Thursday, November 21st - 6 hours

Today was the second training day with Kyle and Mike from the Portland Timbers. I got my phone fully charged and ready to go to update social media this time! It is still like working on the dang tundra right now, but I'll be grateful that the wind isn't blowing at least. Tonight's group were the 02/03 boys and 04 girls from 4:00 to 5:30 and the 05 boys and 02/03 girls from 5:45 to 7:00. The second group was starting a little late in order to get some group pictures in between with all four teams there. That went.... okay I suppose. I'm beginning to understand more and more why my coaches always hated picture day.

The exciting part of the night was one of the 05 boys being recruited for the Academy team in Portland. It was fun to watch him step up his teammate-ness since Kyle was there watching him. He's always a pretty good player and knows the game well, but his teammate actions can be questionable and he's not always the most humble. He was one of the boys a couple weekends ago that needed to focus a little more on playing a less on interacting with the other team. Anyway, this is a great opportunity for him to grow as an athlete and likely a person. He already seems to be taking Mike's speech about excellence on and off the field to heart.

Over the last two nights, I've realized the unexpected uncomfortableness I would have to get used to if I continued in social media marketing. I would have to become much more assertive of where I take pictures and being okay with feeling like I was in the way. Up until this point, I was able to kind of hide in the shadows of taking pictures but with the expectations set higher for this event, I was out in the middle of trainings trying to get the best picture possible while staying out of the way.