UMBC Retrievers Women's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse Diaries

The UMBC women’s lacrosse team is taking part in the International Lacrosse Friendship Games in Tokyo, Japan, this week. The Retrievers will face off against the U-19 and U-21 Japanese National Teams, an all-star team from Tokyo and several universities. Following the tournament, the team will travel to Hawaii to host a clinic for local youth players.

“Taking an international trip to Japan is an excellent opportunity to play lacrosse in the renowned Friendship Games in front of thousands of fans,” UMBC head coach Courtney Connor said. “In addition, we get to share in their culture and have a once in a lifetime experience. This is also about making lacrosse better on a world scale. We will be playing the best competition available.”

Follow the Retrievers on their journey to the Pacific as they report back daily with these postcards.

Friday, June 15 – Headed Home

On our last day of our trip overseas
About to board our flight back home to D.C.
All a little tired and a little more sun-burnt
Had a blast on our trip but looking forward for return
Today we went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay
In choppy cold water to swim and play
From panic attacks and troubled breathing
To a secret admirer, Jeremy, who couldn’t believe what he was seeing
Showering quickly and braiding hair
Trying to find any clean clothes left to wear
With time to spare what else to do but shop
Cute souvenirs and a shake-your-coconuts top
Loading the bus one last time
Carrying our bags while trying not to whine
Trying to get 30 girls through airport security
Always laughing and talking, lacking in maturity
All in all such an amazing trip
Lots of great memories we soon won’t forget
Early morning trip to a market full of fish
Visiting a giant Buddha and making a wish
Learning calligraphy and a ceremony with tea
Staying with a family and eating foods that didn’t always agree
Playing lacrosse and winning on Japanese turf
Laying out all day and learning how to surf
Late night luau and a trip to Pearl Harbor
A guided tour on a world star charter
Thanks to everyone who helped us raise money
Our trip was certainly exciting and funny
About to board the plane and feeling just peachy
And as they say in Nippon, “Ichigo, ichie”

Thursday, June 14 – Free Day in Hawaii

Finally we were able to soak up the sun and enjoy the Hawaiian atmosphere. Some enjoyed time surfing while others basked in the sun. We enjoyed half a day to ourselves before preparing for our clinic at a park and recreation center.

Although lacrosse isn't native to the island, it is a rapidly growing sport. It was great to educate and enlighten the wahines (Hawaiian girls) on a sport we love so much. Like any other young girls, the wahines were shy at first, but after the initial interaction with our team, they opened up and really embraced the experience.

Our clinic opened up with an ice breaker game called "sisters." It was great to see our newest assistant coach, Quinn Carney, teaching the girls her specialty, stick tricks. The young girls were amazed by our team’s talent and were inspired to learn more.

Shortly after we finished the stick tricks session, we moved on to dodges. For the most part, the girls were not educated on the dodges, but they picked them up quickly. We moved to a shooting station as a break, since they had learned so much in such little time, so now they could to show off the skills they already had.

At the closing of our clinic, the coaches and parents of the young girls thanked us by giving each UMBC member a fresh flowered lei. We appreciated the gift and gave our thanks while we hugged the girls goodbye. We collected our bags and headed back to the hotel.

Once we got back to the hotel, we had more free time before heading to bed. Most went out to restaurants or strolled around shopping in groups.

Although the sun tired us out, it was a very successful day! It was a wonderful feeling, having such a great impact on these girls' future with lacrosse. We really enjoyed our time with them and wished we had enough time to do it again. We have two days left in Hawaii, and we are looking forward to the luau at Paradise Cove.

Wednesday, June 13 – North Shore

You really don't know how much you miss the U.S. until you leave, no matter how wonderful the country you visited was! This morning we had an amazing breakfast, buffet-style – just how athletes like it! It was full of fresh Hawaiian fruit, topped with French toast, eggs and everything else under the sun – even some Japanese food too!

After breakfast we all put on our swimsuits, grabbed our towels and loaded up onto a guided tour bus to the North Shore. The guide told us to call him Uncle Frank. Here on the island we are all family and that's how we like it!

It took about 45 minutes to get to the North Shore, and along the way we passed Pearl Harbor, military bases and the highest peak on the island of Honolulu. Uncle Frank told us about how when the Japanese planes were leaving after their attack on Pearl Harbor and were out of ammunition, two American soldiers drove their cars to an air base close to the shore and took down 14 planes by themselves. Their efforts contributed significantly to the 55 Japanese casualties compared to the thousands of lives that America lost that day.

After a quick nap on the bus we made it to the beach and were instructed by some of the most laidback people we have ever met. They showed us tricks in the water like how to surf while standing on your head and how to hang 10. Almost everyone on our team caught a wave, including our coaches! The water was cool and felt great in the hot sun. It was so clear you could see all of the rocks and coral below your feet. Our instructor, Suzy, reminded us that we were at the place where they filmed the movie, Blue Crush.

Next it was on to Turtle Cove, where we swam with gigantic turtles, and judging by there size, most of them where over 80 years old! We admired the sea turtles from only feet away, but if you touch one it is a $1,000 fine.

We ended the day with a delicious tropical team dinner by the water and relaxed on the beach before going to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow – hiking Diamond Head and playing some lacrosse is on our itinerary!

Tuesday, June 12 - First Day in Hawaii

After seven hours on the plane we finally landed in Hawaii. We all hurried off the plane, excited to be back in the U.S. We gathered our bags and headed to the bus. We then drove to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, but not before stopping for Smoothies, Starbucks and McDonald's. Excited about the food and being able to easily pay in American currency, we got back on the bus and headed for the Memorial.

While we waited for our tour to start, the team either went outside to take pictures and lay in the grass or shopped for gifts in the memorial’s store. Our tour began with a 20-minute film about Pearl Harbor. The film was very emotional and allowed all of us to learn more about the tragedy that took place at Pearl Harbor. Directly from the movie we hurried to the boat that took us out to the memorial.

The team went through many emotions out on the memorial, from being excited to see everything to saddened by what happened at Pearl Harbor. As we looked down off the memorial, we could see the ship USS Arizona that was sunk on Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We were told that the USS Arizona lost the most men that day, and all of them are still buried in the ship to this day. After looking around the Memorial for 20 minutes and reading the names of those who lost their lives that day, we boarded the boat to head back to the bus.

We arrived at our hotel at 3 p.m. and put our things in our rooms. Immediately, most of the team went to the beach. On the beach we laid out in the sun, took lots of pictures and went in the water. We then left the beach and had the evening free to eat dinner and check out all of Waikiki. It was a great and relaxing way to start off our days in Hawaii.

Monday, June 11 – Last Day in Japan

Today we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. We left around 9:15 a.m. and caught a train to Kamakura about an hour away. When we got there, we split up into groups and we were handed maps to find our way around the large city.

Many of us went to a temple where there were many people praying and a wedding taking place. Another popular attraction was the Buddha statue, which stood at least 3 stories tall. There was also a long strip with shopping and restaurants that a lot of the girls experienced. Just past the Buddha was a popular beach, where a lot of people surf.

We left Kamakura at 3 p.m. and returned to the hotel to prepare for the farewell dinner. We left for dinner at around 7 p.m. and got to walk and enjoy the sights and bright lights on the way to the restaurant.

The dinner was a shabu shabu style dinner where pots of boiling water were on the table. It was our job to cook the food ourselves in the water. We had pork, beef and assorted vegetables. Once the ingredients were cooked there were different sauces that we could choose from.

Following the dinner, we went to Big Echo, where there were rooms for 10 people to sing karaoke. It was so much fun and the highlight of the day for most of the girls on the team. It was a perfect way to spend the last night in Japan.

Saturday, June 9 – More lacrosse

Today we awoke at our host families’ houses. We ate different combinations of traditional Japanese breakfasts including miso soup, salad, toast, raw eggs and beef. Quite a meal!

We arrived at Edogawa Stadium at 10 a.m. and were shocked at the number of enthused fans already waiting in line to enter. We quickly dressed in our uniforms and immediately started preparing for our game. The opening ceremony began at 12 p.m. and was unfortunately accompanied by a heavy downpour of rain.

The Edogawa mayor and the president of the Japanese Lacrosse Association spoke and reiterated our new favorite quote: “lacrosse makes friends!” Both the Japanese and American national anthems were played.

We represented the United States and UMBC well, winning with a dominating score of 12-5. It was a great game with tough competition on both sides. The crowd was crazy, cheering wildly, and singing Disney songs throughout the entire game! They congratulated us endlessly for the win. It was an experience that we will never forget.

We then watched the Cal-Berkeley team fight, which unfortunately ended in a loss. After the games we headed to the closing social for the teams and host families. It was a fantastic closing to a wonderful day of games. Many friendships were made and email addresses were exchanged to continue the bonds that were formed.

Friday, June 8 – Japanese culture

Japan has been one of the most eye-opening and exciting trips we have ever been on. Our host family has welcomingly opened up their doors to us and has been so caring and understanding of our culture differences. We have learned so much from them about their culture, like how they eat and what they do in their everyday life.

We went to a traditional restaurant where we used chop sticks (or at least attempted to) and ate sushi. The family also took us sightseeing to China Town, which was amazing, as well as a park that had a rose garden with different rose bushes from around the world.

We have ridden what seems like hundreds of trains that never seem to have any seats and last forever but we make them fun.

Thursday, June 7 – Let the Games Begin!

Finally, we are beginning to adjust to the time difference and we are ready to play some lacrosse!

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel to go to our first lacrosse games of the trip. We had to take some of our bags with us because later today we would be going with our host families.

We played two games today. Our first game was against Niphon University (Niphon is Japanese for Japan) and our second game was against Keio, another university in Japan. We won both games, and they were both very competitive.

We exchanged gifts and took many pictures with the girls from both teams. In a very short period of time we have already made so many lasting friendships.

Following our games we went to the Edogawa City Hall for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and to learn a little bit about Japanese calligraphy. We learned how to write Japan and our names in Kanji, and were even able to take home our own work.

The tea ceremony was also very interesting and a very enriching experience. We learned about Ichigo ichie, which means once in a lifetime. The principle behind ichigo ichie is to enjoy and make the best out of every moment and to enjoy the company of friends because each experience can only happen once in a lifetime. We will definitely take this philosophy with us and apply it to many of our experiences in this trip and beyond.

After the tea ceremony and calligraphy session, everyone met up with their host families. We are looking forward to making many memories with our host families and to play more lacrosse tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 6 – Fish Market and Welcome Dinner

Today was our first full day in Tokyo. We started off the day bright and early, waking up before 4:45 a.m. to go to the biggest fish market in the world. It was an incredible experience where we saw huge tunas being auctioned off to restaurants. Some of them were going for close to $10,000!

We had a lot more energy then we thought we would, probably because at home it was close to 3:00 in the afternoon and we haven’t quite adjusted to the time yet.

After the fish market we had a little bit of time to eat breakfast before we met again to go do some sightseeing. We went shopping in different parts of Tokyo and were able to really see what everyday life is like here.

After a day out on the town we came back and got ready for our welcome dinner, which was hosted by the city of Edogawa. The dinner was for us and the men’s lacrosse team from University of California-Berkeley, which is also here to play in the International Friendship Games. The Keio men’s lacrosse team from Japan was also there.

We saw some traditional Japanese drum playing called Tiecho and ate delicious Japanese food. The mayor of Edogawa spoke to us and we also met the President of the Japanese Lacrosse Association. We learned about how lacrosse is very important to Japan and the city of Edogawa and that “lacrosse makes friends.”

We have already met many Japanese lacrosse players and they have been so much fun to spend time with. We can’t wait to play some games tomorrow and to meet with more players!

Tuesday, June 5 – Arriving in Tokyo

Today we started our adventure bright and early, meeting at UMBC at 7:30 a.m. Our parents saw us off and we drove to Washington, D.C. in morning rush hour! On a normal day it would have been a hassle but today we were antsy and excited for our plane ride to Japan.

While we were boarding the plane so many of us were flabbergasted by the size of the plane. It was nine seats across and two stories. While most of us slept, some of us watched movies and listened to an array of music. The fortunate ones who sat next to the window saw the snow caps of Alaska.

Thirteen hours later we finally reached Japan, but we still didn't feel like we were out of the States. An hour later while bussing to our hotel we were amazed at all the beautiful architectural buildings.

On our way to Tokyo Prince Hotel we passed Disney World, two ferris wheels in random locations and the Eiffel Tower of Tokyo, and we also crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Tokyo reminded us of New York, but it was very compact and so clean!

We checked into our hotel that felt like it was stuck in the 1960's and got ready for dinner. We went to an Italian Restaurant, but it was no Italian we have ever had. Most of us ordered beef served on rice, while a couple ventured out and ordered the seafood with pasta. We all started to get more and more tired by the end of dinner.

Today was fun but tiring. That doesn't matter because we have a big adventure at the fish market tomorrow at 5 a.m. It should be interesting to see how we are going to handle the jet lag!