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Inside The Huddle With Chelsea Shine
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Members of the Virginia women’s basketball program continue to blog during the 2011-12 season. In this edition of ‘Inside The Huddle,’ senior forward Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) recaps the team’s trip to Hawaii.
Aloha Cavalier Fans! We’re finally home from an awesome trip to Honolulu, Hawaii! We arrived last Tuesday afternoon and went straight to the gym to get our bodies moving after a long day of travel. It was a nice change to feel the warm breeze when we got off the bus to walk into practice. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was a beautiful resort. The views were amazing and getting to spend time with the team, family and friends was definitely a great alternative for Thanksgiving Break!
On Wednesday we had practice and then some free time to spend on the beach and shop! A bunch of us went paddle boarding and it was extremely entertaining to say the least. Aside from a few close calls, we all managed to stay on (but check out Virginia Women’s Basketball on Facebook for some pretty funny pictures of the team in action!)
Our paddle boarding adventure was followed by a Luau at the resort. We got to taste real Hawaiian food and experience some of the culture too! Between hula dancing, costumes and fire blowing it was quite the show. We even had our very own China Crosby step on to the stage to show the crowd her own version of the hula! I may be biased, but I think we’d all say she did it the best!
On Thanksgiving Day we had an awesome dinner with all the teams in the tournament including Hawaii, Texas and California. Our families got to come too which made it even more special! The food was delicious and one of the girls on the Hawaiian team did two Hawaiian dances! It was neat to see until they asked the captains from each team to come up on stage and do it with her! We all made our way up to the stage, hesitantly. China, who was practically a pro at that point, stepped right up front and center while Ariana Moorer and I followed close behind. I’m not sure if we ever actually did the hula or not but whatever it was it was pretty funny! (again, may I suggest checking out the pictures on Facebook!)
Games started the next day and it was great getting to compete against some really good teams. We played Friday, Saturday and Sunday so it was a lot of games in a short amount of time but we definitely learned a lot about our team this week and the potential we have. Despite the long travel it was an amazing trip and we are all so grateful that we got the opportunity to visit such an amazing place (which none of us had been to before) while getting to play the sport we love. My family, the team, the coaches and this spectacular trip is what I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday!