10-02-2019, 04:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2019, 07:41 AM by goodvsevil1275.)
5:15 am: An iPhone sings out from its charging dock, filling the room with music. A pillow is thrown, and a groan can be heard. But soon enough the Seawolves’ star running back pulls herself out of bed and finds her way to her desk to boot up her computer. The soothing boops of Skype kick on, and soon enough her screen fills with smiling T?riki faces. More effective than a cup of coffee, Marcella is now awake and ready for the day. Though the sun is not yet risen in Norfolk, across the world Marcella’s father and brother Leo, still in New Zealand are getting ready for bed. This daily check-in is tradition and has been going on for years.
“The center of who I am rests in my family. While I’m lucky to be living with two of my brothers, I’ve got my dad and youngest brother 8,500-odd miles away. While I’ve been in the U.S for the last five years, I still get homesick. These check-ins help me deal with that. I’m starting my day with them, and they’re ending their day with me. It’s unconventional, perhaps, but it works.”
6:00 am: Family check-in complete, Marcella is on to the rest of her morning: she gets dressed and joins her older brother Kauri in the living room. The siblings settle into an easy routine: early morning cartoons and yoga, followed by a light breakfast. Marcella curls up on the couch with a mug of green tea while her brother wanders off to start his day. Eventually, Marcella queues up the audiobook she’s halfway through and is out the door for her step one in her off-season training routine: a cool 5 mile interval run.
“In the off-season, when I’m not being forced into someone else’s schedule for my life, I like to start with what makes me happy. I love running. I think if I weren’t as in love with team sport as I am, I would have taken up competitive running instead. Interval training has been key to improving my speed. I have to be quick to stay competitive. I like doing intervals as part of a longer run though, to continue to build that endurance.”
8:00 am: The easy work out of the way, Marcella sets up for the hard stuff. During the regular season, T?riki eats, sleeps and breathes football. The off-season brings time for her other passion: psychology. Though she has completed her undergraduate degree in psychology, she is motivated to stay sharp to be able to compete when she hangs up her cleats. This off-season, that means a host of online classes to keep her busy. She starts things off with diving back into this week’s neurobiology homework, which was left scattered across her desk the night before.
“Football is my life, but it’s not my whole life. I’m well aware that I can’t do it forever. So keeping up with my education is an investment into the post-sports version of myself. I want to be a research psychologist. As soon my football career ends, that will be something I dedicate myself to full time. I’ve been talking to a few colleges that will let me do my masters around my football schedule so I can build towards my career at the same time.”
10:00 am The clock has moved forward, but we find Marcella in the same spot: sat at her desk, poring over her notebooks. A closer look reveals the pages covered meticulous handwriting with each section color coded. Her black ink pen keeps time as her eyes rove across the pages, soaking in the things she needs to commit to memory.
“I’ve always been a pretty intense note taker. I like being able to take the material and turn it into something that makes sense to me. I do the same thing with the playbook, if I’m honest. I have a special playbook notebook for each season, and it comes with me everywhere. I was asked if I was worried that someone would steal it. I’m not, no one would be able to make any sense of it anyway. It’s a system that only works for me.”
12:00 pm Noon finds Marcella surrounded by friends at a local taqueria. Though no longer sharing a locker room, these Seawolves alums have not completely abandoned Taco Tuesday. To her right, Bjorn Ironside recounts his pro-bowl highlight successes against the “tiny man” of the SFC. Samuel Bakhtiari sings the praises of his former teammates in between bites. Marlo Smart, one of the quieter of the bunch, beams when the conversation turns to him as the team turns to tales of his season feat: breaking the single-game tackle record. Distance is no barrier: texts come flooding in from other Seawolves having their own Taco Tuesdays across the map.
“While we know there’s a decent chance of getting split up in the draft, I think the seawolves family is still alive and well in us. The season we had really brought us together. Perhaps more than a season of wins would have. I hope whoever shares a locker room with these guys in the future knows just how lucky they are.“
2:00 pm The afternoon is sacred for Marcella. Today’s drive brings her to Larkspur Middle School to meet with the students participating in T?riki’s “Girl Strong” initiative. Larkspur, one of ten schools in the initiative, is proud to be part of the process, given the obvious excitement that comes with Marcella’s arrival. Once Marcella has made the rounds, she leads the girls outside to play.
“I grew up in a sport that boys and girls played pretty equally. Finding out that not many girls are encouraged to pursue football was a bit upsetting to me. So I reached out to a few of the schools in Norfolk about getting programs set up so that girls could take the field if they wanted to. I’d never dream of letting the boys have all the fun, and now I’m helping mentor a flock of wonderful girls with the same attitude. Running around with them is always such fun. I try to make the games when I can. I’m seeing a lot of little stars in the making, and I could not be more proud.”
5:00 pm Dinner time rolls around and Marcella reconnects with her brothers. They all have stories from their day, falling into a familiar battle of taunts and teases as they eat.
“My brothers are idiots. I love them so much. Getting to share a meal with them is always such a great way to begin my evening routine. We all have lives, so it’s not something I get every single day. But when all three of us are here, it’s a given that this is how things will go.”
6:00 pm Tõriki ends her day the way she began it: investing in her fitness. She makes her way to weights set up in her apartment’s gym room and gets to work. No music or audiobook to distract her now. She lifts in silence.
“I don’t like having distractions for this part of my day. I need to be listening to my body, to make sure I’m not pushing myself too hard. It’s a bit meditative, honestly. You get into a rhythm with things and just exist in your body for a little while. For someone like me, who always has their mind on what comes next, I appreciate the quiet moment to just be. On rest nights, I'll do a movie night with my brothers, or I go out with friends. But on an average day, this time is all about me.”
8:00 pm Marcella runs the tap in her bathtub, adding in a healthy amount of bubble bath to the hot water. Soothing music sets the scene as she soaks in the tub. As her muscles relax, her mind is far from the moment, already listing off tomorrow’s to-do list for herself. Even in the off-season, this star in the making is making use of every minute she has. Out of the bath and into her pajamas, T?riki makes her way to her wall calendar to cross off the day and to write down the plan for tomorrow.
“I like going to bed early. Not just because I get up early, but because sleep is so important to everything in life. Sleep deprivation has a huge effect on cognitive function. Not getting the sleep I need is putting myself at an unnecessary disadvantage. So I get my 8 hours, and dream of Ultimus wins all night long.”
“The center of who I am rests in my family. While I’m lucky to be living with two of my brothers, I’ve got my dad and youngest brother 8,500-odd miles away. While I’ve been in the U.S for the last five years, I still get homesick. These check-ins help me deal with that. I’m starting my day with them, and they’re ending their day with me. It’s unconventional, perhaps, but it works.”
6:00 am: Family check-in complete, Marcella is on to the rest of her morning: she gets dressed and joins her older brother Kauri in the living room. The siblings settle into an easy routine: early morning cartoons and yoga, followed by a light breakfast. Marcella curls up on the couch with a mug of green tea while her brother wanders off to start his day. Eventually, Marcella queues up the audiobook she’s halfway through and is out the door for her step one in her off-season training routine: a cool 5 mile interval run.
“In the off-season, when I’m not being forced into someone else’s schedule for my life, I like to start with what makes me happy. I love running. I think if I weren’t as in love with team sport as I am, I would have taken up competitive running instead. Interval training has been key to improving my speed. I have to be quick to stay competitive. I like doing intervals as part of a longer run though, to continue to build that endurance.”
8:00 am: The easy work out of the way, Marcella sets up for the hard stuff. During the regular season, T?riki eats, sleeps and breathes football. The off-season brings time for her other passion: psychology. Though she has completed her undergraduate degree in psychology, she is motivated to stay sharp to be able to compete when she hangs up her cleats. This off-season, that means a host of online classes to keep her busy. She starts things off with diving back into this week’s neurobiology homework, which was left scattered across her desk the night before.
“Football is my life, but it’s not my whole life. I’m well aware that I can’t do it forever. So keeping up with my education is an investment into the post-sports version of myself. I want to be a research psychologist. As soon my football career ends, that will be something I dedicate myself to full time. I’ve been talking to a few colleges that will let me do my masters around my football schedule so I can build towards my career at the same time.”
10:00 am The clock has moved forward, but we find Marcella in the same spot: sat at her desk, poring over her notebooks. A closer look reveals the pages covered meticulous handwriting with each section color coded. Her black ink pen keeps time as her eyes rove across the pages, soaking in the things she needs to commit to memory.
“I’ve always been a pretty intense note taker. I like being able to take the material and turn it into something that makes sense to me. I do the same thing with the playbook, if I’m honest. I have a special playbook notebook for each season, and it comes with me everywhere. I was asked if I was worried that someone would steal it. I’m not, no one would be able to make any sense of it anyway. It’s a system that only works for me.”
12:00 pm Noon finds Marcella surrounded by friends at a local taqueria. Though no longer sharing a locker room, these Seawolves alums have not completely abandoned Taco Tuesday. To her right, Bjorn Ironside recounts his pro-bowl highlight successes against the “tiny man” of the SFC. Samuel Bakhtiari sings the praises of his former teammates in between bites. Marlo Smart, one of the quieter of the bunch, beams when the conversation turns to him as the team turns to tales of his season feat: breaking the single-game tackle record. Distance is no barrier: texts come flooding in from other Seawolves having their own Taco Tuesdays across the map.
“While we know there’s a decent chance of getting split up in the draft, I think the seawolves family is still alive and well in us. The season we had really brought us together. Perhaps more than a season of wins would have. I hope whoever shares a locker room with these guys in the future knows just how lucky they are.“
2:00 pm The afternoon is sacred for Marcella. Today’s drive brings her to Larkspur Middle School to meet with the students participating in T?riki’s “Girl Strong” initiative. Larkspur, one of ten schools in the initiative, is proud to be part of the process, given the obvious excitement that comes with Marcella’s arrival. Once Marcella has made the rounds, she leads the girls outside to play.
“I grew up in a sport that boys and girls played pretty equally. Finding out that not many girls are encouraged to pursue football was a bit upsetting to me. So I reached out to a few of the schools in Norfolk about getting programs set up so that girls could take the field if they wanted to. I’d never dream of letting the boys have all the fun, and now I’m helping mentor a flock of wonderful girls with the same attitude. Running around with them is always such fun. I try to make the games when I can. I’m seeing a lot of little stars in the making, and I could not be more proud.”
5:00 pm Dinner time rolls around and Marcella reconnects with her brothers. They all have stories from their day, falling into a familiar battle of taunts and teases as they eat.
“My brothers are idiots. I love them so much. Getting to share a meal with them is always such a great way to begin my evening routine. We all have lives, so it’s not something I get every single day. But when all three of us are here, it’s a given that this is how things will go.”
6:00 pm Tõriki ends her day the way she began it: investing in her fitness. She makes her way to weights set up in her apartment’s gym room and gets to work. No music or audiobook to distract her now. She lifts in silence.
“I don’t like having distractions for this part of my day. I need to be listening to my body, to make sure I’m not pushing myself too hard. It’s a bit meditative, honestly. You get into a rhythm with things and just exist in your body for a little while. For someone like me, who always has their mind on what comes next, I appreciate the quiet moment to just be. On rest nights, I'll do a movie night with my brothers, or I go out with friends. But on an average day, this time is all about me.”
8:00 pm Marcella runs the tap in her bathtub, adding in a healthy amount of bubble bath to the hot water. Soothing music sets the scene as she soaks in the tub. As her muscles relax, her mind is far from the moment, already listing off tomorrow’s to-do list for herself. Even in the off-season, this star in the making is making use of every minute she has. Out of the bath and into her pajamas, T?riki makes her way to her wall calendar to cross off the day and to write down the plan for tomorrow.
“I like going to bed early. Not just because I get up early, but because sleep is so important to everything in life. Sleep deprivation has a huge effect on cognitive function. Not getting the sleep I need is putting myself at an unnecessary disadvantage. So I get my 8 hours, and dream of Ultimus wins all night long.”