Tick Tock

This weekend we should have been in London playing the Exiles Cup. It was to be a return fixture for the inaugural one which took place in Brussels last year, which we won in a highly entertaining game.

There was a lot of humming and hawing about availability and eventually we had to pull the plug on it which was a bit embarrassing considering our hosts had done a good bit of prep at their side. The girls did pull themselves together so at least the club had some representatives! They reversed last year’s result to win 3-6 to 2-3.

At this stage of the year you have to pick and choose what to put pressure on the lads to do. We’ve been on the road since January 21st and have trained around eighty times as well as filling 12 weekends with games and trainings. That comes with considerable expense and is very draining on your enthusiasm too.

Prior to Budapest, a lot of us probably felt particularly weary from it. The Munich experience had been bad and the mood was muted in the weeks that followed. Both teams participated well down in Buda though and spirits have been high since we returned.

I’ve taken a kind of countdown approach to things to overcome any motivation issues and now we are down to just four sessions left this year. We can win the Shield in Maastricht and whilst the Championship team can’t win it out, we certainly want to finish what has been a very successful year on a high. Since we returned from Hungary, there has been a great energy about things at training.

Moving to the BSB means getting to training through rush hour traffic is a pain in the arse. However, it also means that the lads who do show are there because they really want to be there and they are not just along for the craic. A good example last Thursday was Ricky. He returned from Luxembourg that afternoon by train and got the tram out to Tervuren. He had Andrew bring his gear and ran in the gate just as we were getting going. As cranky as some people may find me, it’s pretty simple to get in my good books and that’s a good example of how to do it!

I sat out training for the last two weeks to let a few aches ease themselves out. I find playing and training the team at the same time a pain in the ass. Just concentrating on the training side reminded me that I actually enjoy training a team and I think the lads also benefit because things run much more smoothly and my demeanour is much more positive.

So, four sessions left. Sometimes it feels like a big weight around the neck but with the countdown in full swing, the burden turns more to fear. You begin to remember how long a winter can be without training and tournaments and so saviour each evening freezing your nuts off out in Tervuren that bit more.