Snap Happy Week

So what does a week's holiday look like for The Everyman Olympian? Well for starters it involves almost as much sport as a BBC montage on the real Olympics!

I awoke two Saturday's ago, wished my missus a top time on her own hols - she was off to Ibiza with the girls, for an altogether different time - and I got comfy in my car for the 3 hour journey to join my mate Josh and his pals for The Ron Goreham Memorial El Classico Cup Of The World Birthday Final; a match Josh put together in memory of his father whereby each side took on the persona of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Arriving at the match I was met by my parents, with my brother Mike (he was playing for Barca) and his missus. Also there to greet me for the first time of many this week was Beach, a local photographer who runs his own firm: 8-19 Photography; he'd heard about my antics on Southend Radio Station while I was being interviewed the week before and had made it his mission to help me get into the national press.

While I got kitted out in my Real Madrid team kit (OK so it wasn't exactly the correct kit but who cares, this was a fantastic occasion to be part of), Beach surveyed the pitch and set his gear up - two impressive looking cameras; I would soon know what around 0.01% of being a Premier League star feels like.

Beach snapped plenty of pics while I took to offering the team as much help as I could as we chased a deficit against a more free-flowing Barcelona side.

Beach met me at every opportunity he could that week, and all the while he gained more of an insight into the adventure that is The Everyman Olympics; not just a sporting effort for a fat lad having a go but also a logistical nightmare which poses many a challenge of its own.

We covered Basketball with Southend Swifts, Modern Pentathlon training - on the track at Garons Park and in the pool at Belfairs, me signing up and training with Southend Amateur Boxing Club and my first ever Hockey training session with Southend Hockey Club.

Somewhere in the middle of this excellent and varied week, I managed to honour an invite to be interviewed for the Jamie & Louise Show for the third time on BBC Radio Wales; you can listen again to my interview until the end of Thursday 2nd August 2012:

Click the link here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01l3xgs

My interview starts on 11:24, I hope you enjoy it.

Beach and The Everyman Olympian after a great week in the story of The Everyman Olympics

Cheers to Beach, 8-19 Photography and of course to ALL the Sports Teams and facilites involved!

Here's hoping Beach's photos make it into the national newspapers, stay tuned as I'll keep you posted.

Hockey Training Day One

As I sit typing this I've sunburn on my neck and thawing hail stones on my garden, but lets not dwell on the effects of the Great British Summer, this post is all about my first training session for The Hockey Challenge.

Southend Hockey Club have no fewer than 13 teams which are all managed under the clubs proverbial umbrella, a pretty impressive set-up then but I gather the club has been going for some 75 years...WOW!

Hockey has been an Olympic Sport for men since the first London Games in 1908, though it took until Moscow 1980 that women gained their chance to join the stick party. When I turned up to training in yesterday morning's sunshine at Sweyne Park School I was surprised to be joining a mixed youth and ladies team session, though Coaches Anne-Marie & Adele were incredibly welcoming and educational.

One of the girls was kind enough to lend me her spare stick (phew, otherwise I'd have been a out of the session) and Coach Adele took me off for some basic stick training to get me started. We passed the ball while I learnt the correct stance to receive, and cushion the ball and how to pass, always using the one flat side of the hockey stick.

Next up we practised shooting, luckily into an empty goal, and while I managed to try to and dig the pitch up, Will - one of the youth players - showed us just how effective a sweetly shot ball could be in the air.

Then Kay (a ladies team hopeful) and I then learnt how to block tackle and practised moving with the ball.

The last section of the training session featured a short game; I thoroughly enjoyed getting to put my newly taught learning's into practise against the bibs. The teams were reasonably well-balanced and separated only by a goal from our ladies first team member. I was pleased with my efforts, while they may have resulted in a grazed knee which I gained through lost footing, I did managed to hold the ball up well with 2 opponents in the chase, before completing a pass to a team mate.

Southend Hockey Club members: Coach Anne-Marie far Left, Coach Adele Far Right, The Everyman Olympian stands tall in the centre.

My thanks to Coach Adele & Coach Anne-Marie, and Southend Hockey Club. I'm looking forward to my next training session, though may have to invest in a stick before I go..and some sun lotion!

Note: The photo is this blog is courtesy of 8-19 Photography, taken by Beach and subject to copyright. Please ask for permission by emailing me here if you wish to use it.