Junior Worlds 2018 - Blog #4

We finished our morning mat workout and then took a team picture by the lake.  We now have access to two mats right here in our hotel in Senec.  Yesterday we had to drive about 30 minutes to Trnava to get on the mat at the host hotel next to the venue.  There are warm-up mats at the venue, too.  Remember, UWW placed the female athletes in a separate hotel (a wise decision).

Our hotel is considered a "resort."  It's on a small recreational lake - canoes, paddle boats, tether ball, bowling alley, etc.  There are several youth boy's soccer players staying here.  The best I can understand is they're a Slovakian development team, however, I don't think they're here to play soccer.  It seems like a team building camp, of sorts.  They're typical 12-14 year old boys in matching clothing, meaning the girls have found them to be quite obnoxious.  They're full of energy and silliness and they think it's pretty cool that they're surrounded by elite women.  The girls' state of mind is not in a position to tolerate endless giggling, so they're annoyed by their presence.  I give them high fives and fist bumps and act like a big, strong, cool American and they get a kick out of it.

The hotel provides us with three meals each day.  It's all been pretty standard to what we're accustomed to at UWW events.  I always say each item is some shade of tan or yellow - mostly chicken, potatoes and breads.  Breakfast is the only time the coffee/latte machine is available...unless your Clarissa.  Two days in a row she opened the machine and turned it on during dinner.  She was strongly reprimanded each time.  It's become an inside joke that will likely be discussed for a few years among the coaches.

I'm sharing a room with Sam Schmitz (McKendree University) and Matt Stevens (Oklahoma City).  We're in an apartment style room with bright red carpet and nice porch overlooking the lake.  We've left our mark at Hotel Senec, that's for sure.  Sam pulled the handle off the patio door, Clarissa sat on a chair and broke it in half and I stepped on the coffee table to kill a spider on the ceiling and that also broke.  We have several days left and I'm certain Matt will break something soon enough.  It looks like we've been regularly wrestling right here in our room, but I assure you that we are actually very calm.  I can just imagine what the employees must be saying about us.

Our athletes have mined their p's and q's at the hotel, so that's good.  The first half of our group will compete tomorrow morning.  We're all excited for weigh-ins and for the women's competition to begin.  These girls are planning on doing a different kind of damage compared to what the coaches have been up to.  They're ready to wreck some athletes, break some hearts and crush dreams.  That will be fun to talk about, too.