Natalie Vrba has great trip to Down Under Games

Eagle Grove incoming senior Natalie Vrba is the latest student-athlete to represent her school and state at the Down Under Games in Australia. She recently returned with a great team outcome and a suitcase full of memories to last a lifetime.

Her flight took her from Minneapolis-St. Paul to LAX, where she spent several hours visiting a friend of her mom’s while there. She hopped on a plane bound for Vancouver, Canada, where she started the 15-hour flight directly to Brisbane. “We landed at around 7:00 in the morning, and I went straight to practice,” said Vrba. Her initial impressions of the continent were nothing short of breathtaking. “It was beautiful,” said Vrba. “The buildings were so tall, and the ocean was amazing!”

Vrba felt like the team she was on jelled together quickly. “My coach was great, and my teammates and I quickly became friends,” said Vrba. “We had chemistry from the beginning, so in the end it felt like we were a family.” She liked that they really played well together, and feels they were successful because of it. She admitted that practices were long. “Two hours and sometimes more,” said Vrba. “They went really well, and we were able to play together like we’ve all known each other for years.” She had two other girls from Iowa on her team, and the coincidence was she already knew both of them! “They are in our conference, so we had played them before,” said Vrba.

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