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RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

NATIONAL CAMP AND PREPARATION 12th November 2009

Yesterday was Remembrance Day, and I was really pleased and proud that we stood for our minute of silence out on the soccer training field. It is an important day for all Canadians, as it is for many countries around the world, and taking a minute to stand and reflect on all those who gave us their lives is important.

Perhaps I feel this so strongly as both my grandmothers, one in the land army and one in the WAAF, and my grandfathers, both in the RAF, served in the second world war. They never tired of telling me how amazing they found the fact that they had a grand daughter who plays professional soccer. I can't help thinking of all those who have fought so that we have the freedom to follow our dreams.

Our training camp again went well in the morning. Because of the match we had played the day before, it was more of a technical session. We revised plans for corners and free kicks and did a bit of shadow play, nothing too intense. We then ended with a workout with Mario, our trainer. The training he does with us is always intense, but it is also really game specific and a lot of fun. This is not an easy balance for him to achieve.

We had the afternoon off, but were expected to report for supper at the Cheesecake Factory at 7:00pm. Such instructions can only be to my pleasure! I stayed in the hotel and rested my foot, but I did spend an hour at the mall buying a protective case for my new Mac computer. I am more than a little bit in love with it. Supper was delicious. Eating out is always great and a good break from hotel fare and adding an amazing dessert at the end of the meal … ahh heaven.

We rolled ourselves home just before 11:00pm and headed right to bed.

This morning we had an 8:45 am wake up call, but those of us with stretching limitations were expected to report at 8:20 am for a little extra toe touching and reaching time. We then had breakfast followed by the morning practice.

We spent a good part of the practice on shadow play today; this is not my favorite thing to do, but it is essential for all soccer players. It went quite well, although our session did finish with me launching Marie-Eve Nault on a 90 yard sprint down the field. She is still a little unhappy with me.

We followed this with a good session with Mario. I don’t think he can comprehend how Canadians are just so uncoordinated. It might have been a record as he may have told 5 or 6 players to go get a taxi home. In defense of my teammates, although of course, not myself because I was perfect, it’s no easy thing to jump on one foot backwards while bringing the opposite arm and knee together. The good news about difficult coordination like this is that things can only get better. I will, or rather I mean the team will, have to work harder on their backwards jumping and limb coordination.

We had a quiet afternoon before heading to the gym for 4:00pm. Mario brought us all there to show us exactly what it is he requires from us. He breaks weight training into two categories: First, injury prevention; and, secondly, explosive power. He gave as an example of injury prevention performing hamstring curls at low weight. You do three sets of about 10lb and go slowly down and up, with two legs bringing the weight up, while one leg lets it down again gently. For explosive power he showed us the use of the leg press. You do 10 fast reps on it, concentrating on exploding out with the weight, which is good for power and speed.

After the gym session we headed to supper followed by a team meeting. It has been a good day and I think everyone was a little surprised to realize that today’s session was the last of this camp. The time has gone by fast, especially as I have missed a week.

We play a scrimmage tomorrow, and I am finally hoping to get a few minutes of play under my belt. The ankle is swollen and bruised, but it is feeling better.

While I remember., let me wish a very happy belated birthday for 11th November to Linn back in Norway.