Going into the retreat, everyone was a little nervous. Twelve hours in a room together was a long time and we were unsure of what to expect, but we decided as a team to go in with smiles on our faces and accept the challenges. The first hour or so was dedicated to learning more about one another and what we all valued. Katie Barnes is fluent in Spanish while Meredith loves her dogs. Once we realized that although we're all individuals we do have similar values, we were able to start various activities. We learned the importance of the foundation of a team. Communication and planning were all we could do for many of the activities. We learned to think out of the box and be more dynamic as people. We think that the best part of the day was when we crossed the acid river as a team. There were only 12 "rocks" we could step on safely. So we made mistakes, as in lacrosse there will always be mistakes made. But each time we learned from them as a team. Despite not being able to talk to one another, each person on the team made a mistake and each person on the team learned from one another. We communicated with body gestures and Carly was the first to attempt crossing the river.
After the 27 of us all made mistakes, Carly was able to successfully cross the river on her second attempt and everyone followed suit. As a team, it's not about being perfect, it's about learning from one another and working together to reach a common goal. Toward the end of he day, we discussed our goals and what we wanted to achieve throughout the season. All of us have big dreams and want to be the best and are aware of the sacrifices we need to make in order to get there. When discussing our sacrifices, the tone was never "oh man I'm giving this up" it was always more of a "I don't get this but I have all of this" optimistic outlook. We all started playing for different reasons but we all continue to play for similar ones: to be a part of something bigger, for pride, for the love of the game, for each other, for the team. Like we said, we were hesitant coming into that environment and stepping out of our comfort zone. But at the end of the day, there wasn't a girl in the room that could say she didn't have fun or that she didn't learn something about herself or her teammates. And who knows by the end of the season there may even be a wiggle waggle video to show. Also stay tuned for next years version of the color run - dirty girl mud run!!!!!
- Meade and Carolyn
