Team USA Quarterback Jeff Ballard and linebacker Brig Walker will be filing journals during Team
We finally arrived in Japan on the 5th of July and after a 10 hour flight we were relieved to be here. There has been a little bit of culture shock and we noticed that as soon as we got on the bus and we were driving on the left side of the road.
When we arrived at the hotel our rooms were much smaller than we are used to in the States and everything just seemed smaller. The following couple of days we spent a lot of time traveling to and from the stadium due to traffic and the other time meeting and getting prepared for our first game.
On Saturday we had our opening ceremony and had our first opportunity to watch Japan and France play in the opening game of the tournament. It was a great experience and something I will always remember.
On Monday we had our first opportunity to split up and tour the city. We took off to the subway station and when we got there we were amazed of how complicated it really was. Besides the fact that there were literally 30 different trams going in every direction and the majority of the writing was in Japanese.
After buying our tickets to board the tram we then had to ride an escalator down to where the trams were. On our way down we realized that in this country if you are just riding the escalator you stand on the left and if you want to walk down while it is moving then you walk on the right. It was interesting to see how the people reacted when we didn’t adapt to that.
Once we boarded the tram we realized that no one was talking and it was polite to stay silent so people can hear their stops and not impose on each other. After traveling on the tram for a short period of time we arrived at our stop and were excited to finally get an opportunity to see a different district in Tokyo.
The area we were in is known more so for the shopping than anything and I don’t think their could have been any more people in this area. After being there for several hours it was finally time for us to return back to our hotel for dinner and start our preparation for our first game against Korea on Tuesday night. We are all anxious and very excited for our game tomorrow and to finally get an opportunity to represent our country.
June 20
The day had come and it was finally time to travel to San Jose to begin my journey as a quarterback for the first ever United States National Team. After arriving at the
It was exciting for me to finally be here and get to know my teammates. We spent the day as a team getting physicals (which was more thorough than an annual check up), eating dinner and meeting with our coaches. Just being around the guys you could tell there was a lot of excitement in the air and anticipation for what lies ahead. That evening Coach Mackovic laid the foundation of our team and what and who we are playing for.
June 21
It was 7 a.m. and alarm clocks were going off throughout our suite. It was our first day to get a chance to see what kind of potential we have as a team.
We began the day with a good breakfast followed by a several meetings in which we started to install the offense. Learning a different system than the one I have become accustom to over the past five years at times can seem like a learning a different language.
After several meetings and lunch it was time to head out to the practice field and start preparing for our upcoming games. As we took the field as a team for the first time there was the usual first day chaos, but we quickly got into a rhythm and practice went well our first day.
There was confusion at times but at other times we looked like we knew what we were doing. Overall the coaches seem pleased with our first practice and, as players, we definitely know there is room for improvement. We are starting to get comfortable with each other’s playing style. We had a good day of work today, but as a team we know we have to continue to get better to have a chance to be the best
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