DCWB Costa Rica 2010
Day 8 -
The team started Day 8 desperately trying to soak in some Costa Rican sun in the morning before heading out to Puntarenas for official basketball business. Puntarenas is a small community located near the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. As we entered the city, Roberto pointed out the local soccer stadium where his team, La Liga, was playing that night. Little did we know, we'd get front row seats to the game that night. After a bit of searching, we found the local recreation center, where we held a clinic for up and coming Costa Rican coaches.
Fernando explained that about 12 years ago, basketball was pretty much a dead sport in the country, but a group of coaches have been working to bring it back. Recently, the Junior National Team of Costa Rica played in an international tournament, but lost the championship game to Guatemala due to their lack of experience breaking a press. Luckily, our team is pretty good at breaking presses, and even better at putting on a press. The Costa Rican coaches were very attentive, took lots of notes, and asked lots of questions--it was so great to see people so excited about basketball, just like we are.
Unfortunately, the gym was barely indoors, and by the end of the clinic, we were drenched in sweat. Our game against the Junior National Team was very different from our first game. We were really able to work on some things as a team, especially our primary break, which helped us rack up the score. Though the team was much younger than us, they were already starting to play in a similar style as the National Team and they all had bright futures in basketball. On the other hand, we were able to improve on a lot of aspects of our team play and display how all our hard work in the summer, especially at camp, really paid off.
After a very strong bonding experience in the shower and a delicious dinner, we headed to the soccer stadium (in the rain) with Roberto and Edward to watch La Liga play. We were surrounded by fans of the local team, but we showed our newfound pride nevertheless, all sporting newly purchased La Liga jerseys, purchased on the walk to the stadium. We even started a chant and got on camera, which we later found out, was used in the highlight reel of the game on national television (pretty cool!). La Liga scored two very impressive goals, both in the second half, while we were right in front of their goal. The game ended around 10, and we headed back on the bus to Alajuela for a long bus ride to the Hotel Buena Vista, where we slept soundly for the night.
