Winter time in the Southern Hemisphere is not always that warm. Even in Australia.
Good solution to the problem? Keep moving. That's what Ignacio High School volleyball setter Shoshone Thompson did - and did well - recently at International Sports Specialists 2016 Down Under Games.
"I wanted to go because I wanted a new experience," Thompson said via telephone the morning of her departure from the island continent. "I wanted to meet new people and I thought it would be really cool to get to play teams that aren't from America, see how their skill level is compared to others in America."
The answer to that, Thompson learned, was "equal to," or in some cases, "better than."
"There's some really amazing teams," she said. "We had girls from four different states, and we all brought something really good to the table. We all had the same skill level - as soon as we practiced that first day, we clicked. Our first game, we lost by one point, but other than that we won every single game. We talked, communicated so well; we were a really good team."
Playing with teammates hailing from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and even Indiana, and having only two practices in Queensland to acclimate to each other before pool-play commenced, Thompson's team of eight still ended up placing fifth at the 18th edition of the games' volleyball tournament. Team Australia took the title inside the Tallebudgera Leisure Centre located in the Gold Coast suburb of Palm Beach.
The Most Valuable Player award, in particular, went not to one of the champs but - following the tourney officials' selection process - to Thompson.
"It was really funny, actually," she recalled. "Because the team playing for first place just won, they named them, and this guy was just talking. My mom and I ... we weren't listening, just making our own conversation, and my friend turned to me and said, 'Yeah Shoshone!' And she was, like, yelling."
"I was like, 'What?' And so I look around, everyone's looking at me, so I get off the bleachers and go to the front ... and the guy said that I was MVP! I was so shocked! I had no idea!
"When I'm playing, I don't think about trying to be the best or trying to show off, I guess," she said. "I go out and I play, and I don't even know that I'm standing out to people."
Or, in this case, more than 199 others. "It was out of 200 girls from all of the teams - Australian and U.S.," said Thompson, accompanied by her mother on the unique adventure to the land of surf, kangaroos, koalas and Vegemite.
"The really cool part is, the coaches from Down Under or any other teams, they had nothing to do with me getting the award. It was the officials that saw me. And how it worked is, they picked people - like, ranked them first, second, third and on - who should get MVP. The higher they got, the more points they got, so by the time they had finished, I had the most points!
"A lot of them told me that I'm a really good player," she added. "People thought I was going into college because of how good I was ... how much I love the game - they expected me to be older!"
Ready to begin her junior season after helping the Volleycats post a 15-9 overall record and gain a 2A-Region G appearance in 2015, Thompson expects her unique experience to serve her well this fall.
"Our communication.if we made five mistakes and won one point, we would be happy and excited that we got the point, rather than.get down on ourselves," she said, of her team's cohesion.
"I'm going to try to bring positive vibes, as much as the girls on my team did here, and try to communicate with everybody as well as I can. Even if I don't know them as well-that's how it had to work here, because nobody knew anybody!-and be positive on the court at all times."
