
Once we got back, the dinner crew was ready to go. We had decided to do an Italian theme for meals, so they proceeded to make pasta with meat sauce and even included homemade cannolis for dessert. It was delicious and we were all very impressed by our teammates cooking talents! With food in our stomachs, we were prepared to have a long night of hilarious, laugh-until-you-cry moments.
Divided into several different combinations of girls, Coach gave us various Minute to Win It challenges. Some of the highlights of the games: Becky spinning in circles trying to knock over cans with a yo-yo, Morgan hula-hooping for a minute with an interesting technique, and Stephanie continuing her domination with a hidden talent of moving a cookie from her forehead to her mouth without using her hands. In the end, we all learned about each other's secret skills and had some great laughs.
Our first mystery guest arrived and Dr. Kaye Patton-Wallace walked through the door. The Vice President for the Student Experience spoke to us all about the importance of teamwork. It was so great hearing about how teamwork is not only present in a sport setting, but also in a business workplace. Communication is key and cooperation towards a common goal is the best way to achieve. Thank you so much Dr. Kaye for taking the time to visit us!
The night was still young and we went to the lakefront to make s'mores by the bonfire. Since this was Sathika's and Manisa's first experience roasting marshmallows, we had to show them the ropes. We still had one more activity left in us, a late night swim. We all jumped in together and tried to play some of our favorite, childhood games like Sharks and Minnows. After getting up at 5:30 that morning to play a qualifying round, we were ready to finally go to sleep.
The next morning we got up and the Breakfast Club was ready to cook our meal. We prepared a fruit pizza and cinnamon rolls for another delicious meal. Coach was so impressed at our creativity and ability to plan a meal for 14 people. The meals tied for the win, with dinner winning the tiebreaker with the best communication. After we cleaned everything up, our second surprise guest arrived. Nicole, from Presence Yoga, was there to teach us the importance of breathing techniques and learning awareness of your body. After a great discussion about what we hoped to achieve by working on the mental side of golf, we headed outside for my favorite part of the whole trip. We walked out onto the beach and set up our yoga mats on the sand, overlooking the lake. Nicole led us through a great practice that included Sun Salutations and some partner poses. We all enjoyed it and are looking forward to including what we learned into our daily golf practices.
We stayed on the beach for our next challenge, which was to fly a kite, while racing up to the top of a dune. Megan and Emily made it to the top first with their "Pooh Bear" kite staying afloat in the air long enough for them to sprint and just barely outrace Kate and Jennah. Coach was nice enough to let us cool down after our brief run by finally letting us use the water balloons we had filled for a traditional water balloon fight in a format similar to Dodgeball. Two teams of 6, with the goal of the game being to be the team with the most people left standing. My team had the strategy to use the slingshot, however when Kate, Lauren, and Megan had stretched it, ready to launch, SNAP goes the band and they were each left with some minor battle wounds. A sudden-death overtime was needed to determine a winner and after the last balloon had been thrown, the other team prevailed.
We had one more stop to make on our adventure course for the day and that was a stop at the more recreational beach to play in the water and sand. We all jumped straight in the water and began playing like we were kids. Footballs, Frisbees and other sorts of games were being enjoyed. We all circled up and began an impromptu game with the kickball. Essentially, the point of the game was to keep the ball out of the water for at least 15 separate touches. With a combination of some volleyball and soccer moves, adding in a few desperate dives, we eventually got it. Surprisingly, this spontaneous game we just started playing was probably the most meaningful game we played during the whole trip. It required communication, commitment to go for the ball once called, and also a little sacrifice to save the ball for the team. A few of us, myself included, were quite drenched afterwards. This was a perfect demonstration of how a team must work to function at the highest level possible. Not to mention, Coach got several hysterical moments caught on video.
For those of you reading this, you must be thinking "Man, these girls were busy" and yes indeed we were. But we had one final activity left, a sand castle contest. With 15 minutes to build and in the same teams as the water balloon battle, both creations were quite detailed and well-planned, but my team successfully avenged the earlier loss with our castle that included a moat with a bridge, a seahorse imprinted on the side, and handprints of the builders on the perimeter.
When we left the Savage parking lot Saturday afternoon, we were a group of seven returners and five new freshmen. Returning on Sunday afternoon, we had grown into a team of 12 girls, all seeking the same goal: to work together to be the best golf team in the MAC. We had learned interesting facts about each other that we wouldn't have learned for years otherwise. We opened up about how everyone feels about teamwork and how the power of the mind is as important as technique and skill. We spoke about last season's and this summer's successes and how we only want to build off that momentum. I am so excited to see how this team competes and with only one week under our belt, I have already seen some very impressive things. I only expect to see more, so Rocket fans, be sure to follow us this season! We begin our fall schedule at the Redbird Invitational on September 8-9 in Normal, IL.
'Til next time!
Allison Schultz is a senior from Cincinnati, OH who is majoring in exercise science.
