Soccer Girls Take on Orange Beach
4/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
April 16, 2008
Since the SEC tournament is held in Orange Beach, Ala., each year, every spring we pack up our Nike travel gear and head down to the beach. We stay in waterfront condos, get a chance to play in the SEC tournament stadium, and eat some delicious seafood.
After a solid week of practice, we met to depart early Friday afternoon. We were greeted with a posh charter bus, with airplane-style seats. There were sweet TVs that picked up wireless cable, so we got a chance to cheer on our fellow Tide athlete Michael Thompson, as he rocked the Masters.
In the back of the bus we got to spend some quality time with the Bramble children. Cole, the calm one, picked up some wonderful new tricks from Gudmens. Karen's dolphin noises helped us convince Morgan we had a dolphin named Dumbledor living in the toilet.
Keeping tradition, we ate at former football player Bob Baumhower's restaurant, Wings, and then headed to our condos. After whipping up a few gallons of Gatorade, we did some foam rolling to loosen up our muscles, courtesy of Coach I. Everyone slept well, but I heard that some of the freshmen have snoring issues.
The next morning we had breakfast in Sherry's eccentric, beach-themed condo, complete with hanging hula dancers and palm trees. Our first game against Western Florida started a little slow, but we kept possession of the ball like we've been working on all spring, and came out with a win. After the game everybody "got their shakes" and drank the Gatorade recovery drinks we were given to prepare for the next match.
We took on Northwestern State, and we moved the ball around better than the first game, but could not find the back of the net. After a volunteer clinic for the locals, where Justine let a 5-year-old score on her, we headed back to the beachfront condos.
We had dinner at an upscale local Orange Beach restaurant, where we ate outdoors. The seafood was fantastic and everyone was happy with their meal. We were serenaded by a local band to none other than, "Sweet Home Alabama".
On Sunday we had a quick jog and stretch on the beach, getting loose for our game. We beat South Alabama, keeping our spring undefeated streak alive. After showers, lunch was delivered, and one parent even brought us celebratory ice cream and cookies.
All in all, everyone had a great time. We always love traveling as a team. Now we're all pumped for our home games, and hope to see lots of fans so we can show what we've accomplished this spring! Roll Tide!
