Being part of the cheerleading team has a few perks and one big one is the opportunity to travel to the NCAA tournament to cheer on our team! This year, we went to College Park, Maryland to play Princeton in the first round. Although the outcome of the game was not in our favor it was a great experience and I'm so proud of our women's basketball team! Here's an overview of our trip as well as some snapshots!
Day One - Thursday: After the cheer team and pep band put our stuff on the bus to go to the airport, we headed over to the Kress Events Center for a send off pep rally for the team. Together with the pep band we created a tunnel for the team to walk through and played the fight song to get every's excitement rising and get their Green Bay Phoenix spirit up! Community members and students joined in the fun and some even brought signs. Once everyone was on the buses we had a police escort to the airport! From there it was wheels up as we flew into Washington D.C. After we had landed safely we had about an hour drive to our hotel in Maryland. Our team went out to dinner and once we returned to the hotel my friends and I had an amazing surprise waiting for us! Our friend Nellie used to work for the Women's basketball team but graduated last year and now attends UConn. She wasn't supposed to be able to make it to Maryland because she works for the UConn women's basketball team and they had a game the same day as ours. We made "Stick Nellie" so she could still come on our adventures with us. Somehow all the fates aligned and Nellie was able to make it to Maryland for the weekend and surprised us! It was the surprise of the century and I may have teared up a bit. Spending time with such a great friend was the perfect ending to the day!
Day One - Thursday: After the cheer team and pep band put our stuff on the bus to go to the airport, we headed over to the Kress Events Center for a send off pep rally for the team. Together with the pep band we created a tunnel for the team to walk through and played the fight song to get every's excitement rising and get their Green Bay Phoenix spirit up! Community members and students joined in the fun and some even brought signs. Once everyone was on the buses we had a police escort to the airport! From there it was wheels up as we flew into Washington D.C. After we had landed safely we had about an hour drive to our hotel in Maryland. Our team went out to dinner and once we returned to the hotel my friends and I had an amazing surprise waiting for us! Our friend Nellie used to work for the Women's basketball team but graduated last year and now attends UConn. She wasn't supposed to be able to make it to Maryland because she works for the UConn women's basketball team and they had a game the same day as ours. We made "Stick Nellie" so she could still come on our adventures with us. Somehow all the fates aligned and Nellie was able to make it to Maryland for the weekend and surprised us! It was the surprise of the century and I may have teared up a bit. Spending time with such a great friend was the perfect ending to the day!
With our "Stick Nellie" heading to Green Bay
Mirror Selfie with Stick Nellie before the send off
On the plane with some of the cheer girls!
UWGB cheer team ready to go to Maryland
No need for Stick Nellie cause it's real Nellie!!
Day 2 - Friday: Friday was our free day so we got the chance to explore Washington D.C.! Although the weather was a mixture of snow and rain, I was still beyond excited for D.C. as this would be my first time in the nation's capitol.We started out by going to the National Mall and seeing all the different monuments. It was awesome, I had only seen these places in pictures and now I was there! We then stopped by the White House and the Capitol building. We visited Union Station for lunch. It was a very cool place. Then we stopped at the Smithsonian and the Holocaust museum. It was a packed day but a very cool experience and I would love to go back to DC someday! We had a team dinner in the hotel and had the rest of the night free to chill. It's a tradition for Nellie to preform a song for the team so the previous night we helped her rework the words to "Uptown Funk" and got to be her back up dancers for her performance which was Friday night. Not going to lie, I was nervous but Nellie nailed the song and it was smooth sailing! After that it was a pretty early night to be as we had a long day ahead of us the following morning.
Selfie with the White House -- No shame!
Washington Monument
The Lincoln Memorial
The White House
My best friend and I in front of the White House
The Capitol Building
The Holocaust Museum
Day 3 - Saturday *GAME DAY* : Today was the day: Phoenix Game Day! Our day started early as we woke up at the crack of dawn to get ready. Before the team left for the arena we had a send off in the lobby to get them pumped! The lobby was packed with cheerleaders, members of the pep band, family of the players, GB Athletics people and fans that flew all the way to Maryland to support the Phoenix. It was a great way to start the day. If being game day wasn't exciting enough, the President was expected to be at the game because his niece plays for Princeton! This did put many complications on the day as there was heighten security measures everywhere in the arena. Secret service everywhere. I did get to see the President in the stands so it is kinda cool being able to say I cheered in front of the President, The Green Bay fans in attendance were great and our team played their hearts out. Sadly we suffered a loss in the end but I am so proud of the team for having a fantastic year! The loss meant it was time to go home so we greeted the team once they arrived to the hotel and then packed up to head back to Wisconsin. The worst part of the day was having to say goodbye to Nellie but it was more like a see you soon, such a great friend!! We finally took off, after much delay, by 6:45 for our hour and a half flight.
"Make sure I look confused" - Nellie, a photo before the game
Turning Nellie in to a cheerleader!
Overall it was a wonderful trip and I am so lucky and thankful for the opportunity!
- Sunday, March 22, 2015
- 0 Comments
