Briersys Blog
Monday 14th January
Early start as I was up at 5am. It was a shock to the system as I thought there was only one 5 o'clock in a day!
We met at our training base at 6am and then on to Manchester airport to meet up with all the Yorkshire lads and the boys who made there own way there.
We boarded the plane and as we are getting taxied to the runway we could see all the snow and ice setting on the ground. I had a thought right there and then that we had timed this warm weather camp just perfectly as I can't see many clubs training in that weather in the UK.
After a four hour flight we landed in Tenerife and were made up when the captain announced it wass 23 degrees outside. The bus journey to the hotel took about 20 minutes. When we arrived we went straight in for some lunch, to get some good fuel back into us while the staff sorted the rooms out. When the room keys were give out it was obvious that it would be an old player and young player sharing, with the exception of a few rooms.
My roomie is Micky Higham and as soon as we got into the room he filled the fridge with loads of stuff; who said he was tight? (Top roomie).
We had a couple of hours to chill and then we were straight into it. We started off with a meeting outlining some house rules; as we are not exclusive to the hotel we need to be respectful at all times. We pride ourselves on being super professional and that means when we are aroumd the hotel too. We then went for a light swim and stretch to get some movement back in the legs. After that's done you can see the uplift in intensity. We were then free to go back to the hotel but nearly everyone of the players hit the gym or did extra conditioning or skills on their own. We had dinner and then the night to ourselves.
Tuesday 15th January
We had an early start with a nice massage at 7.45am to get me ready for some kicking practice at 8.30am. Again this was an optional session but everyone who kicks a ball was there. It's good to see that everyone wants to improve but also put pressure on their teammate to improve.
We started training at 9am and the day's session was split into three groups: strength/skills/speed rotating, everyone doing all three. We got through some quality work; it helped with it being a lovely sunny day.
The afternoon's session was massive in terms of intensity. It consisted of 13 v 13 in a game broken into four 15 minute stints. We practiced different combinations in attack and also our defence systems. You could see that the competion for places is really strong. Some of the boys are looking really strong and extremely sharp. This session was followed by stretching, swimming and the dreaded ice baths. We then had our first meeting as a squad about how we want to improve this season. Unfortunately I'm not able to tell you the details of the meeting! It was then early to bed. (must be getting old)
Briersy
16, Jan, 2013
