This Saturday my team and I embarked on a long three and half hour bus ride to take on Killorglin. The setting was quite familiar to me: get dressed in traveling gear, head to the gym a little early, board the bus and head straight to the back of the bus. As we set off to our destination, it occurred to me that although I have done this routine over a hundred times, a very foreign feeling came over me. Instead of strapping on the neck pillow, shutting the world off by putting on my noise-cancelling Beats, and maybe throwing over a sweatshirt over my face to block any light to steal a nap, I just stared longingly out the window for hours.
It reminded me of my train ride to Dublin earlier this month. In front of me these twins, no older than 18 months, just stared out the window, scrunching their nose against the cool, clear window pane. They pointed and exclaimed to their mother after every cow or sheep they passed. To save any ridicule I may have received from teammates, I refrained from making any animal noises; however, my feelings towards the rustic world that passed quickly by made me concur that I had the same thoughts as those adorable twins.
It was a fine afternoon in Irish terms, you just got a glimpse of the sun every now and then behind the continuous cloud coverage. It was just the simplest things that garnered my attention. The grass was almost a vibrant, neon green, the hills seemed to roll to the edge of the world, and the animals, grazing the infinite farmland, looked as content as I am after consuming a fulfilling meal. The three hours seemed to fly by, my thoughts were everywhere, and hey, even gave me time to write some of this blog.
This past week consisted of great coaching sessions. I had the opportunity to meet and teach three new teams this week. As much fun as it is for the kids to run around and get their head wet, it was equally as rewarding for me to show them a thing or two about the game in a limited time frame. Most of the kids have never been exposed to a coach with playing experience, so it was shocking to me that each and every kid hung on to my every word. To have their undivided attention and their eagerness to apply it in a game situation was an incredibly rewarding experience for me. I am looking forward to establish a relationship with my teams and to continue to learn and grow.
I never thought I would say this but I will be looking forward to my next away game to steal another opportunity to take in the views of this country, and of course some laughs with the team to fill in the quiet hours.
