Post 1: Blogging with Kelly Kyle

July 15th,

Prior to the USA Deaflympics training camp which officially kicked off on the 14th of July, I was fortunate enough to be able to take almost two full days to tour Washington D.C. This was my first time experiencing the city of Washington D.C. , and I just got chills thinking of all the history that had been made as I visited places such as the White House, Capitol Building, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Sailors Monument, as well as several of the Smithsonian Museums, Ford’s Theatre, and Mt. Vernon. I would definitely put this trip down as one of the most enlightening and educational experiences I have ever had and that was only after the first two days. I look forward to being able to spend more time exploring D.C. a bit more with the Dawgs when we travel to take on the Georgetown Bulldogs later this fall in the new Big East!
Gallaudet University, located in the heart of D.C. so graciously made their facilities available for the Indoor Women’s Volleyball team to practice , train, and stay for the 8 days of training camp prior to the departure overseas to Sofia, Bulgaria where the 2013 Deaflympics are being held. A few other USA teams are also here practicing including the Men’s Handball team and the USA basketball team is nearby practicing as well. Each day brings handfuls of new experiences and I learn more and more from the Deaf Community and my teammates each day. Coming in with no prior ASL (American Sign Language) experience, each day I pick up just a few more signs and I am starting to make progress.
Training camp is structured very similar to that of my preseasons at Butler. It is full of long days with two or three long practices, individual practices, team workout sessions and CORE, team meals, meetings, and bonding. The team is coming along very well in these first few days and I cannot wait to see the progress we will continue to make. Sadly our only major setback so far is an injury to our primary setter who pulled her quad and suffered from a minor knee injury. With the heat in the 90 degree range and the humidity of D.C. we have trouble keeping the court and floors from becoming slippery and her injury occurred on the slick floors. She is in the recovery process and we hope to have her back and in full force by the time we fly over to Sofia. Other than that it has been a lot of hard work in preparation for the competition yet to come. I keep working hard in hopes of helping Team USA go get that Gold in Sofia and to help the Bulldogs in the fall.
Go USA… Go DAWGS
Talk to you all soon!
Kelly #10
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