It seems counter intuitive to think that today was such an incredible day after being beat 90 something to 14 by South Africa today. Today was an awesome game because we didn't let the home team walk over us, we rocked the spectators with a competitive level of play that no one expected to see from a bunch of Americans. They beat Zimbabwe yesterday 110-11 and we pushed South Africa today, fighting for every goal of ours and defending our basket. They didn't expect to have to work as hard as they did, their goal was to get more than 110 goals against us. Not even close! The 4th quarter was my favorite. For the first time, we were working as a team like never before. We executed each of our individual pieces with a view of the whole team and each of us played 110%. We had no idea that the extra 10% existed but because we never stopped fighting, we found something extraordinary. We saw it, our coaches saw it, and (most exciting!) the crowd saw it. The stands of the arena, filled with South Africans, started shouting "USA! USA!" in the middle of our game against their own country. Wow! We walked off the court with arms raised, feeling like we won. Today we discovered something incredible with our team. Happy 4th of July to us!
After the game, we had an autograph signing with several fans from the local schools. It was crazy to be pulled in every direction to sign things and take pictures!
After our signing session and cool down (an ice bath swim in the wintertime 50 degree pool!) we went to we Table Mountain from Signal Hill. This iconic piece of Cape Town stands over the city in magnificence. Because we missed the last cable car to the top, we went to Signal Hill (a "hill" much bigger than Mt Brighton...) field a great view of the mountain, city, and ocean. AMAZING! We took a team picture on the mountain with our whole team and flag. I wouldn't have found success on the court today without each of those people on my team. From each of our players to our coaches and our manager, this growth is a privilege to experience because of the dedication of each member of our team. Even more so, our team wouldn't be here without your support. I am blessed to be standing in this beautiful place surrounded by the love of so many people and the opportunity to play the sport I love for my country. Especially on this fourth of July, I am proud to be an American! Thank you for sharing our team's journey with us!
Tomorrow we play Great Britain and I'm excited to be able to share the court with these girls. Streaming is available for this game at http://livestream.com/rugbyafricatv and the game will be at 4pm Africa time but is available anytime after that.
GO USA!
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