National Team 2013 - Phase 1 - Day 2

Well Day 2 - Complete.

Not a basketball court day but a long one just the same.

Started with an early morning breakfast and then off to the gym for physical testing. The testing began at about 10:30 and ran until about 2:30-2:45. Lots of different tests and it wasn't a fun day for the athletes but necessary for us to track their progress and set new standards for the players now and in the future. There were a number of people there from the Canadian Sport Centre doing the testing so I helped put down some international court markings on all 3 courts. The new lines aren't painted at McMaster so we had to use floor tape to make the markings. Kept me busy.

After the testing we had a quick lunch and then headed back to the residence for a coaches meeting. We discussed a number of things about practice and what we will be doing for the next few days. We had about an hour off between 5:30-6:30 so I came back to my room. Made some recruiting calls and sent some emails. It never seems to stop.

At 7 pm we had a meeting with all of the players to discuss the future of the program and have formal introductions for everyone. We gave the players a video assignment that they have to complete in groups. They must watch certain games and report back certain statistics to the group. It will be interesting to see what they see compared to what we see.

Following this meeting the coaching staff all went down to a really nice restaurant near campus. A neat little hole in the wall type of place. Last night they took me to a tiny little place that had awesome sweet potato bisque and a phenomenal smoked meat sandwich. I thought that was great until tonight. An incredible cream of tomato and basil soup followed by my favourite. Pork Tenderloin done in an orange ginger sauce with a hint of maple. WOW. All I can say.

It was great to sit around and not talk about the technical side of the game, the X's and O's. I basically just listened as a lot of great coaches told a lot of great stories about what it meant to compete for the country and what it means to be involved, what it was like in the "old days" etc. Bev Smith is here with us at camp and she is a legend in this country. One of the all time greats, maybe the best ever in Canada and at one time was considered one of the top 3 players in the world. She has incredible stories and amazing insights on the game. Getting to be involved with people like this is what makes my involvement with the national team so special. You get to meet so many passionate people who love the game and this country. When Bev spoke to the team tonight I was blown away and so were the girls. She is going to bring a lot to the table as they say.

So on to tomorrow. Day 3 of the phase but day 1 on the court. 2 practices and we really get to get after it as they say. Looking forward to it. This level of athlete is impressive.

Our young performance analyst / video wizard Dipesh asked me today about some coaching things and I told him that everyone here has their strengths and weaknesses as coaches yet we all bring things to the table and mesh them together. He asked what my weakness was and I said I had LOTS lol. The biggest thing I told him is that often I will catch myself wondering what the hell I am doing here. Standing beside these legendary players/coaches. Again, what an amazing honour to be here.

But I have sang that song before and will again no doubt.

Until tomorrow.......

PS - Did I mention that I LOVE CANADA!!!!!