Jamela's Corner: Back to School
8/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jamela Satterfield, the lone senior for the Falcons in 2011-12, will write an occasional blog about what's going on in the Air Force women's basketball program.
Aug. 25, 2011 Well, well, well...since the last time I talked to you, a lot has happened. We are three weeks into class and I am 236 days away from graduation! My senior class schedule is much more relaxed than my junior year. I am a civil engineering major and in my architecture class I am designing a house. I love this type of stuff.
We are five weeks away from official practice and 11 weeks away from our first road win!! To prepare us for the upcoming season, our workouts consist of weights, conditioning, vision training, hyperoxic training (bike chamber) and individual workouts. You may ask, "How do you have time for this along with the Academy's demands?" Here at USAFA, basketball is carved out from the hours of 2-6pm.
This past weekend, I was invited to this leadership seminar called CLES (Character Leadership Enrichment Seminar). It was held in downtown Colorado Springs. We talked with all the team captains about team issues and different ways to solve them. It was an eye-opening experience. I realized that every team has problems but these problems don't have to stop the team from being successful. It was cool to see how different teams deal with conflicts and what has worked and not worked. I feel like I will be a better leader and handle situations more effectively after this seminar.
Our new strength coach is Coach Spence. He is an Academy grad and played football here under Coach DeBerry. Coach Spence is very intense and pushes us to reach new limits. He has brought a different attitude to our strength and conditioning program. Sometimes the hardest weight workouts are when we don't even use weights. We enjoy the feeling afterwards even though we know we won't be able to move in the morning. Thanks, Coach Spence.
This week we started individual workouts. Coach Shay comes up with very challenging drills. He is motivational and always makes us go HARD. Monday he introduced us to this drill called "Monsta" and it was a monsta. I was dying. We are definitely getting better individually and as a team. He also does our conditioning which brings us closer as a team. It is cool to have him as a part of our family because for those of you who don't know, he is an eight-year Air Force Vet. I am super excited to learn more about the real Air Force through Coach Shay.
We had our photo shoot last week and our theme for the media guide is "We Bleed Blue". It was very fun and different, which is a direct reflection of our team this year. We used face paint, tattoos and blue hair spray in the photo shoot. We also took "Diva" pictures, where we were able to dress up and look cute. We can't wait to see the finished product.
This weekend, the team is going roller-skating with Coach Shay and Coach Schueler. It should be fun. Football kicks off next weekend. They play South Dakota. Everyone is expecting great things from our football team and hopefully that excitement will spill over into our season.
Until next time, Peace.
-J
