... Recounts Pan America Games Experience
Speaking on her Pan American outing on October 7 last year Ogonna said: "I was blessed this summer with the wonderful opportunity of representing the United States Volleyball Team at the XVII Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Like the Olympic games, the Pan American Games are held every four years. However, unlike the Olympics, the Pan American Games only include athletes from the Caribbean, North, Central, and South America.
After two months of vigorous training at the Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, Colorado, I was selected as a member of the travelling team. The members of our travelling team were individuals who exemplified hard work, athleticism, and skill. Our coaching staff was highlighted by our very own Denise Corlett who brought an amazing amount of international experience and knowledge of the game to the table.
A week after our team was selected, we were on our way to the Dominican Republic. We travelled to Tampa, Florida for processing. In Tampa, we were issued a plethora of gear including outfits for the opening, awards, and closing ceremonies. It felt like Christmas in July! It was also in Tampa where the Stanford reunions began! It started out with seeing Josh Childress (basketball) in the gear issuing room, spotting Jackie Frank, Brenda Villa and Ellen Estes (Water Polo) in the lobby, and hanging out with Danny Putnam (baseball) in the cafeteria. It was so exciting to meet up with all of these phenomenal athletes, from across the country, in one day.
The next day we all boarded a private charter plane for the Dominican Republic. Once the plane door opened upon arrival, we all felt a gush of hot and humid air. From there, we knew that we have arrived! In Santo Domingo, the average temperature was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit along with 83 percent humidity. After going through customs, we all hopped on a bus to the Pan American Village located in the outskirts of Santo Domingo. The Pan American Village was absolutely incredible. The village housed 5,000 athletes and 2,000 technical directors. Thirty-five thousand visitors stopped by the Pan American Village as well. Each country was housed in separate sections of the village, however all delegations convened at the dining hall, post office, telephone booths, and transportation areas. I can honestly say that I have never used the phrase "Non comprende" as many times as I did in the Dominican.
The day after travel, we had practice at our venue. When we entered the gymnasium, I felt like I was at a sauna. It was so hot! Unfortunately, air conditioning was nowhere in sight. Our practices went well, and we really enjoyed preparing for competition. After our first day of practice, we all went back and showered, even though that did not seem to help because we were constantly sweating, and got ready for the opening ceremonies in the Centro Villa. Opening ceremonies were amazing! It was the greatest feeling to march out with the United States Delegation and wave to sold out crowd of cheering people. The opening ceremonies were highlighted by Pedro Martinez hitting a flamed baseball into the torch pit, at this very special moment, the 2003 Pan American games were underway!
A few days later our venue began. It was a highly competitive venue. The Pan American region has some of the strongest volleyball teams in the world. We survived a week of pool play, and went on to the medal round by defeating Venezuela. During our downtime (after matches and practices) we would attend different venues and hang out in the village with other athletes. I really enjoyed hanging out and chatting with Jessica Mendoza (softball), Tony Azcevedo (water polo), Peter Marshall (swimming), Kristin Heaston (our weightraining coach at Stanford), Laura Davis (swimming), Dana Kirk (swimming), Kristen Caverly (swimming) and numerous of other incredible athletes from a multitude of sports.
Our next match was against defending Gold medallist Cuba. We were unable to keep up with them, and faced the defeat. However we were still in the medal hunt and Brazil was in our way of that goal---the bronze. We came into the match well prepared, and the match ran smoothly and we were able to beat Brazil in 4 sets for the Bronze medal in front of a sell out crowd.
The gold medal match featured the formidable Cubans and the hometown heroines - the Dominicans. It was a hard fought match, highlighted by pepper spray and tear gas (which postponed the match for an hour), and sheer athleticism. The Dominicans were able to upset the Cubans in five gruelling sets for the victory. It was an honour to be on the medal stand that evening, standing with some of the best volleyball players in the world. Right after receiving our Bronze medals, we hopped on a bus to the airport to catch the 1:30 am charter flight to Miami, Florida.
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