Team Mizara Volleyblog

Vancouver Corona Open - July 18-19, 2009

2009-07-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

I love Vancouver. There’s something magical about the nature and mountains and crispness that I feel whenever I visit. This visit was made extra special because I got to spend time with one of my close friends (and first beach partner) who is currently living in North Vancouver while she works for the COA in preparation for the 2010 Olympics.

While in Vancouver, we took an evening to coach a group of awesome beach volleyball hopefulls that my friend Lisa works with on a bi-weekly basis. I was really impressed at how quickly this group of athletes took to the new things we were teaching them. That same day, we had a practice on our own down at Kitsilano beach - the site of the tournament - and then went up to one of my favourite shopping streets, West 4th, where I was reintroduced to my favourite 'healthy cookie' that I found when my sister was living in Vancouver, and I also purchased a Billabong playing hat!

On our Friday off, Liz, Ray and I vi

sited some sites in beautiful North Vancouver. First, we were adventurous and crossed the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge - it was beautiful, and unlike the Capilano Suspension Bridge, it was Free!!! We then drove down to Deep Cove, which reminded me of a little town in cottage country, only with the most beautiful mountains surrounding it. Friday was one of the most oppressive days Vancouver has seen in a while - I truly felt like I was in Brazilian weather, and was happy we didn't have to play until the next day!

We had a chance to visit the beautiful mountains, the outstanding coves, the adventurous suspension bridges, to coach some awesome athletes and we also got to play on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world - Kitsilano Beach. Liz and I played the best volleyball we'd played as a team to date, with only a small falter in the semi's and bronze medal matches. Things are shaping up exactly how we want them to leading up to the 2009 National Championships to be held at Ashbridge's Bay in Toronto on Aug 28-30. So, not only did we have an outstanding life experience in the beautiful nature of British Columbia, but we also had a chance to play some of Canada's top teams all in a 5 day span. I can't wait to visit again!

Liz & I on the Lynn Suspension Bridge

Hiking in the Sequoia woods with my Vibram FiveFinger Shoes

Liz, Ray & I at Deep Cove in North Vancouver

Liz with a huge stuff block!

Team Mizara on Serve Receive.

Liz & Kara proud of their play under the mountains at Kits Beach.

Be Inspired!

2009-07-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Playing without Attachment
This past 2 months has been the most rapid personal growth period that I can remember in my life. I went from a place where I was a bit angry, way too serious, and not playing the way I truly wanted to play, to where I am now - which I can only describe as a true calmness (that I will admit I have not yet got down to an art;), within which I can still find my intensity. During this period of personal growth, I was fortunate to be reading 'Oneness with all life' by Ekhart Tolle. This powerful book lead me to a point where one day I woke up without the focus on winning or losing, but instead on being. That's when the amazing things began to happen. (READ MORE)

Ekhart literally called me on the ways my ego had taken over. He challenged me to see my ego and to identify it for what it was. So many times I let my ego get in my way: my need to proove how good I am, to be perfect, to have the last word, and all of this was affecting my ability to play free on the court. I would get defensive, hurt, angry and feel judgment, since my ego was revolting since it was not being validated. Ekhart also offered a solution for ego-ness: to lose my attachment towards results or things, and to focus on my true essence - that I am nothing in particular, nor am I defined by my results or actions . . . I am. In reading more, I began to grasp my attachment to things I owned, people I loved, and especially to winning and losing.

It's not to say that I don't care about winning, because of course I still love to win and it is definitely necessary for us to achive our goal of competing at the Olympics. It's just that the result of winning or losing doesn't seem like a huge dilemma any more. I simply focus on the action I am and enjoy my great fortune of being a gifted athlete, and the rest takes care of itself. If I'm playing free, playing my best and better than the other team, than I will win. If the other team plays better, they will win. But, win or lose, I am so caught up in being my best at any given moment, that the results really don't matter.

If I could give advice to any young athlete coming up the ranks it would be just that: to enjoy the process, to enjoy playing well, to enjoy having a hard day where everything seems difficult but somehow you still work hard and do your best for that moment. Because, in doing such the result will take care of itself. And, if at the end of the day you come up a bit short, what does that mean really? To have lost and have done your best is so much better than having won but having been stressed the whole time, without an opportunity to demonstrate your true gifts to the world. I would choose non-attachment to winning and an awesome match that I lost any day to one where I sell myself short by trying not to lose.

Upcoming Events

2009-07-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

Blue Mountain CAN-AM Beach Volleyball Challenge- Aug 1-2, 2009
An estimated 11,000-14,000+ visitors will be in the Blue Mountain Village each day of the August long weekend, many of which are estimated to attend the free Beach Volleyball event that will be held at the centre of the Beach Weekend festivities. With a grandstand, sponsor booths, a DJ, prizes, games, clinics and professional beach volleyball action, the CAN-AM Beach Volleyball Challenge will be the event of the summer. Support Team Mizara en route to the their 2012 Olympic goal, as they take on a top-rated US team to determine the Blue Mountain North American Champion.

When: Sat Aug 1 @ 6pm & Sun Aug 2 @ 4:30pm
Where: Centre of Blue Mountain Village, dockside
Other Events:
- Adult & Youth Clinics on Sat & Sun
- Partner booths including: SIGG bottles, La Roche Posay Sunscreen, Bolle Sunglasses, YoPro frozen yogurt, and more
- Contests, prizes and raffles including: Muskoka Chairs, Bolle Sunglasses & XM satellite radios

Canadian National Championships - Ashbridge's Bay Aug 28-30, 2009
Come one, come all to cheer us on at the National Championships that will mark the 20th Anniversary of a National Beach Volleyball Championship in Canada! Liz and I are right on the cusp of a breakthrough performance, one that will be made a lot easier with the support and cheering from all of you, either in person, via email or via positve thoughts! The competition in Canada is getting tighter and tighter, which means that the games, especially starting on the Saturday, will be top-notch. I can tell you that I am already getting excited to play!

FIVB Open Tournament - Sept 9-13, 2009
After hosting a double gender event in 2008, Barcelona returns to the SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar with a women's stop. Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain with a population over 1.6-million. Located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, Barcelona is a major economic centre, with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports. Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona and the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Tournament info click here (http://www.fivb.org/EN/BeachVolleyball/Competitions/WorldTour/2009x/Event/Presentation.asp?TournCode=WBCN2009)

Upcoming Events: Blue Mountain Exhibition Matches & Clinics

2009-06-08T11:08:00.001-07:00

Liz and I are excited to announce our Beach Volleyball Exhibition Matches and Clinics to be held in the centre of the Village of Blue Mountain on August 1 & 2, 2009. In conjunction with the Village of Blue Mountain, and organized by our event team at Jackson Events, we are thrilled to be able to compete in some high-caliber exhibition matches in Canada, to showcase the sport that we enjoy so much. If you are interested in attending the Beach Volleyball weekend - either as an athlete in our adult & youth clinics, or as a fan, please contact us at info@teammizara.com.

Be Inspired - Let the Mizara 5-Ring Dream Pendant Inspire YOU!

2009-06-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Mizara 5-Ring Dream Pendant looks good with any outfit (thanks Sydney & Kaitlyn)

What is your passion? What is your goal? What dream consumes, and makes you push past limits you never thought possible. Do you remind yourself of your goal daily? Multiple times during the day? The most successful people keep their vision close to mind throughout the day, so that they keep going when the going is tough and so that they align their actions with their desired end result

In the January edition of the Mizara Monthly, we spoke about how New Year’s Resolutions are really a form of goal setting. In that newsletter, we suggested the staircase approach of setting goals (for a re-cap, click here [http://www.teammizara.com/volleyball/updates/a-dose-of-inspiration] and stressed the importance of perseverance above all else.

As athletes, we know all about the ups and downs of setting and realizing goals. We want our goals to be high enough that we push ourselves, but not so high that we create unrealistic expectations that lead to disappointment. As Liz and I continue to develop as a young team, I have had to revisit my goals numerous times to make sure that I continue in line with our ultimate goal of winning Gold in 2012. I find the toughest part about setting goals is being flexible to change, since my daily and weekly goals often need to be readjusted according to our development and how we are playing on any given day. To be honest, I just want to be the best right now, and sometimes get blinded by this desire which leads to frustration with the process. However, the process is the fun part - it’s the journey that makes everything worthwhile. From this journey, we learn, grow and continue to adjust our goals so that we can bring our best every day.

When I journal about my goals and my daily achievements, it keeps me motivated. When I look at my long-term goal, and remind myself of what it will feel like to be on the podium in 2012, it gives me the inspiration to keep pushing through my ups and downs. I wear my reminder around my neck, in the form of a necklace with 5 rings. Every time I touch it, I remember why I need to keep pushing - when I am tired, far away from home, when I win, when I lose, when all I want to eat is North American Food!

In fact, today I am creating a short list of goals, affirmations and reminders that I am going to read every morning when I get up to keep myself on track. The way I look at it, our attitude and our perspective are our choice, so by reading this list in the morning, it will serve as a reminder of how I want to live my day. I’ll let you know how that goes next month!!!

PENDANTS CAN BE PURCHASED BY EMAILING US AT INFO@TEAMMIZARA.COM
(Cost = $49.99 each; available in Gold or Silver plating)

Visit: www.coolinspiration.ca for more volleyball designs!

Motivational Talks for Me and the Students

2009-05-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things about coming home - besides a comfortable bed, my friends and family, and any food I want - is having the opportunity to present my journey and lessons on success to Toronto-area schools. I am sent out to the schools by the Esteem Team - a National Not-for-profit organization who's mandate is to inspire youth. They select various world-class athletes to be part of their program. I have been fortunate to be with them since I first played on the indoor national team in 2001.

This week I was in 3 Toronto schools talking about the power of a positive attitude, goal setting and perseverance. I incorporate many of my sport and life stories, and some fun exercises as well, into the 45min-1hr talk with the goal of teaching these students thru real-life experiences how they too can find success in their life. However, at the end I often myself to be more inspired by the genuine questions, stories and enthusiasm from the kids.

Now, I let the schools know this week that I would announce the 'Best Listening Schools' of the week (based on keeping quiet when other people are talking and quieting down the fastest when I raised my hand for silence). The top schools can be found in the right sidebar. Congrats to all schools who were very courtious and outstanding listeners.

The Positve Arm Test (powered by SIGG)

SMART Goal = Hold the volleyball ready position for 30s. SUCCESS!

Positve Thinking Makes you Stronger!

Learning to Set

SMART Goal = Volley the ball to me

Kara Sharing her message of Success with the grade 4-6 Students

Keen Listners at the Niagara School (the #1 Listening School of the Week)

Autograph session after the talk. I felt like Miley Cyrus!

SOOOO Close!

2009-04-30T00:18:00.001-07:00

VIDEO - BEST PLAYS IN CHINA!!

Wow! What a great tournament we had here in Shanghai! I said last week that when you lose, don't lose the lesson - well it's obvious that we didn't, since we improved on everything that held us back last week.

Our first game matched us up against the top 10 ranked Astrian team of Schwaiger-Schwaiger. We had played them one time before in Thailand last year, and felt confident about the re-match. We started off strong, and then faltered in the first set. However, our second set was unreal. We played like a vetran team, going point for point with the Austrian Olympic team, pushing the game to extra points - 25-23! We were so close to taking a set off this top team. With more experience in these matches, we are certain that the close matches will side in our favour.

In our second game we played against Great Britain, and again we enetered the match with a cool confidence. Despite incredibly windy conditions, we were poised throughout the first set, and won quite easily. The next set saw the tables turn, as Great Britain turned up the fire to take the set. In the third and deciding set, we rallied back and forth, each team holding the lead a different point in the match. The wind played a big factor, as the far side of the court was definitely more difficult to play in since the wind was blowing hard at our backs. We were up 13-12 at the final side-switch, which placed us back on the difficult wind side. We rallied back and forth, and in the end Great Britain won 16-14 in our best match of our career.

In China, we stepped up our game to a new level, and I really feel that we showed our competitors a glimpse of what's to come over the next 4 years. I am more certain than ever before that we are exactly on the right path towards our Olympic path, as we keep on growing, developing and challenging ourselves and our competitors. I am very proud of Team Mizara - still not satisfied ;), but extremely proud.

Check out some of our best plays in China above! Thanks so much for following our progress. xoxox

Team Mizara FOR SALE!

2009-04-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

If you look down at our Video Bar in the right margin, you will see a new video we have added to our YouTube Series. Team Mizara is for sale - check it out and pass the link on to anyone you know who might be interested!!!

Be Inspired!

2009-04-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Express your Gratitude, & See How You Feel
It feels like a year has passed since our last monthly newsletter, but it has only been a month. At this rate, I’m pretty sure that if I blink it might be 2012 already. Not that I am wishing away the time, on the contrary I am enjoying and giving thanks for every minute. That’s one of the biggest lessons this journey has taught me so far - to give thanks for anything and everything.
It helps keep me in a positive mindset and to keep things in perspective: that I am so fortunate to be living my dream and sharing this experience with you. Even our loss in Brazil on Tuesday, as disappointing as it was at the time, makes this experience even more real and helps to point out what we need to improve on to become a top team in the world. I remind myself of my gratitude every evening, as I record in my journal all that I am grateful for. Try it out if you want. You’ll be amazed at how it makes you feel.

Mizara World Update

2009-04-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

Shanghai, China - April 26-May 3, 2009
We have since flown up and across the world to Shanghai, China. Liz and I have only been here for about 24 hours, and already we’ve had a chance to check out Jinshan City. From our beautiful hotel room at the Seagull Hotel, we can see the water and the site, which is about a 10 min taxi drive away from us. I’m not quite sure who named the Hotel, but to me it’s not the most elegant name, as for us in Canada it’s like calling the hotel ‘The Flying Rodent’!!!
Nonetheless, it is an awesome hotel, with a Western-ish restaurant, which is always nice.

The food in the Wester-ish Restaurant: "Vegetable Bum". Haahaa!

Liz and I have already made it to the TASCO grocery/electronics/clothing store. To experience what we did, minus the funky smells, check out the video on our blog. There were swimming eels, live frogs, and all sorts of fish on ice!! The most priceless part is Liz’s face as she tries not to loose her breakfast.

Mizara World Update

2009-04-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

Brasilia Brazil - April 16-22, 2009

Liz and I with our SIGG water bottles at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Site in Brasilia, Brazil

After an 11 hour overnight flight one week ago Thursday, Liz and I spent almost a week enjoying the autumn heat in Brasilia, Brazil. Since Brazil is south of the equator, the summer season is just ending - which means it’s much hotter than home! Thank goodness we had the opportunity to prepare for the heat (and to detoxify) by visiting the infrared sauna at Inspired Life three times per week before leaving! Brasilia is an interesting city, built to be the capital in order to entice people to move in from the coast and colonize the interior of Brazil. It has a 1950s futuristic feel that reminds me of Epcot centre in Disney World. The first thing I noticed when we left the airport was the amazing sky in Brasilia. It is the most beautiful blue - like the prairies - only it seems to extend further up, so that it looks like there is actually more sky in Brasilia.

Myself, Liz and Cam at the Technical Meeting before the Qualifier.

Coach Cam also made the long journey down to Brazil’s capital city to help us prepare for our first FIVB tournament of the season. After a couple of great days of training, we unfortunately lost to a Mexican team in the qualification tournament. It would have been outstanding to win (and we look forward to winning this week in Shanghai), however I feel that our loss helped clarify our direction for the season, and to point out the areas in which we need to work. As is often the case, after we got over the initial disappointment of the loss, we learned so much by it that will help keep us on track.

Liz and I getting ready to play Mexico in the Qualifier.

We were so lucky to have Nick and Paola, friend’s of Cam’s who are currently living in Brasilia, as tour guides to our Brasilia adventure. They took us around the town and out to some awesome restaurants for dinner, especially the Charascuteria where the servers come to your table with unlimited cuts of meat - as a carnivore, I was in heaven! We had a dessert called Asai, made from the Asai berry of the Amazon. It was kind of like a sorbet/frozen yogurt with granola and bananas. At first I wasn’t sure of the taste, but ended up really liking it and would recommend it to anyone who visits Brazil.

Nick, Cam & Paola out for lunch. They were awesome tour guides!

As I noted last year, when we visited Sao Paolo, Brasilia is a city of extremes. In the interior, which was built in the shape of an airplane (you can see it if you visit google earth), there is a lot more money and in the outskirts there are slum-like villages called ‘Favels’. You can see the poverty in the city, as people are selling fruit and towels and candy on the side of the road, and others sleeping on the sidewalk. I never felt completely safe walking down the streets, especially after we heard that people had been robbed near the bus station at a Brazilian tournament last year. Again, it just made me fell so grateful to have been born to my parents in Canada where there is much more hope for all people, no matter what family you were born into.

The Crowd at the Tournament

The day of the qualifier was also Brasilia’s 49th birthday which meant that the whole city shut down. It was estimated that there were over 1 million people at the site that day. It was unreal. There were parades of farmers and horses and bulls galloping down the main streets outside the site (please check out our blog here). Horses I have seen before, but not bulls! It was crazy. Apparently they were using this year’s event to prepare for Brasilia’s 50th birthday next year. What a great atmosphere in which to play, especially since Brazil is one of the beach volleyball capitals of the world!

Riding Bulls and Horses down the streets of Brasilia to celebrate it's 49th Birthday.

In the end though, I was very glad to come home where I don’t have to look over my shoulder every couple of feet to make sure I’m not going to be robbed. I love the people, the food is outstanding, but as has always been the case with every place I’ve visited in the World, I’m always happiest to be at home. Nothing punctuates the great fortune we have as Canadians than travelling to other countries. Although the beauty of other locations in the World might be comparable, and at times seem even more beautiful than Canada, there is something about the ‘full package’ that we get as Canadians that I wouldn’t trade in for anything in the World.

Around Manhattan Beach

2009-03-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Manhattan Beach has wavered back and forth between being beautiful and sunny, to downright cold. Not the sort of cold we were experiencing in Toronto before we left by any means, but cold for being by the beach and training for volleyball. Not that I'm complaining. If I could transport a couple of my most favourite people from home to LA for the winter, I think I'd probably stay here the whole time!
Training, both with Coach Cam and with Sport Psych Mike has been unreal. We're really pushing our comfort zones, but we know that's what it takes to be a champion. The results are already coming, but the process has been even more rewarding to date.
We are staying in the cutest little apartment, albeit a bit cave-like and dark at night. It's about at 2 minute walk from our court, which affords us the extra time to do our journaling and other homework from Mike, our daily exercises as prescribed by our trainer Ken, and working hard to find new partners and to inspire our community to come support us at our Gold Medal Gala. More than ever, I am confident that we are on the right path towards our goals. Call it a hunch.
We're going to try to post some videos in a bit - having some problems figuring that one out. We also want to post a slideshow of photos. For now, here's a few select photos from our trip so far.

OUR APARTMENT

THE WALK TO PRACTICE

LOCALS PLAYING - MY IDOL DOUG

Be Inspired - Are you living the life of your dreams?

2009-03-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Certain moments in life put everything into perspective, make you realize how much control you have over yourself and your experience, yet at the same time, how little control you have over life. Liz and I had a few 'aha' moments this week, that both challenged us to look inside for the answers and to put this whole journey in greater perspective. The dad of a good friend of Liz's passed away this week in his sleep at a young age, making the fragility of life, and the necessity to live every moment within it, even more poignant. I found myself thinking of my own parents: do I show them that I love them? Do I spend the time to continue to grow our relationship? What more can I do so that, should I lose one of them tomorrow, I would feel like I gave everything I could to our relationship? Likewise, this event made me question my decision to spend extended periods of time away from my family and friends, in the name of a ‘game’. Is my goal really worth it? Is this truly where I want and need to be? Am I on the path of my dreams? If it were all to end tomorrow, would I be proud of my choices? To all of this I answered yes. Had I answered no to any of the questions, and chosen to reevaluate my goal, that would have been ok too. The fact is that I took a look and made sure that all my challenges and obstacles on this journey were worth it, given the bigger picture of life. Can you say the same?

Help us Win Gold - Join us for our Gold Medal Gala!

2009-03-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

On April 1st, 2009, Team Mizara will be hosting the April Fools Day event of a lifetime - the Gold Medal Gala at the Great Hall. From 6:30-10pm that evening, you will have the opportunity to watch some of the top musical, aerial acrobat, magic and comedic acts in the GTA, while you mingle with other Team Mizara supporters, eat outstanding food and bid on exquisite silent auction items (including autographed Chris Bosh sneakers). All for only $55 for 1 ticket and $100 for 2 tickets!
Most importantly though, you will be driving the funding that will help us win Gold! Visit www.goldmedala.com to buy tickets and learn more!

Overwhelmed . . but working on it!

2009-02-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

So, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed right now! Just came off a mild flew that threw me off big-time over the last 24hrs, I'm missing my love back home, and there just seems to be more and more work on our quest to get a ton of sponsors and raise money for our team. So, I decided to vent a bit - to let it go - and I figured that this is what our blog is for: to report all aspects of this journey, not only the ups but also the more challenging times as well.

Don't get me wrong, even in my bummed feeling right now, I still feel so lucky to be doing what I am doing. I just feel off and, like I said, overwhelmed with all the 'back-end' things that we have to do to make this team run as it needs to. Couple that with a good dose of home-sickness and I guess there's reason for me to feel a bit down right now.

So now that I've gotten that out, the big question becomes: what am I going to do about it? Well, to start, I'm going to take tonight off - no more work for me. Maybe Liz and I will watch a movie or play a game. Maybe I'll write a love note back home to make me feel closer to MJ since we're apart. And, I will definitely do a meditation before I go to bed tonight to set the tone for my sleep, and for the new day tomorrow.

And, this little vent online has helped as well, just to get things out - I'm not very good at keeping my emotions bottled up inside. In fact, I already feel better! It's amazing how writing things down and making a plan can change things around!

So Grateful to be Training in LA

2009-02-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

We've been in California for 3 full days now, and the training has been outstanding. It is so great to be back with Coach Cam, in our familiar 'hood' of Manhattan Beach, outside in the sun playing the sport we love! Does it get any better than this??

We're living in the cutest little apartment (albeit, a little dark for our liking, kind of like a cave in the evening) about 3 blocks from the court where we train. So, we walk about 3 minutes and can see the ocean. In fact, we can hear the ocean from our windows at night. Again, does it get any better?

I say all of this not to rub it in (as I know most of you are as sick of snow as we were when we left last week), but to point out my gratitude for the life that I lead, my gratitude for all of you who are sharing this journey along with me. Somewhere along the way I learned the importance of expressing my gratitude, mostly to stay positive and present. If I'm having a bad day, listing all the things I'm grateful for, helps turn my day around. Even if I'm having a bad game, if I can start small and find gratitude for where I'm playing or a part of the game I'm doing well, I find that the rest of my game soon starts to follow suit.

So I guess this blog entry is one of gratitude for where I am, what I'm doing, and for all those important people who make up my life. Thank you!

Raptors Fundraising Raffle!

2009-02-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

Win 2 Gold Tickets to the Raptors while helping to support our team!
Want to watch Bosh, Bargnani and Calderon hoop it up against former teammate, T.J. Ford and the Indiana Pacers IN GOLD SEATING?! Now is your chance! We are holding a raffle for the Toronto vs. Indiana game to be played on Sunday, March 15th at 12:30. Fundraising Raffle Ticket pricing is as follows: 1 ticket for $20 or 5 tickets for $50! Hurry and buy your tickets because the draw will take place on Friday, February 27th. Specs: Section 116A row 14 seats 1&2 - ticket value $330.

All proceeds will go towards the 2009 Travel and Competition fund of Team Mizara, so please pass this info on to any Raptors fan you know. To purchase raffle tickets simply email Team Mizara at info@teammizara.com.

A Dose of Inspiration

2009-02-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

2009, A New Year full of New Possibilities! For those of you who are saying “Wow, how did January pass me by so quickly?”, and wondering when exactly your New Year’s resolutions flew out the window of time, I am here to tell you that it’s not too late. It has been my experience that goals remain unachieved mostly because a clear outline of their attainment was never created. That's where the Goal Setting Staircase TM model that I created is useful.

As I tell the kids in my Esteem Team Speaking Engagements: you have to picture your goal as being at the top of the staircase with you looking up from the bottom (so the bottom of your staircase is today). The trick is to write a small goal on each step of the staircase, breaking down these steps as much as possible into tasks you can do today, tomorrow and the next day, each with their own ‘due date’. With each step, you will be one little bit closer to achieving your goal.

Now, the neat thing is that if you plan this out with the greatest attention to detail, your staircase starts feeling like an escalator; as one step moves effortlessly to the next without any extra energy expenditure. That’s when you know your pathway is the right one - when things seem to flow together. This is what I call the Goal Setting Escalator TM, and it is essentially what Liz and I have used to plan out every step on our journey to 2012.

Now, I’m not meaning to imply that there won’t be any speed bumps along the way - of course perseverance is essential. But if you set out a good plan, and focus on your goals, the whole journey is made a lot easier. Your steps might change along the way, but at least you have a path to follow and, most importantly, a goal you can achieve today! Are you ready to take the first step? We are . . .

Team Mizara in the Community

2009-01-05T04:08:00.001-08:00

Team Mizara with the Burlington Blaze U15 Team

Liz and I have been very fortunate to meet many of the top Youth volleyball all-stars in the province over the last few months while touring to OVA volleyball tournaments in the region to promote our camps and sell our fundraising calendars. It always remains one of our top priorities to continue to interact with our community so as to inspire our future leaders to go after their dreams.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-01-01T14:49:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it's 2009 already!!! This year has truly flown by, but the memories I've collected will stay with me for sure!

With a New Year comes New Years resolutions, and I have 2 of them I would like to mention: one that pertains to me in general, and the other a team resolution (that I already alluded to in our last newsletter).

Let's start with my team resolution, which I'm starting here today: to keep this blog up-to-date. In the next week or so I will be adding the last group of photos and videos from our tour in Asia, and will also keep you abreast of our upcoming exciting season as it unfolds.

As for my personal resolution, I resolve to focus on 'being present' and 'in the moment'. It's a lifelong journey I'm told, but I want to make a conscious effort to be present both on and off the court in order to truly live my life to the fullest and to minimize worry about the past or future. And, like every goal I set for myself, I have also created mini-goals to help me move closer to the realization of my goal - like daily meditation, personal affirmations and by writing my 'quote of the year' in my journal and placing it by on my desk and bedside table.

"The secret to health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles, but to LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT wisely and earnestly." ~ Buddah.

So, on that note I will take this moment to wish you an outstanding New Year and the best of luck with whatever resolutions you set for yourself.

Do you make a New Year's resolution - take our poll to find out how many friends of Team Mizara make yearly resolutions or goals for themselves. And, if you like, feel free to record your resolutions on the commentary for this blog.

What a great experience!

2008-11-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to add a little update about our play today. We matched up well versus Netherlands this morning, however they were able to do just that little bit more to finish with the win. These last 2 weeks have been the most outstanding experience for our team, and we feel we have learned and improved so much heading into our National Team Tryouts on the Dec. 4th weekend. We learned what we need to take home and improve upon in the off-season with Coach Cam and that already we can go point-for-point with some of the top teams in the world. Most importantly though, we really enjoyed our experience and the time spent together on the other side of the world.

On a funny note, Ross (Liz's dad) was asked to judge a moustache contest on centre court at the tournament because the contestants felt that his moustache was stellar, so he had a right to judge others. A bunch of the male players decided a couple of weeks ago to start growing moustaches, and decided to do so as part of the 'Movember' moustache campaign to benefit prostate cancer. The official judging was held on centre court, and Ross was the star of the show, selecting a player from Great Britain with the help of the other judge who represented the title sponsor (swatch). Many photos were snapped of Ross as the judge, and we're pretty sure he might just end up on the front page of the FIVB website.

Ross with the winners of the moustache contest and the other judge from Swatch.

Here's a couple of more photos:

Fellow Canadian Ray, Susan, Liz and I after our win vs. Norway

Us with a vacationing couple in Sanya - they all wear those silly outfits!!

Kara jump serving vs. Norway

Our winning score vs. Norway (they didn't add the final point)

Superfan Ross in the Canada shirt given to him by Canadian Rich Van Huizen

We Won!

2008-11-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

So you must have all been sending positive energy our way, because we won one of our matches today, which sets us up to play again tomorrow. The worst we can finish is 17th, but we're setting our sights higher than that!

Today was the most amazing day! We had so much fun playing our first match vs. the first seeded Chinese team (one of whom won Silver at this year's Olympics). We were right in there with them, going into the technical timeout down 9-12, but then tying it up, in the first set and then going into the second timeout at 11-12. We were so close with them, made some amazing plays and really showed what we can do at this point in our young career together. Like all good teams, they made a couple more big plays in the 2nd half of both sets to win the match. But it was the most amazing experience on centre court, with Chinese fans who really enjoy the game and cheer for good plays in general! We definitely had some of the best plays of both of our careers. Here are some of the photos of the play:

In the second match, we were up against a young Norwegian team who we trained with earlier this week. Taking what we learned in the first match, we came on strong right from the start of the match and dominated the other team. And like the Chinese team did in the previous game, we picked up our game in the second half of each set, pulling far ahead for our first FIVB Open International win of our team's career. It was so amazing to play so free, and to move together as a team. It was even better that Ross and Susie, Glen, as well as some other Canadian athletes, were there to cheer us on. I wish you could have all seen it in person! When we get back to Toronto, we will try to put some of the video up on this blog.

So tomorrow we play against either a young Dutch team or another Chinese team to stay in the tournament. If we win, we secure 13th or better . . which is our goal! Please, again, keep your positive energy with us.

Have an awesome day!
Kara

Our First Blog - hope it works!

2008-11-11T03:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone. Liz and I are currently sitting in our hotel room in crazy China trying to pass our time before the big ping pong tournament we have planned later on. Inspired by Liz's former coach, Lauren (and her outstanding blog) we too thought it was about time to keep in better touch with all of you. And so was created the Official Team Mizara Volleyblog! YAY (from Liz)!

So that being said, let's begin by sharing a little bit of our adventures in Thailand with you. (Note: So much has happened in 2 short weeks in Asia - since the cultures and living conditions her are so different to our own - that it is difficult to share it all!).

We started off our journey in Bangkok, where we spent 4 days touring the most beautiful Buddhist temples along the Chao Praya River. Here are some photos since words will not do them justice (there are more photos on the sidebar - you can click on it to see them in a bigger size):Bangkok is a very interesting place, as it is truly a city of extremes: extreme beauty in the temples and extreme pollution and smelliness on the streets, extreme riches in the hotels and extreme poverty down the back alleys. Liz and I enjoyed the shopping at Koh Sanh Road (where we bought some cool capris and presents) and at MBT SuperMall (where we bought some knock-off purses); but, found the smells along our way to be extremely overwhelming. Some restaurants were exceptional, but we had a terrible run in with a hamburger at a supposed Irish Pub at our hotel that turned us towards the wok in our main hotel restaurant for the rest of our stay. We did find one other restaurant we loved at the last stop of the river taxi as well.

A couple of dos and don'ts in Bangkok.
Do:
- Visit the temples (but make sure to cover your shoulders and wear light pants)
- Use the water taxi
- Eat at clean looking restaurants
- Look both ways a couple of times before crossing the street
- Ask the Tuk-Tuk Driver to take you directly to your destination (unless you wish to visit a few tailors and jewelry stores along the way)
- Use the amazing skytrain
- Bargain, bargain, bargain at the various markets.

Don't:
- Eat the street meat, whatever you do
- Breathe in when you're passing the street meat stands
- Buy an all-day pass on the Chao Praya Water taxi - it's cheaper to by individual one-way tickets
- Eat hamburgers - at least not at Jameson's Irish Pub at the Holiday Inn
- Eat at any restaurant that 'Smells like outside' (unless you happen to like the smell)
- Allow the tuk-tuk to talk you into stopping one more time

After Bangkok, we headed down to beautiful Phuket island, where the tournament was held on Karon Beach. It's amazing to think only a couple of years ago the tsunami so devastated the island, as we could not see one sign of the destruction, save the 'tsunami escape route' signs. The weather was hot and humid, but delightful. Our hotel was amazing, minus the giant flying grasshoppers, one of which landed on and almost completely covered Liz's thigh!

Giant Grasshopper!!!

The market shopping was unreal, with multiple stores competing to sell the exact same things. The shop keepers would call to us as we walked down the hallways, and would get quite aggressive at times as they tried to lure us into their shop.

The 2 highlights of my trip, outside of playing, were visiting the biggest Buddah statue in the world, where we were blessed by a Buddhist monk (he wished us good fortune, gave us a bracelet, 2 bananas and some water and then bopped us over the head with a soft wet broom) and riding on elephants through the hills. We were very lucky to share the first experience with our photographer Jim Hagen (www.jhagenphotography.com), who decided to join us on this trip to take photos of the incredible, unique beauty of Phuket. The second experience was shared again with Jim, who took 250 photos of the elephants and us, as well as by Ross and Susan (Liz's parents) and another Canadian athlete, Natalie Lukiw. All of us fell in love with the elephants and so enjoyed our experience interacting with them.

Everyone with the baby elephants!

Jim getting blessed by a monk

Our play in Phuket just kept getting better and better. In the first round, we matched up against the Olympian Schwaiger sisters from Austria. We went point-for-point with them for the first 12 points of both games before they pulled away and won the match. We improved leading into our second match versus Great Britain, narrowly losing the match by 21-19 in the second set, after an outstanding jump serving run by Liz. We really felt as though we found our rhythm by the end of the match and look forward to applying our newfound experience -both in playing and watching the top teams in the semi-finals - to our next tournament here in China.

We'll keep you posted! And, we'll also post more photos as we upload them to the computer!

After our game with all of the ball boys