A Day in the Life: Stephanie Raymond

Since training camp has begun, I have been extremely busy with basketball. I am staying in a hotel with most of the players during camp, and am rooming with fellow rookie Jenna Rubino. We started practice on Monday, April 23rd after we had our official Media Day. Since then, we have been working extremely hard with two-a-days.

Our morning practices begin at 10 am. I normally wake up at 8 am and brush my teeth to get ready for the day. Jenna and I then head downstairs to meet up with Armintie Price and Carla Thomas to have complimentary breakfast at 8:30 am. This breakfast is great because not only is it free, but it�s buffet style, in which you can order your own omelet or any ready to order eggs. I order 2 eggs over medium, hash browns, bacon, and white toast with grape jelly. After we are finished eating, we sit and let our food settle. We then take the hotel elevator down to the parking garage where our rental car is at valet, and then we are on our way to practice!

We normally arrive at Moody Bible (our practice facility) at about 9 am. I change into my practice gear and head into the training room to get stretched and any other treatment I may need. I warm up my hamstrings by rolling them over a tennis ball. After that our trainer, Georgia Fischer, stretches my legs really well to prevent injuries. After I get stretched I put on my ankle braces and my basketball shoes and head out to the gym.

I�m usually out on the floor by 9:20-9:30 am. I warm up my shooting with lay-ups and form shooting in front of the basket making my way back to the free throw line. If there aren�t any coaches on the floor to rebound or put me through any drills, I spin the ball to an area, run to get it, and square up to shoot.

The beginning of practice begins with Coach Bo Overton instructing us on how to run a new play or reviewing old plays from previous practices, followed by a good 12 minutes of warm ups as a team with our strength coach Ann. We get a water break after the warm-up and clap it up to the middle of the court where we huddle up. Stacey Dales counts the clap down so we all end TOGETHER. We then break into groups by position and work on shooting. The more practices we have, the more we go up and down the court, rather than half court drills.

Coach O always is putting us in different scenarios to get us ready for what a game situation will be like. When he says, �Let�s get to the middle� we know that practice is over. So we clap it up again to the middle, and Stacey counts us down again.

After practice, we head into the training room where we all have an endurance drink, and some of us take an ice bath for any sore muscles. I go into the locker room and change out of my sweaty practice gear. Jenna and I head back to the hotel and pick up something to eat on the way (Subway or Portillos). After we eat, we shower and then take a quick nap before our next practice. Majority of the time our second practice begins at 5 pm. Once at the gym, the entire routine starts all over again.

At night, after practice and dinner, I either watch television or I do some homework because I am still in school. Before I go to bed, I call my boyfriend to say goodnight.

So, since training camp started, I have been very busy with basketball and pretty much the same daily routine. I hope you enjoyed reading about the day in the life of Stephanie Raymond.

Thank You!!!