My Next Steps Toward the OLYMPICS

Sometimes we lose this childhood love for our sport and I think you share this with us.

So it's not about going as hard as I can every moment. It's about doing the most I can in every moment while staying healthy.

When Lewis sets his mind on something, he really goes for it. Finds avenues and different places, how to get there.

Stage one of the journey of going to the Olympics in 2028 in LA and playing with the USA team. But we have a lot more to come and we are just getting started.

If you do it, it's an incredibly big accomplishment.

I'm thinking of going for 2028, like I'm literally handball.

You think you can do it? Something that I think is even more valuable, which is and failing and being okay with like being thrilled that you don't have to regret it. Lewis House.

It'S the final week here in Leon and we've got a magic wonderland happening right now with, I don't know, some type of pollen or cotton floating around. But we had an amazing start to the week. We went to Santander, which is in the north on the beach. We got to kind of ground ourselves in the ocean a little bit, see some cool sights. Went to a Gaudi house, famous Gaudi designer. Just kind of went away for a day trip and had a good time start to the last week while we're here in Laon. I had a good practice today, hoping to get three more practices into this week. My groin is still not 100%, so I'm kind of like taking it little by little. I feel better in general my body, but this little ache in my groin still. So I'm going to make sure I finish strong but stay healthy. The entire goal is health, staying healthy throughout this entire process. And it's a three and a half plus year journey. So it's not about going as hard as I can every moment. It's about doing the most I can in every moment while staying healthy. So want to have a few more great practices this week and then hopefully I can take the team out for a celebratory thank you lunch or dinner sometime this week as well. So I'm trying to plan that and see what else unfolds. A lot has happened over the last few weeks. We'll see what happens at the end of this trip.

Sam. Okay. Yeah.

American?

No. Yeah. Could be american. Yes. Usa born in the usa.

I bruce, you okay?

La Mary Having some food with the team.

That they get to training 9:00am the guys are just kind of like tired. Getting into the mood and that Lewis shows up like, hey, with everybody.

We want to thank you for having this lunch all together. We had a lot of fun with you in this last month and we saw how did you get better day by day. And as a friend and as a team member, we always. You are always welcome in this team and all the players, they appreciate that what you did in this last month with us.

Thank you so much, Danny and Este mess. Gracias for atoros in Senyame and invitade. And.

For us, it's a privilege to want to share this time with you. And we are a young team. But of course you are an important person. And for us it's a. Like I say, a privilege. And we are so, so happy for. For stay with you this last month. You can also learn with us, but of course we learn a lot with. With you and with your human balance.

Congratulation. Your performance is getting better every day. It's not my vision, it's the vision of the guys. All the team try to learn all the details, every workout, which is good. Sometimes we forget this kind of illusion and this kind of passion, this kind of love for our sport. Only we think get achievements, goals and the words. But sometimes we. We lose this childhood love for our sport. And I think you share this with us and I think it's not, it's not casual that one of our best matches during this season was during your stay here. Because I think you give a lot to the team. Also the team tried to give back to you with this victory. But you are one of us. You are right now one Adama player without any, without any excuse, without any, with all your power. So thank you for coming. You are welcome.

So it's really cool being here. It's actually epic because eight months ago we were here. This whole place was empty. And Luis and I and the coach, Danny, we were walking here. It was the first time that I had ever stepped on a court like this handball court. And Luis said, you know, the vision would be to come back to Leon and train with the professionals. And ever since, and this is the thing, when Luis sets his mind on something, he really goes for it, finds avenues and different places, how to get there. So it was really cool for me because when we were in la, we did our vision board and part of the vision board also was coming here and projecting that in his mind and something he was doing every single day. He was watching videos about handball. If you see his Instagram, all he has is positive thinking, you know, people and handball.

Handball.

Handball. Humble. And I think that's his way also to visualize himself being here. And now he's right here. He's right there.

You are. No, your mind needs to see a difference. Okay, let's take a part of it. How do you feel?

I feel good. How was your expectation about this was great this month?

Yeah, it was good. Felt like it was hard, but what I need to get back and start training now, so. Getting a rhythm. So it's our final day here in Leon and it's crazy to think that a month ago we were traveling from Los Angeles to get here. We just went through four weeks of practice. It's been kind of a. It just flew by in a sense. And I think it matched my expectations because I felt like I knew it was going to be hard. I knew my body was going to be sore and it definitely hurt. My body was in pain, I was in sore. And there were so many of these units expected things that happened from the break in to Martha not being able to come, then coming and just kind of all these things happening that I wasn't expecting. But what I was expecting was to get better, to improve. Then my body was going to have to go through a process of essentially rehabilitating itself. And the immersion of practice every week for the last month has given me the feeling of, okay, this is how my body needs to respond. And in some ways I feel like my body's healing all over, even though it's still sore and hurts in places. But I feel like it's remembering the feeling of practice consistently, of training in that speed of jumping, of just all these different things that I haven't done in years. It's been a beautiful experience. Leon is a magical city in Spain. Danny and all the players were just so welcoming and generous again. They didn't have to have me come here and practice with with them, but they allowed me to do it. So I hope I was able to deliver and show up and perform in a way that was a good representation, that it was a good choice for them to have me and it was good for me to be here. So this is the stage one of the journey of going to the Olympics in 2028 in LA and playing with the USA team. But we have a lot more to come and we are just getting started. This is my first tournament back playing handball in six years.

Sam.