Jen's Blog: First Day of Competition

By: Jen Fopma

Unfortunately for us, we ended up getting second place in our match yesterday, which means we won't be advancing further in Corrientes.

Brooke took a flight home, so you are all stuck with me the next couple of days while I train with my coach, scout other teams for our next international tournament and obviously update all of you on how much fun I'm having here in Argentina! 

The great news is your other American teams are doing a great job of representing! It looks like we will have six teams advancing into playoffs. (Bravo USA!) Despite freezing temperatures (that might be a slight exaggeration, but trust me, its cold!) and me wearing almost every piece of clothing I brought to stay warm, Corrientes is pretty cool (pun intended!)

All day the stadium court was packed with school-age kids with ridiculous amounts of energy  (most likely from not being in school!) and lots of fans eager to take photos with all the players, especially with the tallest ones! (poor Ryan Doherty, if you don't know him, his nickname is Avatar, enough said.)

Tomorrow starts playoffs, so positive thoughts for all your American athletes dominating out here in Argentina! (and positive thoughts the churro guy will be out tomorrow night too, for me!) Buenos Noches AVP!

-Jen

  (Packed on the Promenade, aka where you buy the delicious churros!)

 (Security at the tournament)

(USA Coach Andrew Fuller making nice with the locals)

(AVP Pros Jake Gibb & Casey Patterson sporting the USA jersey)

(AVP Pros Ryan Doherty & Todd Rogers, you can spot them from across the world in those shorts ;) )