Aug. 25, 2008
California senior midfielder/forward Andrea Lo, a product of West Vancouver, B.C., Canada, wrote a weekly blog during the field hockey team's 2007 season. A two-time NorPac All-Conference first-team selection, Lo ended the season as Cal's third-leading scorer with 16 points. She tied for the Golden Bears' lead in game-winning goals (3) and also collected six assists and five goals through 18 games.
BERKELEY - The idea for the blog came to our team last season as a way for outsiders to get a glimpse of what goes on within the team when we're both on and off the field as well as get a taste of the student-athlete lifestyle. The positive comments and feedback from weekly readers that I received (from parents, classmates and even strangers) definitely made me want to reprise the role when I was asked if I wanted to take on the task again. What can I say? I love being able to write with such freedom, like talking about how I ate a pint of ice cream by myself in one sitting... or using the word "like" 10 times in one paragraph without a professor marking me down for improper vocabulary.
Our team this year consists of 10 seniors (3 super seniors to be exact), which is quite the number, and calling myself a senior is equally weird and unbelievable. Going into our last season as collegiate players, we took advantage of a large part of our summer and stayed in Berkeley to train and keep in physical and hockey shape along with most of the team, which greatly benefited all of us in all aspects. The great momentum we had at the end of spring training continued through the summer and most recently into preseason, where the strengths of the group have definitely shown great improvement and ability at such an early stage and almost as if we haven't even taken a two-month break as a team.
I am currently writing on the second to last day of what has been an exceptional preseason in my mind, and the upcoming months will most likely be a strong build off of what we have achieved so far and have not seen in past years, making it more exciting. As for preseason itself this year, it was something none of us had experienced before simply because both Shellie and Peter weren't there. For those who didn't know, they were apart of the U.S. and Canadian national field hockey programs that competed in Beijing which, I must say, were beyond incredible...did you see the opening ceremony!? I can't even imagine what that experience must have been like!
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So anyways, not having both of them at preseason was rather foreign to us, but luckily we had the great privilege of having two amazing guest coaches along side our assistant coaches Kelly and Niall. The first thing the team noticed was how well we interacted with the coaches and that immediately translated onto the field with every practice during our double and triple days. The intensity and focus we had as well as the willingness to be better was a strong point over the course of the week and a half. Many of us agreed we felt physically more fatigued than previous years simply because we were working that much harder and pushing each other along the way. At some points I thought my wrists were going to give out because we dribbled so much and my legs were on the verge of self-destruction...great times let me tell you. But any athlete will tell you it's those moments that pay off in the long haul and moves everyone forward.
Our first competition to see our hard work in action was against our rivals from across the bay in a scrimmage...none other than Stanford. After a bitter taste left in our mouths from last season (I won't go there for the unpleasant memory), we just wanted let off some of that steam built up and get back on track to our Stanford dominance and give them a preview of what's ahead in the upcoming season. It wasn't a great performance, but we came out on top 5-1 and got the job done. There's much to clean up for us before our next meeting and even before our season opener next weekend against Pacific, but the determination not to let down despite being up the whole game and the level we had set to come out from the start really brought a dynamic to the team that shows what we are capable of and where we can eventually go as the season progresses.
As for the food (I always have to include food somewhere) we've experienced a different setting eating at the International House, as we no longer have our team privacy and space in the Hall of Fame room in the stadium. So that means no more food throwing and other similar sorts of behavior since we're eating in the dining hall with our international friends. I'm not picky at all when it comes to food and the variety of choices provided at every meal there makes me quite happy. As much as I enjoy having pasta, burritos and burgers, nothing hits the spot like Asian cuisine. Being at the International House, as you can imagine, gives us the best of both worlds as I can have my lasagna AND sweet and sour pork with a side of bok choy (my favorite Chinese vegetable). I'm happy, you're happy and we can all top it off with ice cream and cake and walk out loosening our drawstrings of our shorts just a little. Eating all that food and burning it off makes me feel that much better, like I've worked my butt off, especially when I decide to take that extra cookie or doughnut and not feel bad at all.
