Posted on 8 January, 2010

Blog 2

Hi everybody. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, hope you all have a great break from everything and can relax for a bit. Just thought I’d give you a quick update on what the first semester has been like at Stetson.

It was hard at first to get back into studying, but I was okay after a few weeks. Our preseason was pretty tough, there was lots of lifting and lots of running, but my fitness was alright to begin with as Joel and I had come off our season from back home. Our actual team trainings didn’t start until October, and our games started about a month later. So far our record is 2-7, but four of the teams we’ve played so far have been heavyweights, including Louisville who are ranked 18 in the country. Also, one of our senior players did his ACL after only a few games, so that didn’t help us at all. But he did play the same position as me so I’ve been getting a few more minutes since he got injured.

Essentially, most things are the same here as back home, except everything is a lot bigger. There’s about 70 TV channels, the food and drink come in much bigger servings and everything is a lot cheaper. There is always sport on TV and the sports commentators are a bit more aggressive in their criticisms than Gary Lyon or Stephen Quatermain. And the news reporters won’t leave Tiger Woods alone either.

The schoolwork has been pretty good this first semester. I had four classes, and each only ran two or three times a week, which was pretty different from what I was used to in high school. Our final exams were during the beginning of December, and since then we have only had basketball to worry about, because everyone else is on winter break until January 11. We’ve only got four days off for Christmas, and we have to be back for practice at 6pm on the 26th, but it is still nice to have a break from everything.

I’ve attached a few photos from the past few months, hope you like them.

See you all when I get home in early May,

Liam

Blog 1

The first month of college has been pretty intense, not just with basketball but with the schoolwork and social sides of things as well. Our preseason has been fun, but very hard at the same time; our head coach’s favourite saying during our gym sessions is “grow or die!”.

There hasn’t been any team training yet due to NCAA restrictions, but the team organizes their own pick-up games, which can go on for hours at a time. The athleticism of some of the guys here is at a whole new level compared to what I’m used to in Australia, and Joel and I have to work hard to keep up with the pace. But I think we’re both enjoying the challenge, and are already seeing our own skills and fitness developing.

The schoolwork has taken a bit of getting used to. Both of us have been out of school since last November, and so are trying hard to get back into going to class and doing homework. Some of my classes are pretty similar to what I’m used to in high school, but some are completely different, which is both good and bad. Our class schedules are a bit more laid back than high school, with only 1-3 classes a day, usually 2. But the amount of training we’re doing means that we don’t get much time to relax, except on weekends, when we don’t have any training at all.

I will write again soon when I get the chance to let you know how we’re coming along as we get closer to the start of the season and the training picks up even more. Hope Kilsyth is still going strong and everyone back home is enjoying their basketball as much as we are!