What I’m Thankful For

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and not just because of the food, although don’t’ get me wrong I do LOVE a good Thanksgiving spread. For me, Thanksgiving is about being thankful and I have quite a bit to be thankful for.

It’s always interesting working in athletics during the holidays. Often times the holidays are prime opportunities for teams to travel for games that generally bookend the holiday season. That being said, I haven’t been able to make it home for Thanksgiving in several years (sorry Mom and Dad!) and the same can be said for our student-athletes who often spend Thanksgiving with each other.

That being said, I’m very thankful for the Dartmouth women’s basketball family. The players and coaches have taken me in and have made me apart of the Dartmouth women’s basketball family, which has been nice especially during the holiday season.

As we hit the road this afternoon for our game at Albany tomorrow, I was catching up on some reading and as I looked around at the players and coaches, I said to myself, “I’m really lucky” and I am. Everyone doesn’t get to work with players and coaches who constantly make them laugh and who enjoy the same things that you do.  All in all, if I can’t make it home for the holidays there isn’t a better group of people to spend the holidays with.

Now, if we could maybe hit some tropical locals such as, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands or maybe the Bahamas for next Thanksgiving, I could use a little color for the Hanover winters!

Until next time,

Jess Poole

Abbey’s Got Game and She Can Bake!

I recently learned something about sophomore Abbey Schmitt, she and I share a passion for all things cupcakes! 

Ever since I had my first cupcake from Georgetown Bakery in Washington, D.C., about five years ago. I have been hooked. Let’s just say I’ve even gone so far to have them shipped to me here in New Hampshire, so it’s a pretty serious addiction. Thankfully there is one on Newberry Street in Boston so whenever I need a fix it’s not too far!

Abbey, also likes cupcakes and she’s a pretty good baker too because her cupcake won Dartmouth’s version of Cupcake Wars on Oct. 14. That’s right, she beat out 60 other bakers for the title of Best Cupcake!

The event was a fundraiser raising money for ChaD and Abbey and one of her friends from back home, Katie Rowe, who is a freshman decided to go with Caramel Apple cupcakes. They were apple cupcakes with cream cheese filling and caramel frosting … ALL MADE FROM SCRATCH! (Thanks Pintrest for the recipe:)  The duo even put wooden sticks in them to make them look like real caramel apples … genius!  The cupcakes must have been good because they won first place in the crowd vote despite running out of cupcakes halfway through the event. In my mind, that’s the universal sign that they are good, when you run out it means they taste fantastic.

Head coach Chris Wielgus even had a hand in the win letting pair borrow her electric mixer, bowl and cupcake pan!

I like this bake-off idea, I think we need to do this among the basketball team. I say we break into teams and the coaches and support staff get to decide who’s the best baker … I’m down, especially if it involves cupcakes!

Well done Abbey!

Jess Poole

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