Field Hockey Canada > Men's Jr. Team USA Test Series Blog: 4

Men’s Jr. Team USA Test Series Blog: 4

November 14, 2010 | Field Hockey Canada | fieldhockey.ca

Men’s Jr. Team USA Test Series Blog: 4

November 14, 2010

Thursday began with a 7:00 am breakfast consisting of the now perfunctory bacon, toast, yogurt, waffles and muffins and of whose quality we seem to have varying opinions.

At 7:30 am we headed to the field in our convoy of vans, and as usual Big Alv was far ahead of the others on the way.

We worked on our half-court press and our five-man defence, and we were pleased with our performance.  Once again at the end of the practice our adept manager was noted yelling, "C’mon boys, three more balls," in his colossal voice.

Before lunch, Coach Aaron found a solo trumpet of “Taps” which he played for us on the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  Afterwards we had a short discussion about how many of the soldiers that fought for our freedom were the same age as us.

For lunch we ate sandwiches and vegetable rolls prepared by the local Costco, a store with whom Alvin has quickly become good friends.

In our second practice we continued to work on our half-court defence and our offensive and defensive penalty corners.  Again we were quite pleased with how things were turning out.  Close to the end of the practice our goalie, Kevin, dived magnificently to stop a shot and hit his head on the turf.  The trainer rushed over, and, though she did not think the injury serious, advised us the call an ambulance.  After attending to Kevin for twenty minutes, the paramedics took Kevin off the field on a stretcher and to the hospital.  We were quite worried and even began nominating players to go in goal should Kevin’s injury render him unable to play.

We returned to our hotel and endured our customary contrast baths.  Mid-way through them Aaron announced that Kevin was fine and was just dehydrated, and later Big Alv announced the colossal $5,600 bill, more commonly referred to as 560 Kookaburra balls.  Fortunately, this was covered by our medical insurance.

We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant and were greeted by a very cheerful Italian.  Many of us had lasagna, which we enjoyed.

We were nervous and excited for our first match as we retired to bed. 

 

By: Alex Wharton  –  # 17

Men’s Junior National Touring Athlete