I'm not talking about my waistline this time even though it is pretty big, but something that is beginning to annoy me a little more than it should.
Yeah this week I am getting very close to breaking through the 20 stone barrier and into the "teens" as I was 20st 1lb when I weighed myself on Sunday. So what? It's 127.6kg and 6kg lighter than what I was the first time I weight myself at Superdrug in Portchester back in July. Or a stone if I go by the imperial stones and pounds. So what?
Because it is beginning to bug me that some people that frankly should know better just dismiss any sports or fitness expertise I give them. Yeah I've not been involved in hockey for very long, but I played youth sports on a very successful Handball team from I was 8 or 9 until I was 16. I did Cross country skiing competitions (although I was crap at that!), and I spent a couple of years doing gymnastics (!) and I went through some pretty hardcore training when I joined the Norwegian Army. Although the army thing isn't that important because most Norwegians my age had to go through the same training.
I did some running when I lived in Dublin (although reportedly I mainly got lost in the park) and during a particular time in my life I lived, ate, drank and trained my buff body in accordance to the gospel that is MensFitness. I lost 2 stone and a bit in a little under 2 months. But then I found a partner that I wanted to marry, settled down with kids and got lazy. And THAT, my dears is how I ended up at 21 stone.
NOT because I sat on my arse all through my childhood. I can still stand with my feet together, straighten my knees bend over and put my PALM on the floor, not because I never moved a muscle and have no muscle tone, but because I was taught how to stay flexible when I did gymnastics, and our handball club was fanatical about avoiding injuries from pulled muscles. So we bloody stretched, bent, jumped, leapt and SWUNG for flaming HOURS a week to stay flexible.
I know how important it is to warm up and STRETCH before practice starts. And I still very rarely wake up stiff the morning after a hard practice because I STRETCH and have a cool down routine that involves me loosening up the muscles and removing the stiffness before it gets sore.
But because I'm fat people don't see that. And to be honest I can't blame them. I can't blame them for not listening to me when I try to tell members of the ladies ice hockey team that when their star forward goes on a breakaway their job is not to stand on the home blueline or in the neutral zone and grumble over the fact that she doesn't pass. She's busy trying to outrun the oppositions D. Your job is to chase the bloody rebound if your star player misses!
I can't blame people if they don't believe me if I tell them that they need to move into open ice or into a position where they can receive a pass. I can't blame others if they think I'm a moron if I say that it is OK for star players to get frustrated and shout if they repeatedly have to tell other less experienced players that they are in the wrong position. It's not a smart thing to do but it's a bloody game and nothing personal! When you play in a team sport for a long time and with many different people, you get to understand that some people will always play to win, and blame everyone else for a loss. Same thing in life. Some people have great individual skill, but maybe lack a bit of confidence. A lot of times some team mates make mistakes. They cock up big time. How the team as a whole DEAL with that individuals cock-up makes the WHOLE difference when the NEXT game comes along. Disagreement and arguments are not in themselves bad provided they get resolved. Unresolved arguments fester on the whole team spirit and can ruin a good run.
Resolving issues that usually have been festering because someone couldn't let a hurtful comment go, can suddenly bring the team together again and turn a bad run around. Usually the fastest way to do this is to let the comment go - it wasn't personal. It was about the game, and it was simply a clumsy way to show you something you can improve upon.
A team is better than the total individual skill of the players when all the players want to make each other better - when you want your team mates to succeed. In fact your not a team until that happens. You're a group of individuals. And until everyone ELSE in the team is more important than YOU, there is no TEAM.
In order to play in a team sport you have to play to your mates strengths. So someone is good at breakaways - keep the D nearest her preoccupied with what you're doing. Then rush to the rebound. PLAN your Fking plays in advance and practice them in the frikking car park! 3 of the 4 goals that the ladies team let in last week came on what I would guess were pre rehearsed, planned plays (set pieces). 2 of them split the D by two forwards crossing over from left to right, one crossing in front of the goal and the other then returning with the puck behind the goal, easy slot pass - BANG in the net. And the slap shot goal? The scored had 7 - SEVEN - shots from the exact same spot. Don't tell me that wasn't rehearsed.
But I can't blame people for not believing I speak with authority. When it comes to ice hockey I don't. But when it comes to teamwork, and teamsports - I do.
But that authority is hard to spot under 20 stone of fat.
And that is MY fault and MY responsibility to fix.
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