Tamsin's Blog
I have recently returned from Australia after being selected to play in the World Team against Australia and New Zealand.
The World Team hasn’t been put together for a number of years, but after some time off it was decided it would happen again this summer. It basically consists of bringing together a group of players from all over the world to join as a squad to compete. Our squad consisted of Kiwi’s, Aussie’s, English, Jamaican’s and Samoan’s, combining a mixture of youth and experience as well as world class talent.
For me being asked to play in this was a major achievement to be considered in the world’s elite was a huge honour and a fantastic opportunity. Once I’d agreed and seen the squad list I was so excited there were some amazing players that I had great admiration for. What was even better was meeting them and realising that they were also great people on and off the court.
We met up in New Zealand to take on the Silver Ferns and were a little rusty at the start to say the least, most of us had had a few weeks off training and struggled just a little at the beginning! However as we only had 3 days before we played our first game we had to get to know each other very quickly. It clearly worked as we won our first match in Wellington, we then went on to win in Rotorua and narrowly lost our final game in Auckland. However that was good enough and we ended up winning the series 2-1.
For me personally it was great, I absolutely loved every minute of it, playing in front of packed crowds, learning to play with different styles, working with new coaches and experiencing different cultures. It was non stop, a bit of a whirl wind but nothing beats that buzz you get being on court at the highest level and of course winning was an even bigger bonus!
Once the series was over we flew over to Adelaide where we just had the one game against Australia. The squad changed slightly and once again it was back to getting to know you’s as we had 3 days to prepare. We’d clearly discovered the winning formula as we took down the Aussies by 9 goals on their home turf! It was a great result and ended the tour on a real high for all of us.
Overall the whole series was so much fun and something I will always be grateful to be a part of even if I did have to wear a bright pink dress!
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