NCAA DII Championships Festival

Division II is always looking for ways to stay on the cutting edge for its membership. One key initiative that exemplifies this mentality is the championship festival. This concept, started when the first ever DII Championships Festival was held in Pensacola, Florida in 2006, brings an Olympics-like environment by combining multiple DII National Championships at one host site.

There have been five previous Festivals, with the most recent iteration taking place in 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. That Festival in particular was so well-received that Louisville, and host institution Bellarmine, were again selected to host this Spring’s event. More than 1000 student-athletes across six sports (men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse) will compete for the right to be crowned as this year’s best.

The Peach Belt Conference has enjoyed another highly competitive Spring season, which has resulted in an amazing 8 out of 13 schools qualifying a team or individual for a National Championship:

• Men’s Golf – Georgia College, USC Aiken, UNC Pembroke and Georgia Southwestern (J.P. Griffin qualified as an individual)
• Women’s Golf – Armstrong and UNC Pembroke (Jenna Birch and Meghan Moore qualified as individuals)
• Men’s Tennis  – Armstrong and Augusta State
• Women’s Tennis – Armstrong and Columbus State
• Softball – Flagler

The 2012 Championships Festival starts on Tuesday with the first round of Men’s Golf, and continues through Saturday. For more information on the Festival click here.

Best of luck to all our PBC teams, show the nation what this conference is all about!

The Road to San Antonio

By Mia Antoine

Hello all!

I know I know, it’s been a while and there’s so much to catch up on! It feels like New Year’s was just celebrated and the calendars already read March. I can’t really believe how fast time flies. I guess it’s true, time flies when your having fun (and kept extremely busy).

Let’s see where do we start? Well how about with–my team won the Peach Belt Conference tournament! We are officially PBC Champs! Winning the championship game was so exciting and surreal and I’m sure that not one of my teammates, coaches, parents,  and fans could have been happier in that moment. With a win this big, your body seems to forget all the hurt and pains from the game, and instead, explodes with joy and bursts with excitement. From all the adrenaline, you really have no control over your body, resulting in pictures like this…

And this…

And this…

Since we won the conference championship, the regional tournament is going to be hosted at USC Aiken, our school and in our gym, and once again we couldn’t be any happier. We have to win the next three games, which would win us the southeast regional championship and  take us to the Elite Eight, which will be held in San Antonio this year. I don’t want to overlook the games that we have to win to even get to there, but you can’t help thinking of winning the whole thing and becoming national champs—after all this is what we’ve been working so hard to get.

Winning the conference tournament was an amazing and unforgettable experience, but it’s only a stepping-stone to reaching our ultimate goal. We can’t  focus on that win anymore because we have much more to accomplish as a team. We have to leave what’s in the past in that past, lace up our shoes, and battle it out for a spot in the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and then bring home the title.

We will define ourselves. We won’t focus on the damages that a possible loss can cause, but we won’t forget the sting of its presence. We won’t anticipate the sensations of being champions, but we will demand them. We define ourselves and no one else is responsible.

Watch Mia and the rest of the USC Aiken Pacers Women’s Basketball squad in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. Click here for more information and links to live webcasts of all the games and post game press conferences.

A Life Lesson

By Mia Antoine

Why do we work so hard before and after every season? Why do we force ourselves to run endless sprints, to lift cumbersome weights, to wake up before the sun does just to practice? All athletes have wondered these thoughts at some point in their career, whether it was when we couldn’t go home for holiday break or when feeling the piercing chill of an ice bath to soothe the pain of sore muscles.

For me (and probably for a lot of other student-athletes out there), I am learning that if we really love what we play, then we work hard because we want to be the best. It’s so we don’t look back on things in the end and wish we had done more. We do it in hopes that one day the familiar sting of a loss will fade from being a good friend to a mere acquaintance to a complete stranger. We work now so that all of our dreams are met.

We all have our reasons as to why we commit to these lifestyles. Whether it’s because we are competitive or because we just had to get into college somehow or because we love it or were forced into it. Maybe it’s a combination of these reasons or completely different ones, but the fact remains that we are athletes and we have to sacrifice things in order to be successful. I am learning that success in this life means embracing bruises, stitches and broken bones as life lessons and pressing forward in our sports and in our lives. It’s the only way that we can reach our full potential and satisfaction in life. Isn’t it?

Mia and the USC Aiken Pacers women’s basketball team are off to a great start this year, with a current record of 5-1 as they prepare for their first PBC game against Flagler on December 10th.

The Life of a Baller

By Mia Antoine

The 2011-12 USC Aiken Women's Basketball Squad

With the beginning of a new season, there is always something going on. I think it’s safe to refer to this time as hectic. For example, our first practice was held on a Saturday and not only did we have a two-a-day but we also had our Outback Fundraiser in between the two practices.  On top of this we had Midnight Madness, which is basically a huge pep rally to kick off the basketball season, the following Monday. Midnight Madness is not usually considered stressful, but the team put together a special little surprise that we were going to showcase, and it took some practice to get it right. Don’t worry, all will be explained! Anyway, this is kind of how it all went down.

First Practice of the Season

You walk in the locker room for the thousandth time, but the atmosphere feels just a little bit different today. You’re nervous and a little anxious but still excited to see what’s to come next. Hyperdunks (shoes I highly recommend) are waiting in our lockers, begging to be  taken out of the box, laced up and taken for their first run. Jerseys and shorts are pristinely folded, but will soon be tainted with sweat and yes, sometimes blood. You walk into the gym, finally able to play on the main court. The lights are shining brightly, spotlighting the entire arena, the court, you. New basketballs are taken out of storage, no longer to be hidden and protected from our relentless beatings.  As you warm up and stretch with your teammates, you watch as the clock counts down to zero. The buzzer sounds and your stomach churns one last time as you command it to keep its composure. Your coach calls everyone in for a team huddle, giving final words of encouragement, and marking the offical start of what will hopefully be an amazing and unforgettable season. And so it begins, the first practice.

Outback Fundraiser

After doing drills, learning plays, making some free throws and running for your missed free throws, the first successful practice came to end. Many things were learned and each player got better in some way. No time to waste, we had to quickly get ready for our annual Outback Fundraiser. This fundraiser consists of each player teaming up with an actual Outback Steakhouse server and taking orders and serving customers. Although serving people at Outback is not necessarily an ideal way to recuperate from a hard practice, you can’t help but be excited about it. For one, you no longer have to haggle with people about buying fundraiser tickets that will get them, “The choice of steak or chicken, mashed potatoes or green beans, a salad, and a beverage.” And two, it’s nice to see a community and our fans come together to help support something, and not just something, but our team! So a special thank you to all of the familiar and unfamiliar faces, to the USCA faculty and staff, to our Pacer fans, families, and friends that helped support the women’s basketball program. We couldn’t reach our goals without you!

Midnight Madness

Midnight Madness is an event created to get the school excited about basketball season, and I don’t know if it works for everyone, but I know that it gets me hyped! I know it’s a little misleading because it doesn’t actually start at midnight (sorry if you showed up to an empty gym at midnight) but how would “8 o’clock Madness” sound?? It’s just not the same.

This year’s theme was “Ace Jam”. Ace the Pacer, (our school mascot) was depicted as Michael Jordan, saving grace for the Looney Tunes in the movie Space Jam, and all of our competitors portrayed the bullying Monstars. A little 1990’s but A+ for originality and creativity (all credit goes to the Midnight Madness committee!). Anyway, Midnight Madness is full of games, music, performances by the cheerleaders and dancers, prizes, giveaways, dancing, contests, highlight videos, and team introductions including the dance team, cheerleaders, coaching staff, and men and women’s basketball teams.

Last year, our theme was “Witness”, and we jumped on the LeBron James’ bandwagon with that one, so as a team we decided that when we got introduced we would get in our huddle and throw baby powder in the air. Not to toot my own horn, but it looked pretty awesome.

Witness.

In an attempt to top that this year, the decision was made to do a step routine after we were all introduced.  I was a little bit hesitant about this at first (okay you caught me, I resisted the entire time) because I am not what you would call a performer. You might be thinking, “But Mia, you perform the game of basketball in front a crowd all the time!” And I do, but there is a distinct difference between playing basketball and shakin’ it in front of a crowd! Despite my hesitance, everyone was pretty excited about doing it so I took one for the team.  When it came time for the performance, I WAS SO NERVOUS! Kudos to the dance team and cheerleaders because I could not do this all the time.

We got into our positions, the music was cued, I started the count in my head, “5,6,7,8” and began. It was over before I knew it and honestly it wasn’t that bad! Not saying I didn’t mess up but the crowd couldn’t tell (hopefully) and we were entertaining, so mission accomplished!

Now that our Outback Fundraiser, Midnight Madness, and our crowd-stirring dance are out of the way, it gets serious. Now that it’s all behind us, we can put all of our focus and efforts on reaching our goals. And if you were to ask any one of my teammates, they would all say the same thing. Win a championship.

Meet Mia Antoine

Mia Antoine is the 4th student-athlete blogger to join the Peach Blog. The junior basketball player at USC Aiken can hoop AND write. Without further ado, meet Mia!

I believe that people are created to do specific things, and that we all have innate talents that allow us to perfectly accomplish these certain tasks. For example, the “Dog Whisperer”. Who can honestly say that Cesar Millan wasn’t born to train those crazy animals? Or take Michael Phelps, with his 6’4 stature and size 14 paddle-like feet that helped him win all of those medals.

Of course these two men practiced and practiced to get where they are now but let’s be real, they had a head start over us “normal people”. I, unlike Michael Phelps and Cesar Millan, have average-sized feet and do not have the ability to calm crazed dogs. I, unlike these two men, was not built for my “certain thing”, basketball. I am not the tallest or strongest, or the fastest or quickest, and I cannot jump the highest. I just love the game.

Mia takes the court

I’ve loved it ever since third grade, my first time on an organized team (Go Cougars!). I love the grip of a new ball, the squeaks of shoes on a basketball court, the swish of a ball going through the net and the excitement and rush you feel before stepping out onto the court for each game. I love the camaraderie of a team and the life-long friendships that are built. I love the opportunities that playing basketball has opened up for me. Basketball took me from Stone Mountain, Georgia and brought me to Aiken, South Carolina to play, to continue my love affair with it.

The Lady Pacers let the chalk dust fly a la Lebron James

I am now a junior on a college basketball team, allowing me to play everyday. How lucky am I? Although I sometimes lose sight of the reasons I love basketball (usually on conditioning days or when having to wake up at 6 am for practice), I tend to come back to my senses with just the thought of possibly winning a championship. I hope that this love affair with basketball can take me as far as possible (maybe to Spain? Or to the Philippines?). If playing overseas can postpone my going into the “real world” and allow me to continue playing basketball, then sign me up! Until then, I will continue to work on my game in hopes of getting ahead of the genetic freak athletes like Michael Phelps and Lebron James that are out there. Just be sure to watch your backs, and don’t underestimate us “normal people”, because we’re coming!