A hot and busy week...

I guess summer has finally arrived in New Jersey! I'm not a fan of extreme hot weather, especially if you are a soccer coach out on the field day in day out. So far this week, in the mornings I have been working at the Immaculata High School soccer preseason camp from 9-12. Thankfully, it is not as hot during those times but you still have the sun directing its rays onto you. I have also been on the field for the Middlesex camp we are conducting, which has been running from 4-8. So yeah, I have been extremely busy this week, which is why I have not been able to get on my blog and put something on. So apologies to anyone getting annoyed with me. Well, I don't really care - all I care about is feeling cool (and not hot!) again.

Every Tuesday now, I am coaching a U9 girls team based in Husk and I had my first session with them. It went well. Some of them have never played soccer before so I did a very basic session, concentrating on simple techniques. Some of the girls are hilarious - some of the things they say just make you laugh. For instance, I asked them to come into me so that I could talk to them about the little exercise we just did (I always do that - all the best coaches do it...it's a best coach thing). Suddenly, one of the girls spots a cat (it could have been a fox) in the distance and, naturally, all the girls' attention became focused on the animal.

With the quick-thinking brain I have, I quickly said to them to imagine I was the cat. So they brought their eyes to me and one of the girls came out with this comment, "You can't be a cat. You are all sweaty, hairy, and...and...and, disgusting". Yes, I will repeat that for you all...disgusting. That's nice to know, isn't it? Not only am I sweaty, hairy (I didn't shave that day, which is why that particular comment was made) but I am apparently disgusting. When the girl said that, I instantly burst out laughing as did the rest of the girls. It was brilliant. Apart from that though, I think they like me. I look forward to what the next comment will be next tuesday!

Oh yeah, I should probably mention this as it is car-related. Yes, further disaster. It came in the form of me locking myself out of the car. It happened two days ago after the Middlesex camp. My mind was in another place as I just came off the field after 4 hours in the baking sun. I was taking my cleets off (the American term for soccer boots) and rested my keys inside the open trunk. Once I had completed the shoe-changeover, I inexplicably shut the trunk. It hit me straight away as to what I had done. Luckily though, Francisco, who is the main man running things at the Middlesex camp, dashed home quickly to get some tools and, to my amazement, he performed a professional job of opening my car. All he used was a coat hanger and a stick. Fantastic.

More car disasters to follow shortly...