The
last week has flown by and as the nerves, anxiety and excitement start to
really kick in I suddenly realise that I’m sitting at Heathrow airport and I am
really going to the Olympics!
To
say the last few days have been chaotic and a little bit frantic would be an
understatement. Trying to finish bits
and pieces off at work for when I am away, keeping the training going, catching
up with friends, reffing games and packing (or putting off packing until the
last minute) has kept me extremely busy.
I
have been buzzing around with lots of nervous energy and probably the best word
to describe me is ‘jittery’! It is only
now that I am at the airport I have time to reflect on how crazy and fun the
last week has been (if not a little bit stressful) ... and I am not even in
Russia yet.
Physically and mentally ready
One
of the most difficult challenges leading up to any big tournament I have been
to, and the Olympics more so, is feeling physically and mentally prepared for
what is to come. In reality a lot of the
hard work has been done by this point physically and the challenge really
becomes more mental in terms of getting the balance right between training hard
at the same time as not over-doing it and making sure you can give your best
performance in the up-coming weeks. Most
people will know that marathon runners tapper down their runs before a big race
to ensure they can give their best on race day.
Training for ice hockey is quite different in the sense you need to keep
game fit right up until the tournament begins and then throughout. It is more about explosive power and energy.
Whilst
I leave for Sochi today (Tuesday), in reality my first game won’t be until
Saturday at the earliest. Therefore I
have kept to my usual training pattern as much as possible for the last week to
keep me mentally in a good place and to keep the physical element ticking over.
I
reffed a mid-week game in Coventry and worked the game in Guildford on Sunday
night to keep on the ice. On Saturday I
went for a run with Scott which I don’t normally enjoy, because despite the
fact I train much harder than him, he always manages to run faster than me and
beat me. For those of you who know me
well you will appreciate how much this would infuriate me. On announcing to him we would go for a light
run my competitive streak came out and I pushed the pace for the whole run
finishing with a sprint. I don’t know if
he let me win to help boost my confidence or not – but I do know when I turned
around and waited for him to finish he looked pretty tired and muttered
something about me cheating which is his usual claim when he loses! So I guess I am physically as prepared as I
can be and the victory has certainly helped me get into a good place mentally.
Emails from the Referee Supervisors
To
help with being mentally prepared the referee supervisors have been emailing
all of the female refs letting us know about travel plans and what to expect
when we get there. I’ve found the emails
extremely motivated. They have been packed
full of encouragement and support for what we have achieved so far but written with
a view to what is to come and the need to stay focussed. My favourite phrase from the emails is ‘chance
favours those who prepare’. The last
email was accompanied with a video montage of the women’s games from previous
Olympics. It lasts for about 6 minutes
and I have found it mesmerising to watch but impossible to get through without
a lump in the throat and butterflies in the stomach. Some of the games I refereed myself and
others I remember watching in Torino and in Vancouver. It brought back good memories and has filled
me with excitement for the games I will get to be a part of in Sochi.
Sharing the experience
 | ||
| Jemima, Angela and Jono proudly wearing their hats |
The
most exciting part of my last week has been watching my friends and family get
excited for me. I’ve only been working
in my current job at UK Sport for a few months now but many of the people I
work with have become close friends. The
support and encouragement they have given me over the last few weeks has been
up-lifting and nothing short of fantastic.
One of the girls got some special hats knitted for us all to celebrate
me going to Sochi. Their passion and
enthusiasm has been awesome and I feel very lucky to have their support.
My
phone has been on fire all week with messages of encouragement and support from
friends which has been wonderful. I
apologise to you all for not having a chance to respond to your messages. Please know I appreciate them all very much
and am so touched you took the time to send me encouragement and support. I do promise to keep the blog updated as much
as I can and to share the stories with you when I am back. Having your support means so much to me!
Inspiring a new generation
I
spent yesterday (Monday) morning at a primary school in Highgate. A friend asked if I would be able to speak at
his children’s school assembly about my Olympic experience and what I am
looking forward to in Sochi. As most of
you will know I have always enjoyed public speaking and doing presentations,
however my usual audience would be business men and women, chief executives and
directors of sports organisations. Faced
with the prospect of 400 children aged between 4 and 11 years old I felt a
little out of my comfort zone and unsure how to pitch my thoughts.
 |
| Aksel and Natasha wearing my referee uniform |
I
shouldn’t have been worried at all because one of the most endearing things
about presenting to children is their raw emotion and honesty. From the moment they started to file in and fill
the assembly hall their excitement at seeing a picture of the Sochi logo on the
screen was infectious. As I showed them
pictures of the different Olympic winter sports they got more excited and the
head-teacher had to keep calming them down.
I showed them a video of athletes winning medals and they ‘oooohed’ and
‘ahhhhed’ throughout. I was overwhelmed
by how real their responses were and how much they empathised with the emotions
being expressed by the athletes. I asked
each year group to give me one word to describe the athletes they had seen and
as they gave me their words ... ‘happy’, ‘emotional’, ‘determined’ ... I felt a
small sense of pride and excitement. Maybe one day one of the children in the
room would become an Olympic athlete, not because I had presented to them but
because they had managed to stay young and dream rather than become cynical and
afraid to try, like the rest of us adults.
Aksel
and Natasha (my friend’s children) tried on my referee shirts and helmet to the
amusement of their class-mates. The
message I left them with was simple: have a dream, train hard and be the best
in the world.
Packing
With
all the excitement of the week as usual I left it until the very last minute to
pack for the trip. Most people assume
that I pack days in advance to ensure I am ready and have everything. Certainly that is always the plan but it
never works out that way. The reality is
that I spend a very long time thinking about packing and plan it out in my head
but often leave the physical act until the last minute.
Packing
for the Olympics is a bit of a big task.
Not only do you need to pack for being away from home for 3 weeks but
you also need to pack your referee bag with enough sports clothing to get you
through several games. You also need to
be mindful of what you are allowed to bring in terms of clothing – the Olympics
and the intellectual property rights for the Olympics are a big deal. Official sponsors are named and so wearing
clothing not from the sponsors can present an issue for the organisers and for
the IOC. Thinking through what you are
packing is really important and so I’ve exchanged many emails with the other
refs as we all try to understand what we can and cannot take with us.
 |
| A lot of luggage for one person! |
On
top of this, because it is the Olympics it is customary for referees to bring
gifts for the other referees which again take up valuable luggage space. This year I have had a lot of support from
IHUK with the gifts they are sending me with for the other refs – towels made
up with the IHUK logo and year on, alongside hats which have been knitted up to
my chosen design and the usual pin badges which can be traded for almost
anything at an Olympics. I’ve also been
lucky enough to have support from fellow officials James Kavanaugh and Mike
Hicks who have given me the very snazzy black IHUK whistles to give out. Finally Clouts has stepped up to the plate yet
again and commissioned some referee badges to support breast cancer research. Special thanks to them all for sending me to
Sochi will an awesome set of gifts for the other refs.
No comments:
Post a Comment