Centex 2013; the Journey not the Destination

Centex has always been an amazing tournament. From the Friday night mixer to the dance contest this tournament supports friendships between teams, along with an extremely high level of play. Teams fly and drive in from all over the country for the chance to play outside against the best teams from essentially every region.

Being lucky enough to receive our first invite in 2010, Scorned has a short history with this tournament.  In 2011, we were seeded in the B bracket and worked our way into the bracket in a super tight D1/2 crossover games vs. Texas. That while playing (and getting smoked) by Michigan and Cal, I (a freshmen) realized just how good some woman’s teams could be.

Centex 2012 was a different year. After 2 great finishes at MWT and Music City, I felt we went in with high hopes, but not super high expectations. After what I would argue to be the biggest tournament win in WS history, (to that point) we drove home not able to believe we had won. It was an incredible feeling and our expectations for our season skyrocketed. However it seemed we did not know how to handle these expectations. After Centex 2012 our practices did not have the intensity they should of, and we struggled at regionals.  Although we had a successful 10^th place finish at nationals, the team couldn’t help but feeling like our potential was not reached.

This year is different. We have had an incredibly successful season thus far, and winning Centex for the 2^nd year in a row was truly amazing.  However, winning Centex is not our “destination” for the season. Trust Lana (pictured left) when she says that we have not even come close to peaking this season. Our younger players are improving and becoming more confident at every practice, watching their drive and desire at practice assures me that our team is only going to improve from here. Our veterans are not only pushing these younger players, but learning along with them, and our coaches and captains are challenging all of us to focus, become better players, and most importantly work together.

Up until the series, this season has and will be all about the journey. It is about working together as a team, as well as improving individually. This journey is about taking our season’s successes and not being satisfied, but feeding off our successes and using them to improve even more. It is not about an undefeated season, but about taking a loss, lifting our heads up, and playing another game with more intensity and less mistakes than the previous one. 

At the first practice back after Centex when everyone was sore and tired, Coach K made everyone run sprints. His message rang loud and clear with me. We are not going to sit back and go through the motions. We will continue to work hard, and more importantly improve as a team between now and conferences, regionals, and fingers crossed, nationals.

Thanks to all the teams we played this weekend! We had some amazing games! Thanks to Michelle and Without Limits for a great tournament! (as usual!!!) Thanks to our INCREDIBLE Coaches, (Kevin and Lana) as well as Jazz (team support). Thanks to THE Chad Larson for his hospitality.  Thanks to all the people that followed us on twitter or other social media. Thanks to Seaweed and Minnesota and all other teams for the support on the sidelines of the finals!