Billiken Softball Players Blog About European Adventure
July 3, 2008
Vienna, Austria - Saint Louis University softball players Rachel O'Connell and Kristain Burger are traveling to Austria and Hungary this summer on a 10-day softball trip (Vienna Softball Series) with USA Athletes International, Inc. The pair will keep Billiken fans updated on their trip through a blog on www.slubillikens.com. Photos of the trip are available here.
Entry #3 With our trip to Vienna and Prague coming to an end, we still had a couple more sites to see before heading back to the U.S. We had the opportunity to visit a concentration camp, where we were given access to headsets and had the ability to walk around and explore for ourselves. It was eerie seeing most of the things in the camp like the gas chambers and the cremation sites. Before we left we also walked down what they call "The Stairway to Hell".
After touring the concentration camp, we visited a convent and experienced what life must be like as a nun. We got to sing songs, had a momentary silence and learned what nuns do on a daily basis at this convent. The following day, we got our first taste of Prague. We enjoyed a guided tour of a brewery that was discovered in 1499. At the brewery, we watched a video that showed us how beer was made.
On the final day of our trip, we went sightseeing in Prague. We visited a church where everything was made out of beautiful silver and we walked across the Charles Bridge. On the bridge, people are supposed to touch the oldest statue for good luck. After the guided tour, we were allowed to do some sightseeing on our own in the old downtown area of Prague. We finished our trip that night with team bowling before leaving early the next morning.
This is a trip that we will remember forever. We had the chance to see what softball competition is like in other countries in addition to experiencing some of the amazing sites, customs and food (everything with no ice) in Austria and Prague. We would both love to repeat this experience!
OC and Kristain
Entry #2 Since we've been in Austria, we have been undefeated and dominating our opponents. We've had the opportunity to play the National Teams from Austria and Czech, as well as teams from Latin America and some club teams from Austria. In addition to our games, we had the opportunity to see an underground lake near downtown Vienna. The site was originally a mine until one miner struck 200-million liters of water, flooding the mine and turning it into a freshwater lake. We also had the chance to watch the Euro 2008 soccer finals, the third largest sporting event in the world (even bigger than the super bowl!). Since the event was hosted in Austria, the city went crazy before, during and after the game. Spain won! Today, we went into downtown Vienna and were given a guided tour. We saw Mozart's house and where he performed, where the emperor of Austria lived and was married, and Saint Stephen's church, which was beautiful! Then we did some shopping and devoured the best gelato in Austria! We're really looking forward to the next couple days of our trip. OC and Kristain
Entry #1 When I was first asked to go on this trip I was really excited! Two of my favorite things to do are travel and play softball. To be given the opportunity to play on a team with people from all over the U.S., as well as one of my SLU teammates, Kristain Burger, is an honor. I began fundraising for this trip back in October. I sent letters out to 30 companies and friends hoping to raise enough money to go on this amazing trip. In the end, I was able to raise more money than expected and my whole trip will be paid for by fundraising alone. My only problem now is hoping that I'm able to play once we arrive in Austria. As of now, I am not able to actually play due to going through shoulder surgery at the end of May. I had tears in my rotator cuff and labrum and I also had my capsule released. I am moving ahead of schedule in rehab, and am set to begin a hitting and throwing program shortly. I feel our team accomplished so much on and off the field last season. We set records as a team and some people set individual records. Having some of our players ranked among the best in the nation statistically speaking is a great accomplishment for our program. The freshmen on our team really stepped up a lot this season. Our entire outfield was freshmen and we had some on the infield too. It was great to see each player step up and contribute when called upon. We know that in tough situations, we could count on any part of our lineup to get that game-winning RBI, get a leadoff hit, make a great defensive play or strike out the opponent's best hitter. It took all of us working together to achieve the goals we set at the beginning of the season, especially our main objective of making the conference tournament. When our season came down to the wire, we were able to sweep Dayton to get into the tournament for the second year in a row.
The upcoming season should be no different than the last. With a young team, there is nothing to do but continue to get better and learn to play with each other so we can make our dreams a reality! OC (Rachel O'Connell) |
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