I’m never really all that far away from football.
And why would I want to be? My family just spent a long weekend up on the rugged side of the Coromandel Peninsula. We rented a camper van for a few days and based ourselves at the Coromandel Top 10 Holiday Park (a really well set up camp ground, by the way).
That meant I was all set to miss a triple header at the Domain as three Swifts teams took on various sides from around the region. But it was the end of the school holidays and the only time we could organise ourselves get away for another couple of months, so the football had to be parked for the weekend.
It was easy enough to follow the games via text as the ressies lost but the 1st team won again.
It’s so nice to have our club back competing at the right end of the Loaded WaiBOP Premiership. Yes, winning makes all the admin stuff far more worthwhile and it’s much more fun than struggling. It’s been a bit of a road back to this point, as we’ve churned through several coaches over the last four seasons. One was a useless lazy shite, one wanted to keep playing and one was just out of his depth on several levels.
We’ve got a good one now. In short: coaches matter. They matter at all levels. I’m trying to matter to my Eagles players. Paul matters to the Swifts 1st team. And coaches made the difference, both for the good and the not so good, at Euro 2016.
Maybe I’ll get into a full blown discussion on coaching in another post. For now, it’s just good to know we’re on the right track.
It was a bit tough not being at the game. With a bit of support, however, I was able to get my media stuff done late on Sunday night (thanks Ashleen Connell Photography) so it was no real biggie.
What wasn’t tough at all, though, was spending some decent time with my family. I enjoyed Jean showing me some places I haven’t really been before. The rugged mid-winter of the left-hand side of the Coromandel is a real throw back. It’s not really my ideal, but it’s fascinating in small doses (I much prefer the right-hand side of the Coromandel, particularly places like our family’s favourite – Cooks Beach).
Having Fantail Bay all to ourselves for lunch was pretty cool, though. During the weekend in the school holidays, too! Maybe it was the weather…
Yeah, the weather wasn’t great the whole weekend. That added to the aura of the place. We made it as far as we could go to the top of the peninsula. Port Jackson looked a stunning little place, even in a gale. I bet it goes off in summer.
The camper van (just about) survived the gravel roads. The boys were both best of friends exploring the beaches and a pain in the arse when they were belted up in the back of the truck. It was just cool to watch Siena, our two year old, waddle around and do stuff. Good, great, family memories.
And now it’s Monday evening. I need to plan for Wednesday’s training session. Then Saturday’s game. Then more senior football. Then next week. And on it goes.
Yeah. Never all that far from football.