November 25th, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’ve been living in Ireland for almost 4 months now and I still haven’t been able to impersonate an Irish accent. Within Ireland you have various accents from Cork to Donegal (my favourite) to Dublin. I thought I could get at least one down but I either come off as a posh Briton or an Aussie. Whenever my Irish friends put on an American accent, I sort of cringe thinking, is that how I really sound? But I am determined to get the accent down, because like I tell the kids I coach, you have to get uncomfortable to get comfortable.
I coach all the years at St.Marys secondary school in Galway three days a week. When I first got them back in September it was a little eye opening. I knew the first years (freshman) had little experience with the game but I didn’t think when I set them up for a scrimmage at the end of training that they would ask such questions as “is there offsides?” Or “so a free throw is like a penalty shot?”, and not know where the boundaries were on the court. But I knew I had some good athletes and kept reminding them I know you feel uncomfortable doing certain things but if you stick with it, it will become second nature (giving them an example by hitting 2 free throws with my eyes closed). Seeing the improvement they have made the past 3 months, really makes it all worthwhile and keeps me excited to come in and work with them everyday. Joe Coughlan, the head of the Titans, reminded me earlier today of how much of an impact I am having on the kids I coach. There was one boy who has learning difficulties and I haven’t treated him any different from the other kids and Joe was amazed at the progress he has made.
Now only if someone can help me make progress with this accent…
