RHIAN SOCCER JOURNALS           

WATCHING SKATING TO RELAX AND PREPARE 21st September 2011

Game day is tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it. We have been working hard for the past few days, concentrating on, and fixing, the small things which we need to improve after our first game against the Americans. As I have written previously, even though we played well as a team on 17th September, there were many areas we could show some improvement. 

We know that the Americans are going to come out strongly on Thursday night, and we are well aware that we are going to have to match, if not improve  our effort, if we wish to earn another good result. The game will be a late one, kicking off at 8:15 pm, so we have one more full day to rest and prepare before we head back to work.
 

We held our practice session at Portland's JELD-WEN stadium this morning. The surface is Field Turf, and even though I am not a fan of artificial surfaces, (and not many soccer players are), I thought the surface felt pretty good. The ball moved fast and true on it, and so I predict a quick-paced game. There should be end to end action.

We had a good surprise waiting for us at our training session, when Ian Bridge, our old assistant coach under Even Pellerud, came out to say hello. I haven't seen Ian in a very long time, so it was great to see him. He doesn't appear to have changed a bit, but when I told him this, he didn't reply the same way .... must be my grey hair.

The rest of the day, following practice, was spent relaxing and recovering. There is a small mall not too far away, with a skating rink in the middle of it. I have enjoyed going to watch the skaters as a way to relax. Unfortunately I was never a graceful ice skater, but this does not mean I don't appreciate the beauty of the sport though. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the next generation of United States figure skaters, but I was most impressed with some of the older skaters. There was one woman scooting round the ice making little jumps at break neck speeds, and my best guess would be that she was in her 80's - bravo to her.

I am looking forward to the season premier of Modern Family on the TV tonight and then an early night. So, let me wish you Nos da - a Welsh goodnight.