I went in to the trip feeling quite confident after the mental, physical and emotional gains I made over the last season, being exposed to much more international and high-level Beach Volleyball.Living and training in the National Team environment in Adelaide, training at such a high quality level with world class coaches and facilities and top players in the country also helped. I had put in hard work every day in the gym, on the sand and playing plenty of tournaments in the lead up to the international challenge during the Australian summer. I believed we were well prepared. When your under pressure or feeling nervous I always find it very beneficial to have that hard work behind you to give you a feeling that you deserve to be there and deserve to win, as well as being in good physical condition and having plenty of quality ball touches.
Last year we started off in Thailand where we played two Asian Beach Volleyball events. Thailand brought up some dejavu like feelings as last year when I ventured to the small scorching hot towns of Khanom and Samilia. I very much struggled in the heat to keep my head from pulsing and pounding with my heartbeat. I would pour bottle after bottle of water over my head to attempt to cool myself down.
Thailand ended up very disappointing after having some average performances and playing far below our capabilities. We ended losing to Thailand 2 in the Khanom tournament. If we played strong and had presence, Thailand’s a team I believe we would be able to knock off but unfortunately we were pushed around by external factors and let them have an opportunity to get excited and play free and take us on, which they did and they deservedly won.
We were lucky enough to celebrate Thai New Year in between the events which is a massive water festival where literally the whole country wear Hawaiian shirts and soak each other in buckets of water and have a huge water pistol fight. The emphasis is to soak away and cleanse from the last year to start the new year replenished and fresh. Its an amazing experience and the Thai people are all so friendly and get involved with huge smiles on their faces. Its so fun to walk around the city in a parade and seeing all the young children waiting on the corners just to try and shoot you once or twice. Check out the slideshow below of some of the highlights below like the Kazahkastan Terminator who always means business or Jus Mowen drawing attention to herself, becoming the perfect target while on a horse.
In the next event we came with a lot more fire and determination, we won our pool quite comfortably and got a very unlucky draw in the first round of single elimination. We drew the Qataris’ who are originally from Brazil but have moved across as there is a lot more financial support for them and limited international opportunities in the talent rich Beach Volley powerhouse Brazil. I was very pumped up for this game and managed to play the most free and aggressive since I moved to Adelaide and finally stopped feeling the pressure to perform and just played to win. We fought hard but the previous tournaments champions were in red hot form and came up with the big points in the back ends of sets to beat us 23-25 20-22… again another disappointing result… we had ambitions of winning medals in both Thailand events yet walked away with a 17th and 9th playing far below our capabilities.
We didn’t have too long to sulk around and wallow in our disappointment as in the next few days we would be arriving in Fuzhou, China for my very first FIVB World Tour event. I was like a little kid on Christmas eve finally getting to see my idols; the guys I spent (and still do!) hours watching online and admiring, competing in real life.
We were in the qualifier and scheduled to play the Canadians on centre court. I remember it very clearly as I was so excited and all my senses and feelings were so heightened. Big games and new experiences make me feel so alive and haven’t found a way to feel anything else that intense through working, studying or everyday life which is why I love playing this sport and taking it to higher levels and achieving more.
It was a dark and cloudy day with the rain drizzling down and the atmosphere of the tournament being quite dull with only the second round of qualifying matches yet to commence. It didn’t feel cold as adrenaline was pumping and the fight and competition was about to begin. First set was very anticlimactic as we lost 16-21. I was very nervous and made a fair few silly errors being extremely quiet and internal while I struggling to find my nerve and just play calm and free in the match. In the second I came out calmer, more in control and found a way to have some presence and voice on court. I found my block timing and we established a strong 17-13 lead. The Canadians out smarted us by switching to serve Sam and making some clever defensive plays. They worked the referee really well and got away with a couple dodgy calls and came back to win the match after we had a lack of conviction to close out the set. No excuses it was all in our hands and we let it slip.
So again another disappointing result but luckily we found a DIY korean BBQ place which helped us eat away our sorrows without having to worry about getting food poisoning with Damo and Courty, the other Aussie boys. In the end though we ate that place out of all of any edible meats but there was plenty of chicken feet and livers left for the dare devils or traditional chinese (by "we" I mean Josh Court ate all the edible food).
Team morale was still low, we were both frustrated with each other and ourselves. We yet again played below par and couldn’t find any form or come together to perform under pressure. We went to Shanghai to watch the Grand Slam as we didn’t have enough points to enter and felt it would be the best place to train for our upcoming event in Mexico both for having training opportunities, seeing the Worlds best in action and catching up with our coaches. The team was a bit battered and bruised at the harsh Beach Volley world and battles faced while not performing on tour.
Both of us had thoughts of just going home and calling the rest of the tour off but we decided to persevere and head to Mexico for the FIVB Puerta Vallarta Open.
Last year we started off in Thailand where we played two Asian Beach Volleyball events. Thailand brought up some dejavu like feelings as last year when I ventured to the small scorching hot towns of Khanom and Samilia. I very much struggled in the heat to keep my head from pulsing and pounding with my heartbeat. I would pour bottle after bottle of water over my head to attempt to cool myself down.
Thailand ended up very disappointing after having some average performances and playing far below our capabilities. We ended losing to Thailand 2 in the Khanom tournament. If we played strong and had presence, Thailand’s a team I believe we would be able to knock off but unfortunately we were pushed around by external factors and let them have an opportunity to get excited and play free and take us on, which they did and they deservedly won.
We were lucky enough to celebrate Thai New Year in between the events which is a massive water festival where literally the whole country wear Hawaiian shirts and soak each other in buckets of water and have a huge water pistol fight. The emphasis is to soak away and cleanse from the last year to start the new year replenished and fresh. Its an amazing experience and the Thai people are all so friendly and get involved with huge smiles on their faces. Its so fun to walk around the city in a parade and seeing all the young children waiting on the corners just to try and shoot you once or twice. Check out the slideshow below of some of the highlights below like the Kazahkastan Terminator who always means business or Jus Mowen drawing attention to herself, becoming the perfect target while on a horse.
In the next event we came with a lot more fire and determination, we won our pool quite comfortably and got a very unlucky draw in the first round of single elimination. We drew the Qataris’ who are originally from Brazil but have moved across as there is a lot more financial support for them and limited international opportunities in the talent rich Beach Volley powerhouse Brazil. I was very pumped up for this game and managed to play the most free and aggressive since I moved to Adelaide and finally stopped feeling the pressure to perform and just played to win. We fought hard but the previous tournaments champions were in red hot form and came up with the big points in the back ends of sets to beat us 23-25 20-22… again another disappointing result… we had ambitions of winning medals in both Thailand events yet walked away with a 17th and 9th playing far below our capabilities.
We didn’t have too long to sulk around and wallow in our disappointment as in the next few days we would be arriving in Fuzhou, China for my very first FIVB World Tour event. I was like a little kid on Christmas eve finally getting to see my idols; the guys I spent (and still do!) hours watching online and admiring, competing in real life.
We were in the qualifier and scheduled to play the Canadians on centre court. I remember it very clearly as I was so excited and all my senses and feelings were so heightened. Big games and new experiences make me feel so alive and haven’t found a way to feel anything else that intense through working, studying or everyday life which is why I love playing this sport and taking it to higher levels and achieving more.
It was a dark and cloudy day with the rain drizzling down and the atmosphere of the tournament being quite dull with only the second round of qualifying matches yet to commence. It didn’t feel cold as adrenaline was pumping and the fight and competition was about to begin. First set was very anticlimactic as we lost 16-21. I was very nervous and made a fair few silly errors being extremely quiet and internal while I struggling to find my nerve and just play calm and free in the match. In the second I came out calmer, more in control and found a way to have some presence and voice on court. I found my block timing and we established a strong 17-13 lead. The Canadians out smarted us by switching to serve Sam and making some clever defensive plays. They worked the referee really well and got away with a couple dodgy calls and came back to win the match after we had a lack of conviction to close out the set. No excuses it was all in our hands and we let it slip.
So again another disappointing result but luckily we found a DIY korean BBQ place which helped us eat away our sorrows without having to worry about getting food poisoning with Damo and Courty, the other Aussie boys. In the end though we ate that place out of all of any edible meats but there was plenty of chicken feet and livers left for the dare devils or traditional chinese (by "we" I mean Josh Court ate all the edible food).
Team morale was still low, we were both frustrated with each other and ourselves. We yet again played below par and couldn’t find any form or come together to perform under pressure. We went to Shanghai to watch the Grand Slam as we didn’t have enough points to enter and felt it would be the best place to train for our upcoming event in Mexico both for having training opportunities, seeing the Worlds best in action and catching up with our coaches. The team was a bit battered and bruised at the harsh Beach Volley world and battles faced while not performing on tour.
Both of us had thoughts of just going home and calling the rest of the tour off but we decided to persevere and head to Mexico for the FIVB Puerta Vallarta Open.