February 12, 2010 : Hello everyone!!

As always, the New Year holidays went very quickly. I have a very long time to reach the French, because of the snowI had to travel a lot in Germany : Frankfurt, Leipzig, then had to travel by train via Stuttgart and several other German cities, so I made a kind of touring in Germany. It was interesting and unusual for such a short time to see so many new German cities!

As initially planned, I spent my holidays in Strasbourg and Paris with family and friends, resting, walking, watching attractions - like a tourist! Holidays brought me many positive emotions, I feel recharged and ready for the second half of the season.

The new year has started very strong for our team. All Russia has continued to celebrate the many festivals, while in Spartak we already had begun training and playing.First win in Hungary, then took the train to Kursk, and then flew to the south of France, who won a victory very difficult in Tarbes. Two weeks spent in planes, trains and buses!

When we went to Kursk, I was seized in nostalgia in childhood, and remembered how we are with the girls from St. Petersburg to all competitions and are now free. Dimensional wheel tapping, tea in iron supports, and long conversations about everything with my friends in the team - everything was like nothing has changed since then!

It is said that in Spartak, there is a very friendly atmosphere within the team, there is no division between the Russian and foreign players, so that all trips are fun and stress free. Of course, permanent and long trip all the same tire, and we were very happy to finally return to Moscow.

Sue Bird joined our team, replacing Edwige Lawson, who held an early success of the season. With Edwige I played many years together in the VBM Samara, then in the CSKA, we have long been friends and travel have always been in the same room... But Sue is a great player, she has not been a year for Spartak and I'm curious to play with her in the same team, I think it will improve our game!

The beginning of the season we've had some successes, won every game in the Euroleague and the championship of Russia, but lost to UMMC in the main meeting :-( This defeat forced them to think and analyze the errors and shortcomings in a team game. The second half of this year will be longer and decisive. We all face the same goal: to win every game in competition that we participate.

Later, we have started the Euroleague play-offs, and we have win against Gdynia 2-0. (*98-49 and *69-91). We are qualified for the 1/4, and we will play against Fenerbahce with the hope to reach the Final Four.

Picture: FIBAEUROPE.COM

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