Field Hockey Canada > Men's Commonwealth Blog: Day 10

Men’s Commonwealth Blog: Day 10

October 9, 2010 | Field Hockey Canada | fieldhockey.ca

Men’s Commonwealth Blog: Day 10

October 8, 2010

Gotta say, the boys woke up on a high note this morning. I’m not sure whether or not that was due to the fact that we had just gotten a great result against one of the top teams in the world the previous night or because Coach D’Abreo gave us a nice late 10 am wakeup.  Regardless,  the team is in high spirits and our goal of reaching the Commonwealth Games semi-final remains alive and well. The day began with a delightful team breakfast, and I won’t bore you with the details of what we all consumed but I can confirm that our star left midfield Dave Jameson did enjoy a mango juice box as per his daily ritual. 

After breakfast we marched on down to the Athlete’s Village pool for a recovery session.  Don’t be misguided though,  this was no light jog around the pool in a big circle followed by some static stretching….a recovery session for this team involves a light-hearted game of pool cricket, with a garbage can set up as the wicket, a field hockey stick for a bat, and a Canadian flag adorned nerf ball representing the cricket ball.  All the boys take their turn at bat and it’s definitely a hit for all the pool staff and other athlete’s hanging around the pool.   And although there were some outstanding bowls, hits and catches made,  I don’t think any of us are expecting  a call from the National Cricket coach.  I think we’ll have to stick to what we do best.

Anyways,  after the pool recovery session, we enjoyed lunch followed by some croquet and billiards.   By then 3:30pm had rolled around and we all gathered around the tv to cheer on the women as they battled a tough Welsh team.   An outstanding effort in the final few minutes secured them the victory and left us cheering at the edge of our seats and inspired to get the same result against T&T tomorrow afternoon.   How about that Katie Baker blast, or those dangles by Robin Pendleton on the winning goal?  That’s TSN highlight of the night material. 

Our England match debrief was next on our daily agenda and we sure to watch the heroics of our short corner defensive unit anchored by some outstanding saves by Toni Kindler.   A big shout out to Adam Froese and Jesse Watson for some timely goal-line saves as well.  After an hour long video session in which we discussed team structure,  our half-court, and some other top secret plans designed to limit our opponents weapons while fully maximizing our own offensive strengths with emphasis on special ops, i.e. Integrated Corner Unit….we ate dinner! 

After dinner a few of us went down to the casual dining area and enjoyed a little Hot Chocolate….some of the guys refer to it as ‘Ho Cho’….you see ‘Ho’ is the word Hot with the ‘t’ taken away, and ‘Cho’ represents the word chocolate, shortened to its first syllable.  Not only does it rhyme but it allows you to express your desire to partake in this nightly leisure ritual faster than one might be able to had they said the full words, hot chocolate.  For instance,  Guesty will often turn to Pearson and say, "Oi Marky,  how bout a lil Ho Cho for the boys."   We will then head on down to our local casual dining barista and order a round of five.  We’ll sometimes enjoy a second round if the conversation calls for it.  Living here in the Village….there is lots to talk about!

And there you have it,  Friday, October 8th 2010 in the Athlete’s Village of the XIX Commonwealth Games.  Thank you for all your support and I hope this brief insight into our daily lives has brought you a little entertainment.  We’re so happy to be here in Delhi representing Canada and we’ll be even happier if we can play to our potential like we did last night and rack up a couple victories for all of you back home.

Thanks again,

 

Dave Carter (Men’s National Team)