A Little Golf Outing

This week's blog is written by a special blogger our very own Abbey Schmitt! Check out her take on the women's basketball's golf outing with the men's golf team. 

This past Monday (Oct. 1), some of us went golfing with the Dartmouth men’s golf team.  It was so much fun!  We got dressed up in our best golfing attire, Kamala and Sofia almost matching in their khaki pants, blue polo cable-knit sweaters, and baseball hats.  I was wishing I had packed my khaki pants to wear, but instead came as close as I could with my white denim jeans.  Not quite country club attire, but close.

We pulled up to the gorgeous green golf course at the Hanover Country Club with colorful fall trees all around.  I had never even been to the golf course before.  We met Coach Parker, the golf coach, and proceeded to get a putting lesson.  After practicing for a few minutes, Coach Parker paired us up with members of the golf team and sent us out to play eight holes.  This was a quite a daunting task, for many of us had never picked up a golf club in our lives!  Luckily my parents made me take golf lessons when I was little, so I had third grade experience under my belt.

After the two guys in my group hit their shots off the first tee with perfect precision, Daisy proclaimed how scared she was to take her tee shot.  Coach Parker thought that was the funniest thing he had ever heard, that a six-foot basketball player would be scared of a little golf ball!  He kept checking in to see how his new best bud Daisy was hitting after that.

Another highlight of the outing was when we had a long distance putting contest to see who could get closest (realistically, none of us were going to make it in) to the pin.  Lauren casually stepped up to putt, and the ball rolled up a hill, curved to the right, and went straight into the hole!  It was amazing!

The night ended with delicious pizza from Ramunto’s.  We all loved the sports exchange, and we’re hoping the men’s golf team will come play basketball with us sometime soon!  

Until next time, 

Abbey Schmitt

THEY'RE BACK!

I have long said that the best thing about my job is the coaches, players and people that I get to meet and work with and my job here at Dartmouth is no exception! I get to work with some great people and the student-athletes that I’m lucky enough to call “mine” never cease to amaze me. Due to the fact that I travel with them, I have a very different relationship with the women’s basketball players and I have to admit at time during the summer I found myself really missing them! (Although Eve Zelinger and Nicola Zimmer, who were on campus, did come and visit a bunch so it made the “withdrawal” much easier to handle.)

While I feel like I go through the trenches with all of my teams, it’s very different when you travel with a team. You find out about them on a personal level. You know who likes read on the bus, who does their homework, what movies the group is likely to watch, but I think most importantly I get to watch the growth and development of the players both on and off the court and that’s something that I really cherish.

So this week when the team started showing back up on campus, I was really excited! I saw Abbey Schmitt, literally as soon as she got back, and she gave me a big “Hi Jess” and our senior leader Faziah Steen stopped by to tell me she was back and Tia Dawson gave me a wave when I saw her in Alumni Gym. 

I even got to meet a few of the freshmen! They are in for the time of their lives with this team!  My wish for you all is that you take every opportunity given to you and run with it.

It’s really nice to have them back and on campus and getting ready for the upcoming season. I tell you nothing is better than the sound of bouncing basketballs!!

Here’s to the 2012-13 season!

Jess Poole

The Olympics and Me

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS.  My love affair with them started 28 years ago when I gave birth to my second son.  As any new parent knows, newborns require constant, 24/7 vigilance.  It is one tough job with no rest -- it is just constant. 

Enter the Olympics games.  YES, 1984 was an Olympic year, which meant I could watch the Olympics with my very nocturnal newborn son.   We would catch a nap here and there, but come the middle of the night he was up and so was I.  This was a blessing, no sleepy-eyed rocking chair action for us.  We were up and at full attention in front of the TV.  You see in the mid-80s it is during the middle of the night that they broadcast the women’s events.

My son and I watched women compete in the Olympics in gymnastics, field hockey, diving, basketball and you name it sport.  It was inspiring to watch those women from all over the world compete for a gold medal on TV.  How lucky was I that I was up to watch them!!!

Yesterday, once again I found myself at full attention in front of the TV watching the Olympics.  This time I was with my Dartmouth family who require much less attention then my son did in ‘84.  As a matter of fact, I am the one that requires attention and they kindly take care of me.   

Everyone in the room was a woman and an athlete.  One of the spectators had even won two Olympic gold medals!!!   How did that happen!!!  But the most amazing thing of all was that we watched women compete in the Olympics during PRIME TIME!!!!  Not because it was fair, but because it was good for the TV ratings.

How lucky am I?? ? How lucky are all of us???

Until next time,

Chris

Preparation + Hard work = Success

Preparation and hard work are two things that you hear over and over again in the sports arena and you hear it because it’s true. You can’t be successful without preparation and you can’t become prepared without hard work.  It’s really a very simple equation and I think that the women’s basketball team has embraced this motto.

The grind that is college basketball at the Division I level at an Ivy League institution nonetheless, is based on these two principles and this summer I’ve seen a tremendous amount of preparation and hard work from the players and coaches this summer.

As most of you know, my office is in the main corridor of Alumni Gym and most times, I get to see the players both coming and going from practice or workouts. This summer I’m seeing them A LOT (Granted, I wasn’t here last summer, so I’m really not sure if it’s a lot or not but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt:)

I’ve seen Eve Zelinger and Nicola Zimmer, sweating it out on multiple occasions and from what they tell me the newcomers and other players are going just as hard on their own.  That is both preparation and hard work at its finest.

The coaches are working equally as hard just in a different way. July is recruiting month for collegiate basketball coaches. They pack up and live out of a suitcase or suitcases as they crisscross the country looking for the next member of the Dartmouth women’s basketball team.

If you think about it, that’s a lot of hard work too! There are TONS and I mean TONS of youth women’s basketball players out on the summer circuit (Thank you Title IX, for making this possible) so it takes a lot of prep work to see who will fit in with our system, culture, etc.   Again, preparation and hard work at the highest level.

The hard work and preparation that I have seen from the players and staff this summer can only mean good things are to come in the fall and winter. I smell Ivy League title No. 18 in the very near future.

Jess Poole

The Comeback Kids

Koren Schram '09 and Erin Rewalt '99 TU'09 were awesome players.  For four years they made up the fabric of this program and left a great legacy for the athletes that came after them.  They garnered tons of accolades, a few Ivy titles and several trips to the NCAA's.  They were hardworking and lots of fun.  I was so sorry to see them graduate and I knew I would always cherish my time with them.

Then the unbelievable happened. These talented and gifted women came BACCCKKKK!!!  Can you believe it!!! And they came back so different.  They were all grown up and full of life experiences and knowledge. They were no longer wide-eyed players waiting for the next game to break out.  They were coaches ready and eager to take on the challenges of Division I basketball at an Ivy school.  And they are good at the craft of coaching and have mastered the art of keeping the silly paperwork flowing in the right direction (Away from me!).

It is so special to have them back in Hanover.  I love seeing them everyday and because I see them everyday I know things will never be dull.  They are genuine in their love the game of basketball and their love of Dartmouth.  They are wonderful teachers, caring people and truly professional.  They are great ambassadors of Dartmouth women's basketball.  

It is the highlight of my career to work with them. I am beyond blessed and so are our players

Until next time,

Chris

Graduation 2012

Dartmouth has tradition down to a science.  This fact is never more evident than during graduation.   Graduation is beautiful, thoughtful and efficient.  It is as much about fellowship and family as it is about degrees and graduation 2012 was no exception.

Sasha Dosenko was our lone senior and her Dartmouth family gathered to bid her “so long.” on Sunday.  As President Kim said, “At Dartmouth we never say good-bye.”   One of our traditions occurs at the beginning of graduation when the President, the Board of Trustees and faculty walk through two lines formed by the graduates.  It is symbolic of the graduates honoring the people that have taught and mentored them.   

I was watching the procession when I spotted Board of Trustee Gail Boudreaux ’82 break rank and hug Sasha Dosenko’12.    It was a very special moment for me and for the women’s basketball program.  I recruited and coached both these women.   I am very proud of them, but never more proud then when they hugged.  They were two centers from the same program, but generations apart.  One had successfully navigated the real world and one was just entering it.   Despite their differences, they were family and they knew it.

 That’s best of Dartmouth’s traditions!

Until next time,

Chris

Getting Ready for 2012-13

Hello Dartmouth women’s basketball fans! It’s been awhile since we posted something on this blog and I thought we would give you a little insight as to what’s going on in the program these days!

I’m a big fan of spring and summer and despite what the weather has been doing here in New Hampshire, spring and summer are on the way, I promise! Spring and summer symbolize rebirth and growth to me and I think that’s what’s happening with the Dartmouth women’s basketball team.

I have the pleasure of having an office that most of the players have to pass by on their way to the locker room or the gym and I have seen every single one of the players getting after it this spring. Between lifts, individuals and pick up, this group has showed me that they are serious about putting the 2011-12 season behind them and I’m very excited for the 2012-13 season.

Anyone who is associated with sports knows that losing is NEVER fun. I don’t care what people say about moral victories, growth, etc., etc., losing is something that competitors hate to do and this group from the support staff, to the coaches, to the players, HATE TO LOSE, so you can imagine that last season was tough for all of us that are associated with Dartmouth women’s basketball.

For those that don’t know, I’m from Michigan and I am proud to say that I am a Detroit Lions fan and have been one since birth, meaning that I’ve been with them through the, shall we say … lean years and trust me the lean years have been more than any fan should have to endure. Now that the Lions have started to turn things around, I have to say it is so much sweeter to cheer for them and see them do well because I know exactly how far they have come.

This is the same sentiment I feel with our basketball team. I joined this team that had one senior, one junior, a BUNCH of underclassmen including five freshman and I saw them struggle mightily at the start of the season, but as the season progressed so did they and despite being hit by the injury bug late in the season. I think the last month of the season, was some of the best basketball from this group. I saw some chemistry on the court that was lacking in the beginning, I saw smiles out there on the court and I saw a group of players and coaches having fun playing and coaching basketball. 

I know the players and staff are not interested in repeating the 2011-12 season and I see the players putting in the time and effort on their own to make sure that 2012-13 is the start of a new, better chapter in the story of Dartmouth women’s basketball and I can’t wait to be apart of it.

Make sure to check in with our blog throughout the summer. We’ll have some posts throughout the summer as we head toward the 2012-13 season!

Jess Poole