2.18.2011

Stanford Athlete Love




For me, this week has been all about Stanford Athlete love. Every year the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the Stanford Athletic Department called Cardinal Council organizes and puts on a fundraiser for the non-profit organization called Camp Kesem. Our very own Kim Hall is the Secretary for Cardinal Council and she was very integral in making sure our team was as involved as it could be in this year’s fundraiser. Camp Kesem is a community of college campuses, on which student leaders develop and operate free one weeklong summer camps for children in families coping with cancer. Camp Kesem was first founded in 2001 on Stanford Campus and has since spread to 22 college campuses across the nation.

Because Stanford is the birthplace of Camp Kesem the fundraiser held every year is extremely popular and student-athletes, alumni, professors and students fill the auditorium. The fundraiser that Cardinal Council puts on is called Athlete Date Auction. This fundraiser is an auction of athlete teams to the highest bidder, promising everything from field passes to Big Game to an inner tube water polo game and pool party with the Women’s Water Polo Team. How it works is that representatives from each team (usually freshmen) put together a routine/dance that they perform at the auction and then after the performance people in the audience can bid on them. All of the money earned from the fundraiser goes directly to Camp Kesem and the teams provide the “dates” for free.

This year our freshmen performed an awesome routine with three fellow synchronized swimming freshmen (Leigh Haldeman, Liane Lovitt and Danielle Rossoni) to an incredible mash up of songs, including “All of the Lights” by Kanye West, “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha and “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. Our team was bought by the Women’s Field Hockey Team for $150. Other than our own team being bought, our team was exceptionally giving that night. We also bought Men’s Gymnastics (with a promise of pizza and a day in the gymnastic’s gym with the team) and Men’s Volleyball (with a date to the beach with the team). We will see if those “dates” actually end up happening, but the real exciting thing about Athlete Date Auction is being able to support your fellow Stanford Student-Athletes and raising money for an incredible organization like Camp Kesem. All in all it was a very successful fundraiser and Stanford Student-Athletes were able to raise $4290 for Camp Kesem.

However, the athlete love does not end there. Last night after a long practice Melissa, Monica and I were on our way home to Roth when we discovered that a wallet had been left in my car. It turns out it was Eric Mochalski’s wallet who is a very talented freshman on the Men’s Volleyball team. Unfortunately, Men’s Volleyball at that very moment were on a bus to the San Jose Airport to catch a flight to socal to play USC and Pepperdine. Now this is where teams find out how much love they have for each other and the lengths one team is willing to go for another team. Even though the three of us were starving and tired from a long practice we knew what we had to do. Sure enough we immediately hopped onto 101 South and made our way to the San Jose Airport to drop off the lost wallet and ensure that Eric was able to get on his 8pm flight. We were able to make it there on time and he was able to board his plane promptly with the team. Being able to help out another Stanford Athlete is not only rewarding but it really shows you how close athletes are at Stanford. So, from the entire water polo team we would like to wish Men’s Volleyball a big good luck on their road trip and we look forward to the “date” we bought the other night.

2.17.2011

Today was a Fairytale




Hey guys!

This past week has been beautiful here at Stanford!   (Until today when it decided to start pouring.)  Biking around in the rain is never fun, but sometimes practicing in the rain is!

Last Saturday my roommate, Annie Case, who is currently on the soccer team here, and I got in my car to go run errands.  We rolled the windows down, opened up the sunroof and blasted Taylor Swift, signing as loud as we could.  On our way back onto campus I couldn’t get over how beautiful it was outside and really wanted to go on an adventure.  Annie looked at me and said: “Let’s go to Half Moon Bay!”  So we turned around and started heading towards the 280 north.  Right when we got on the freeway the song “Today Was a Fairytale” came on and I knew that our trip would be worth it.

We finally got there and started walking on the beach, taking pictures like it was our job!  (I’ve included one for you here.)  I am originally from Newport Beach in southern California so being able to see the beach again reminded me of home and made me extremely happy.  We saw people with picnics on the beach watching the sunset and kids attempting to get in the water because it was too cold to even put their feet in.

I was in the happiest mood once we left the beach and was so happy to have such beautiful weather in northern California during the winter!  Although the rainy days have started, I can say I made the most out of the sunny ones.


2.14.2011

Library Musings




I'm Amber Oland and a senior goalie on the team this year. So I thought I would give everyone an update on the team. After winning the Stanford Invite none of us got a break because we were in the middle of midterms. So most of us spent the week stressing over classes instead of water polo. Luckily this weekend we didn't have any games which gave us all a break. 

However, as I write this I happen to find myself in the library trying to write a couple of essays. The first one is on ancient Chinese architecture and the other is for a project I am working on about stereotype threat. Being a senior, I get to take more classes for fun because I completed my major units last quarter. Architecture is something that I have come to appreciate through my many travels both across the country and all over the world. It has been really interesting getting to learn about not only the basics of architecture this quarter but also how similarities in structures and functions are found across cultures. 


I am also taking an Introduction to Photography class with fellow senior Kim Hall which has been a lot of fun. We are using film cameras and get to develop and print our own film. Both of us have been enjoying our time in the lab and our professor even calls us twins because we do almost everything together and our pictures are similar, even though we go take picture separately. I don't think he understands how much time we have spent together over the past four years. Alright well I better stop procrastinating and get back to work otherwise I will be in here all night. And over the next couple of weeks our team will be playing every weekend so make sure you continue to follow us to stay updated on how we are doing! Have a good night and a great upcoming week...

2.10.2011

The season (and blog) begins...




Welcome to the first entry of the Stanford Women’s Water Polo Official blog! I am so excited to have you join us this season. My name is Kim Hall and I am one of the seniors on the squad. I’m honored to be a part of the inaugural year of this media website. We hope it becomes a fun, interactive resource for you to follow us through our season toward the National Championship.

I figured that with this being the first blog entry, it would only be right to discuss our first big tournament of the season, the Stanford Invitational. This tournament, though not our first games of the year, always kicks off the Stanford water polo season in our very own Avery Aquatic Center. The Invite consistently brings the top competitors and some of the most challenging games of the season. And this past weekend certainly did not fail to deliver.

We started off the tournament against Arizona State. They have a very new squad this year, with strong international players who are sure to be very competitive as the season continues. But with strong defense anchoring us throughout the game (goalie Kate Baldoni had 10 saves) and an incredible offensive showing by sophomores Annika Dries (5 goals) and Vee Dunlevie (2 goals), we topped the Sun Devils 10-1.














Next was Cal, which is always a fun game. If nothing else, any contest against Stanford’s rival is a good one. Annika Dries had another great game, posting a hat trick, but not to be outdone by Alyssa Lo’s 4 goals. Team defense again prevailed in this game, especially in the second half where the Golden Bears only scored once. Fellow senior goalie Amber Oland had 12 saves in the 10-5 win.

Sunday morning began with San Jose State. The Spartans have always been a team to keep grinding, keep pushing no matter what the score board reads. And we expected the same from them that morning. They are incredibly strong offensively, and we were very happy to keep them to only 4 goals. On our side, we got goals out of 10 different players, which is very exciting to say the least.





















And of course, Sunday afternoon always of any tournament sets the stage for the best games. And there’s nothing like having the final of the first tournament of a season be a rematch of the NCAA final from the year prior. The USC Trojans consistently play with high physicality and emotion, and we knew we were going to have to play strong and smart against them in order to be successful. Unfortunately going down 2-0 in the first quarter is not exactly the best way to go about doing that. We were able to take the lead by 2 goals a couple of times during the contest, but the ever feisty Trojans stayed with us. They tied it to go into OT, and then again to take it into sudden death. But despite a lack of 6-on-5 and penalty goals, we were able to come out on top, thanks to freshman Kaley Dodson’s beautiful near shot with 16 seconds left in the 4th OT quarter, the 2nd sudden death period, giving us the 10-9 victory. My friends commented on how composed, calm, and in control of the situation the team was despite the high stakes. Clearly they were only paying attention to the girls in the water… I don’t remember being seated for either of the sudden death periods. And I think I practically had a heart attack, a few times, throughout the contest.





















But all in all, a very successful weekend. We had huge contributions from everyone, no matter their role, which is definitely very promising at the start of the season. Favorite memory: probably a tossup between Kate literally jumping into my arms at the winning goal, or the HUGE smile on Kaley’s face for hours after the game.

Keep following us! We sincerely appreciate all of the support (especially when it constitutes missing the Super Bowl). The next blog entry to come soon. Our next game is in Stockton on the 20th of this month.

We hope to see you there.

Signing off,

Kim Hall