August 28th, 2014 | Uncategorized
After training and a day of exploring and hiking Cavehill in Belfast, it was time to say goodbye to the 5 Ulster Scholars and head to Dublin for more training! The 8 Southern Scholars coached 2 days of basketball camps with Kubs Basketball, which was truly amazing. Just seeing how much fun they were having learning and playing basketball was great. What really got me though was seeing how some of these young kids attach themselves to you! I walked in to the gym the second day and all of sudden I hear this voice yelling, “Nicole! Nicole!” and before I can even say hi, this little girl jumps on me 🙂 I just couldn’t help but smile. I can’t even put into words how much joy that gave me and it made my night! I never imagined how rewarding coaching and working with young kids could really be.
From Dublin, we headed to Clonmel/Tipperary for some more training. Wednesday was a free day for us, so we were extremely fortunate to get a tour of the famous Coolmore Stables in Tipperary. Coolmore has had vasts amount of success over the years, producing some of the world’s fastest racehorses, as well as successful breeding horses. I’ve always loved horses and enjoy watching horse races, but I never really knew much about it. However, that has all changed! I learned more about horses, the terminology, breeding, and horse racing than I ever thought I could, in just a few hours. We also got the pleasure of seeing one their most successful sires, Galileo. I really hope I get the opportunity to go see a horse-racing event in Ireland at some point. After a great off day, it was back to camps. I worked in two different camps Thursday, where I got to interact with different kids and see a variety of levels of play. Another day of camp Friday with the Scholars, then it’s goodbye, Tipperary and hello, Galway for Darryl and I!!!!
