Stef Marty Entry 1
KUORTANE, FINLAND - "Today is our fourth day here in Kuortane, Finland. After three busy days full of practices, we have started coming together as a team through a couple exhibition games and team activities. So far, we have acclimated to life in Finland well.
Everything started on Saturday, March 28th, at the airport in Zurich, Switzerland. After a three hour flight and a five hour bus ride, we arrived in Kuortane, a small Finnish town. Kuortane is three hours away from Hämeenlinna, Finland: the venue of this year’s 2009 Women's World Championship.
Unfortunately, there's not much to do here in Kuortane, but it keeps the team focused in practice and is helping us prepare for tournament play. Kuortane is the home of an Olympic training center, but our only surrounding amenities include all the different athletic facilities and hotel we're living in.
The hotel is really nice and the rooms seem more like little apartments than hotel rooms. (Together with my two roommates, I have my own living room, kitchen, washing machine and sauna!). The actual village of Kuortane is about 20 minutes (walking distance) away and as far as we can see, there are only lakes and trees.
So far, all of our days have been pretty similar. In the mornings, we have an hour skating session. We are usually given a little time off (which I usually use for a nap) before we have a team activity. Following that, we would engage in a longer training session or an exhibition game. The first two afternoons, we had ice sessions in which we practiced our systems and special teams. The team has never played before in this combination and there is a lot we still have to improve on."
