Sept. 12, 2006
Kim Spinardi is a freshman guard on the 2006-07 Aztec women's basketball squad. Spinardi, a native of Merced, Calif., signed a national letter of intent with SDSU in mid-April and enrolled in the second session of summer school in early July. Periodically, she will provide a glimpse inside her new life at San Diego State, writing about everything from school to basketball to her new teammates.
Hey all Aztec fans! The Spinner is back at SDSU, keeping busy with school, individuals, open gym and weights. I had a nice, but short, visit at home just relaxing and visiting family and friends. Sooner than ever, I was back in San Diego and ready to embark on a journey that will leave me with plenty of memories to look back upon.
We are now into our third week of the fall semester, which started Aug. 28. We were all busy getting everything moved in that weekend before school, which left me somewhat tired after leaving Merced at 5 a.m. to catch my flight back to S.D. Anyhow, classes are going great. I am taking 15 units, which consist of three classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings (RWS 200, Stats, Philosophy 101) and two classes Tuesday and Thursday (Econ 102 and History of the US). It is definitely a lot better not having the classes and lessons go back as quickly as they did in the summer, due to the shortened time frame. Being a business major, my favorite class is by far stats. Something with numbers and me just click.
Individuals began our first week of school and have been intense and competitive ever since, as we head into our third week of them. My individual group the last two weeks included Chelsea (Williamson), Jenn Rogers, Sandy (Dixon) and myself. I have learned so much in just over two weeks. Our coaching staff continues to amaze me with their knowledge of the game. At times, it is rough when you can't get something down but that is Division I basketball - you aren't going to be the best right away like it was in high school. I look forward to continuing to work hard and learning a variety of skills our coaches have to teach us. I know I have plenty more to learn and instill into my game and cannot wait to keep learning and working on my game. Not only will it make me a better player individually, but most importantly, our team will become one as we strive for that MWC championship.
On top of class and individuals, we have open gym for roughly an hour about three times a week. This gives us a chance to play and continue to work on our game and put the skills we learned in our individuals into our overall play. We also have weights and conditioning with coach Richards four days a week. He throws us "Freaky Friday" action every Friday. You never know what is coming that day!
These last two weeks of preseason training have definitely been one of the harder transitions from high school to Division I basketball. Every minute you are somewhere, whether it is class, individuals, open gym or weights. It has been great learning so much more about the game of basketball and transitioning to Division I basketball. Teams are made in the off-season, and although it is the toughest part, us Aztecs are determined to be made into a championship team.
This last weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting a prospective student-athlete (high school senior who can take an official campus visit). Pretty much, my responsibility is to introduce our guest to our team and give her a true feel for what life as an Aztec student-athlete is like for 48 hours. Awesome, of course! We had a busy weekend, went to dinner Friday night then went back to the VA's (dorms) and hung out with the team. We played cards and Tamika (Lipford) beat everyone in Speed. We also pulled out the old game of Operation. It was fun for her to get to know everyone more and for all of us teammates to have a good time.
On Saturday, we had open gym in the morning and then our whole team hung out in the basketball offices and watched the WNBA finals game. Sad to say, the (Sacramento) Monarchs lost. I was going for them. It was an exciting game to watch. Coach (Kate) Paye was yelling for Katie Smith and Detroit, while all of our players from Nor Cal were yelling for the Monarchs.
After that we went to the beach, dinner and later that night, we met (Shannon) Clay, Q (Quenese Davis), J Lay (Jennifer Layton) and Tamika and went go-kart racing. I was the one who crashed straight on into the side, but everything was okay, and I kept going. I was trying to block some teammates from passing me, but I ended up getting the better of it. It was a great laughing matter after we were done. I had a great weekend! It was a fun experience playing host, especially when it seems like just a few months ago I came on my visit. I look forward to playing host in the future.
I have had a great start to my first fall semester in college, my first Division I workouts with the coaches and have kept busy. I find ways to relax and have fun like I went to the beach two weekends ago with Lauren (Hoisington) and Chelsea. I had to work on my tan! We rented a boogey board, which was entertaining. San Diego cannot get much better and I love everything about it. I look forward to continuing to learn more and more as I go along and for our team to continue to work hard and put in good workouts, which will lead to success once we start our season.
Until next time. And for all you Aztecs fans--30 days until midnight madness!!!!