Blog

Woke up today for my last training with the lads. Because they had played the night before, the 11 starters did recovery, while the bench, myself, Dean and a new signing trained. It was a good competitive session for us all. I was happy with my play and made the same mistake a few times, so I am always learning and developing as a player. When I begin training next week, I will be sure to focus on that. I said goodbye to most the lads after training, with all of them wishing me well. It really has been a wonderful environment to be in for the last two months. The club was a great place to start my journey, and although it didn’t turn out the way I wanted with a contract, it served a great purpose, I developed a lot and I made some great new friends.

A bunch of us headed off for lunch and to watch the first premier league game of the season. And then we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the other games that were going on. It is exciting for me to be in the UK for the Premier League.

We eventually headed on home as I made my last meal, did my last bits of laundry and finished up packing. I knew that I could take two bags up to 20kg, however one suitcase is a lot bigger than the other. I will find out how much overweight the bag is when I get to the airport tomorrow!

Got a sleep in today as it was game day. After a casual lazy morning I then began to plan my trip and organize all the other things that needed to be sorted out. All is ready for departure on Sunday. However, the packing will continue until the morning I leave.

Throughout the day, various Kiwi athletes were competing in the Olympics so I made sure to catch all that footage. A few more medals and a few unfortunate results, but the Kiwi’s are still doing us all proud.

And then at 8pm Derry vs Finn Harps kicked off. It was an away game, however I didn’t go. This is the Northwest Derby as Finn Park is only 30min down the road. I managed to find a stream online however with no commentary, so it was hard to keep track and watch. In the end Derry won convincingly 5-0. And with other results around the league going Derry’s way, they jump up into 2nd on the table. They are now in a great position going into the last 10 games of the season.

It was training before game day, and it felt like the longest foam roll and band session ever. But it was all good stuff. The physio had said to me to go roll out and do the warm up stuff and when they went into film review to come back for him to check me out. Luckily there was no pain with any of the movements he was doing, just felt a little weak in the knee and a little tight in the hip. So he said I really got away with on there, someones watching over me.

I trained fully and was able to enjoy myself because I knew my responsibility was no longer there and I didn’t have the pressure of performing and impressing the coaches. I did some extra work after training with Dean Shiels, who is the managers son. Dean is on the comeback from an ankle injury he sustained while playing for Rangers in Scotland. We did some speed and power work, and once again my knee and hip were fine. Good signs.

My afternoon was filled with the Olympics, but also I made a quick trip to the post office where a very valuable package should have been delivered for me. I hadn’t received the phone call I was expecting, but I thought I would check anyway. And sure enough the package containing my very important passport was there. Knowing that I had my passport, I finally booked my flight to England. And then I booked my bus from Derry to Belfast, so it is all falling into place.

Same training routine today. With some passing and possession drills, which I am sure the blue team (my team) will tell you that we got shafted. It happens, makes you work harder. Unfortunately in one of the last possession games I planted my left foot and my knee and hip gave away and I landed in pain. I was scared because the pain was quite sharp. I managed to get up on my own, and hobble in to see the physio. Turns out the knee was fine, just weakened, and the hip had just been over stretched. I was informed to take an ice bath after training, and then on our day off not to foam roll or stretch it and just let it rest, along with icing it. After training we headed to the ice baths and we had a 10min session in them.

Then we headed out for lunch. I was still freezing from the ice bath because I didn’t bring pants, just shorts to change into, and the weather outside wasn’t the warmest. Eventually I warmed up. We we out to a new coffee/tea place after lunch and it was a nice place. I decided to get a hot chocolate this time!

Eventually we got home and I continued to do more and more visa preparation along with speaking with someone on the phone who is helping with my next move to another team in England. Other than that, my evening was filled with the olympics and conversations with my family.

Back into the routine today for a big week of training for the team. We had a decent field session in the morning followed by a good gym session in the afternoon. The field session was similar to most with some plyos, passing drills, and small 7v7 games. Nothing too out of the ordinary. However more youth players showed up, so the numbers continue to rise. I am now just making the most of the opportunity to train as I am now preparing for my move away from here in search of other opportunities.

We eventually made it home and had a casual afternoon, where I was able to continue to watch the Olympics. The frustrating thing for me is that the TV channels showing the games is solely focused on all the British athletes and teams, so unless NZ is in the same event or competing against the Brits, I don’t get to see much coverage. I guess thats just the way it goes.

I am continuing to plan for my next step which is looking likely to be England. The information is still being gathered regarding visas and stuff, but I am getting a better understanding of it all finally. My night consisted of a good meal and a nice FaceTime with Shannon to catch up on her events of her first few shifts as a full time Nurse!

Today was game day, so I was able to get some rest in the morning. My late morning and early afternoon consisted on more phone calls and emails trying to gain more information regarding my travel and visa things. Finally I got some helpful answers which will allow me to implement a plan come time. I have part of the process planned, now I just need a destination.

Instead of getting dropped off at the stadium 3 hours before kick off, Wardy left his car for me to drive in later. Safe to say the manual driving skills are still being practiced, and it sure didn’t help getting stuck behind a tractor trailer at an intersection. However, I made it to the ground without too many blushes. This time my training partner was Chaz, who has been recovering from injury for way too long and he is now at the point of very close return. Chaz is a very well connected, well travelled guy, spending time playing in Australia and New York, along with an extended stint with Derry when he was younger. We did an extensive warm up and chatted the whole time and then we didn’t a 20 minute run. After the run, we got into the real tough work. The heart rate was going, the lungs were doing their best, but it was tough. It is work that we both need, especially for him getting back up to fitness to play matches again, and for me to be ready when my opportunity comes. This was the longest session prior to a game that I have done. We didn’t get back into the dressing room until the game had kicked off. We missed the first 15 minutes, and of course that is when Derry scored. Safe to say we didn’t miss too much after that. A game that never reached any great heights really, and it seems to be that this is becoming a theme.

Onward from this game, with the weekend off. I managed to 3-point turn out of my parking spot and get all the way home unscathed driving, progress.