Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

COLD WINS AND STREAKERS 3rd March 2008

It is rather scary how well-adapted I am becoming to waking up well before 7:00 every day. There are many causes for this, as I have mentioned before, but to these can now be added not only the continuing problems with jet lag, but the sun lighting up the room as soon as it creeps over the horizon. There might as well not be blinds on the windows at all. The same sun quickly brings the heat in the room to a boiling point so I end up kicking off all the bed covers. Just in case you think that these experiences are limited to me, they are not. By 7:00 am everyone is awake.

Normally we are known as a team of sleepers, and a 9:00 am wake-up call is cause for groans and moans. This is not the case here. By 7:30am, the majority of the team is out and about in the hallways. The sun's rays are so bright at this time that you are fooled into thinking that it is much later than it actually is. It is really an odd experience for me to do some yoga, eat, read and then glance at the clock and find that the local time is just past 7:30 in the morning.

Diana, my roommate, arrived at the hotel at 11:00pm last night, and I barely muttered a greeting before I turned over and headed back to sleep. It was WAYY past my bedtime. She was not pleased when I was up and ready to go by 7:00 this morning. However, she will get used to our schedule soon enough.

We had meetings this morning, starting with positional ones, complete with video sessions. Other than this "death by video," we did nothing much except go for another beach walk and stretch as a team. We walk along the beach in front of the hotel and then circle the pool for stretch time. I continue to think that we must be an intimidating bunch, as no one really comes near us during all of this. However, there was one incident this morning. A man was caught up in the middle of our stretching. He didn't seem to be all that concerned and I appreciated that he saw the humor of going to sleep in a lounge chair in the sun and being awakened to a gaggle of females, holding strange poses, surrounding him on all sides. Even he didn't hang around very long though.

This has been an odd day weather wise. Even though the sun has been at its brightest today, and even though one felt that the temperature must be in the 30 degree Celsius range, this was not the case. In actual fact, there is a vicious wind blowing and it is quite cold. It seems odd to be in Cyprus in the sunny east Mediterranean, and having to wear a hoodie. I took some good photos of teammates lying out in the sun in tiny shorts accompanied by thick sweaters!

Training was at 4:00pm today, and the other teams in the Tournament have now started to arrive. We have to share the complex with them, and this afternoon, almost every field at the sports complex had a team on it, either a women's team from the tournament, or a men's team from somewhere in Europe. The field next to ours, on one side, had the Dutch team on it, while on the other a men's team practiced, with their groupies and all. I wonder if a women's team will ever garner a following like this little posse? The groupies for the Men's team came out in numbers to a training session and even hung team banners and posters along the fence to cheer on their team! There is a reason I mention this incident.

Our practice session was based on three phases: Warm up with Andrew (TWIST guy); defensive back four work; and lastly, an 11 v. 11 scrimmage. Everything was going smoothly in practice. The warm-up had gone well, and we were focused and working hard on our back four shape when out of the blue came a streaker. I was on the right hand side of the field and peripherally saw something that seemed a little out of place. Indeed it was: It was a streaker!! It was a naked man running across the field. This lovely bare-assed dude not only crossed over the field once, but made the return journey as well - a ballsy move so to speak! Luckily we were all a little too stunned to do much about it. Looking back, I think it might have been a good idea for us all to have taken aim at him with surrounding ammo. Perhaps it would have made his jaunt a little more interesting!

Eventually, we returned our focus to training, although the laughter took a while to wear off. We managed to concentrrate rather well, and we ended with a good game of 11 v 11. All in a day's work. Tonight, as usual, I am tired and contemplating bed, and it is not yet 9:00pm.