December 10th, 2012 | Uncategorized
As I write this, there are only 11 days until I return (temporarily) to the U S of A. While I am undoubtedly excited to see my friends and family back home, I can hardly believe how quickly Christmas break is approaching. When I think about the time warp that is my first semester here at the University of Limerick, I can say that the days are long, but the weeks are short.
My daily routine fills every hour of daylight (and as the sun sets around 4 pm these days, many hours of darkness as well) with soccer and schoolwork. Finals week is upon us, and with exams, thesis work, and grad school application deadlines looming, I have arranged for my mail to be forwarded to the library. Chipotle burrito deliveries welcome.
In the rare moment I emerge from studying, you can find me on the field. This past week, I was grateful to play my first game in three months with my club team, Aisling Annacotty. After going down 0-2, we scored twice in the second half and tied the game. Yours truly had an assist on our second goal in the 80th minute, and I am happy to report another week without an injury.
Aside from avoiding injury this week, I also managed to lead another successful coaching session with the 6-year-olds. After some discipline issues with one player in particular, I’ve come to realize how effective individualized attention can be. In weeks past, “Patrick” has played too rough with the other boys, and given up on drills and games when he doesn’t feel like participating. After training on Saturday, I spent some time working with Patrick one-on-one and I was really impressed with the improvement in his behavior. I’m definitely learning more about how to address the needs of the individual and of the group, and I look forward to using these approaches in future sessions.
Many thanks to those who were kind enough to suggest fun drills like foxes and hounds and battleship; without your ideas, I would have undoubtedly ended up like Gulliver on Lilliput. A parent even joined in!
All my love to those back home….