Tuning Back In

Blog entries have been scarce so far this year. I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it was the move from laptop to ipad which made it less convenient to churn out a post. It could have also been an intentionally more relaxed approach to the first portion (Benelux Championship) of the year. Whatever it was, things are beginning to heat up now.

All year, the focus has been 100% on the Pan-Euros. Too often, we have invested too much in Benelux and had nothing left for the business end. This year we harassed guys less to train and be available for tournaments early on. We had many injuried but all the prognosis' pointed to September returns. It just felt right that our season would start now.

That’s not to say we didn't burst ourselves to try and win in Benelux. When we got onto the pitch we wanted to win every game but found ourselves off the pace, ending as the only team without a tournament victory. The form of others wasn't overly consistent either as no-one seemed to arrive with a full compliment of players on any one day.

In that sense, its hard to judge where we are now. The above win stat would suggest we are off the pace but two months (basically the gap between Benelux and Pan-Euros) is like an eternity in European G.A.A. Our injuries are clearing up and our panel is increasing in size. Training numbers are back up and the intensity is leading to some of our feistiest sessions.

There is a feel good factor in the group at the minute. Guys are beginning to believe that we have assembled two panels to compete in the coming months. If we can wrap up some remaining travel issues, we should travel to Copenhagen with 14/15 guys all capable of contributing equally to the Championship panel.

It remains the unknown though. We were bottom of the pile in Benelux Championship. The individuals won't necessarily make the difference. Our strength is our depth and we must use it. That means guys will need to buying into doing particular jobs and understand that it is not the number of minutes they are on the pitch that counts, its the contribution they make when they are on.

Our Shield team faces the biggest adjustment. In Benelux they squared off against Lux and Amsterdam's second teams as well as Dusseldorf who are in the start up phase. In the Pan-Euros, the opposition will be established first teams from clubs. That makes the challenge a significant one.

I like this time of year. The games matter most. Three tournaments in eight weeks. Everything becomes about one thing.