G’day Mate 1/7/12
Hello from down under and welcome to our Olympic journey. After our win in the Pan Am Games we took a break from team training. The team spent the last few months doing individualized training. Each athlete was given a specific plan that included our weight training program (called P3) and swim conditioning sets. I believe that this break from the normal intensity and work load that is part of our normal day to day routine will benefit us greatly as we get into this year. Not only do the guys (and the coaches) need a physical break but they also need a mental break. I spent the last few months preparing and planning but also trying to bank as much quality family time as possible.
It was a good break and now it is time to get back to work. We arrived in Australia on Wednesday morning and after checking into the hotel went directly to the pool in Bondi Beach for a match. It was an awesome setting for a game. This pool is built into the cliff on the far end of Bondi and there are multiple levels for the fans to sit and watch. It was a packed house. The waves crash over the pool on the ocean side and the environment was great. They had movie stars there and all kinds of news media. Water polo needs more games and promotion like this. The Aussies did a wonderful job of putting on a good show and promoting our sport.
The game itself was OK. We did not have extremely high expectations. After all, we had not actually played water polo for over two months. Our guys have been swimming but actually playing the game is totally different. We are not in bad shape - just not in water polo shape yet. We will get there soon enough. I believe that the final score was 9 - 7.
On Thursday and Friday night we also had test matches and ended up losing both of those by a few goals too. I am really not too worried about where we are at right now. Australia has been training hard together for the past four weeks and they are in a better place than us right now. I am confident that even as this trip goes on we will get better and better.
Yesterday we flew to Melbourne, which is where we will play in the Pan Pacific tournament all this week. This morning we open up with New Zealand, then we play Japan, China, Brasil and Australia “A” and “B”. It should be good training. We will be lifting weights and swim conditioning during the week too. So we will get into water polo shape pretty fast.
We are now less than seven months away from London and the Olympic Games. Just over 200 days to go... Wow. It is exciting and yet it is a bit scary. The Olympic journey is an exciting one and yet it will be challenging too. It is a very difficult year to keep balance in your life. That is much more of factor now for all of us. So many of our guys are now married. A few have kids. I know that my family is my # 1 priority and I want to make sure that none of our guys get totally disconnected with their families as we go through the year. We need to figure out ways to keep the families involved and the support system strong for all of our guys.
Lori and I recently went to a USOC conference that was entitled “Team is Family, Family is Team”. It was very good. The coaches and their spouses were invited and it was a great way to help the coaches and the spouses look ahead to the joy as well as the stresses that this Olympic year will surely bring into our lives. We were also encouraged to create a plan, stay connected and as balanced as possible through it all. Lori and I both felt it was a very valuable experience. I would like to carry that forward to our team and build in a few family activities along the way to make sure that the wives and families feel like they are a part of our journey. Obviously, they are a vital part of our success.
There is much to do in this Olympic year and that is one of the factors that makes it scary and overwhelming. The key is going to be to take it one day at a time. I need to stay in the moment and enjoy each step of this fantastic journey.
Time to prepare for our game against New Zealand.... Hopefully, we don’t get hypnotized by the Haka...
See you at the pool,
Coach
It was a good break and now it is time to get back to work. We arrived in Australia on Wednesday morning and after checking into the hotel went directly to the pool in Bondi Beach for a match. It was an awesome setting for a game. This pool is built into the cliff on the far end of Bondi and there are multiple levels for the fans to sit and watch. It was a packed house. The waves crash over the pool on the ocean side and the environment was great. They had movie stars there and all kinds of news media. Water polo needs more games and promotion like this. The Aussies did a wonderful job of putting on a good show and promoting our sport.
The game itself was OK. We did not have extremely high expectations. After all, we had not actually played water polo for over two months. Our guys have been swimming but actually playing the game is totally different. We are not in bad shape - just not in water polo shape yet. We will get there soon enough. I believe that the final score was 9 - 7.
On Thursday and Friday night we also had test matches and ended up losing both of those by a few goals too. I am really not too worried about where we are at right now. Australia has been training hard together for the past four weeks and they are in a better place than us right now. I am confident that even as this trip goes on we will get better and better.
Yesterday we flew to Melbourne, which is where we will play in the Pan Pacific tournament all this week. This morning we open up with New Zealand, then we play Japan, China, Brasil and Australia “A” and “B”. It should be good training. We will be lifting weights and swim conditioning during the week too. So we will get into water polo shape pretty fast.
We are now less than seven months away from London and the Olympic Games. Just over 200 days to go... Wow. It is exciting and yet it is a bit scary. The Olympic journey is an exciting one and yet it will be challenging too. It is a very difficult year to keep balance in your life. That is much more of factor now for all of us. So many of our guys are now married. A few have kids. I know that my family is my # 1 priority and I want to make sure that none of our guys get totally disconnected with their families as we go through the year. We need to figure out ways to keep the families involved and the support system strong for all of our guys.
Lori and I recently went to a USOC conference that was entitled “Team is Family, Family is Team”. It was very good. The coaches and their spouses were invited and it was a great way to help the coaches and the spouses look ahead to the joy as well as the stresses that this Olympic year will surely bring into our lives. We were also encouraged to create a plan, stay connected and as balanced as possible through it all. Lori and I both felt it was a very valuable experience. I would like to carry that forward to our team and build in a few family activities along the way to make sure that the wives and families feel like they are a part of our journey. Obviously, they are a vital part of our success.
There is much to do in this Olympic year and that is one of the factors that makes it scary and overwhelming. The key is going to be to take it one day at a time. I need to stay in the moment and enjoy each step of this fantastic journey.
Time to prepare for our game against New Zealand.... Hopefully, we don’t get hypnotized by the Haka...
See you at the pool,
Coach
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
12:09 PM
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