National Squad Diary
Read all the view and feelings from the players in the squad as the prepare for the FIPFA World Cup 2011. You will get to find out what they get up during the training and preparation, as well as how they are feeling as the event approaches.
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Sunday 25th September 2011
It was another long day for me! I was up at 6:45am and down for breakfast with the team at 7:30am, because we had to be at the venue for 8:30am. This was so we would all be in our Powerchairs and ready for a 9:00am start.
The session began with our usual warm up of a slalom in a figure of eight then 50 passes. Then we played a game where we were split into two groups of four. One group were the defenders and the other team took turns in pairs to try and score a goal. The twist to this drill was it was done without the ball and defenders had to stop the wheelchairs from crossing the line. The attacking team had three minutes to score as many goals as possible. Then we swapped over three more times to change the pairs and to let the other team have a go. This game helped with creating space and marking players whilst they are off the ball.
We then had a quick 10 minute break before we went off in two groups to come up with 2 attacking set-plays. This was a development on yesterday’s defensice plays. We tried them out against the other team who had to defend against them. We had another short break before we returned to go over yesterdays set play work.
We had a 20 minute break, during which each player talked to the camera to say our name, age, which team play for and what does it mean to play for England. This was a little strange as we did it in the changing room.
Then we did 3 vs 2 where the coaches rolled in fast balls for the 3 attacking players to try and score past the 2 defenders who weren't allowed out the box. We all rotated positions on the wings each time. The day was finished off with a 20 minute game and penalties against the two goalkeepers.
The weekend has left us excited for the next training session and ready for the 2011 World Cup.
Saturday 24th September 2011
It was the beginning of another high impact weekend in preparation for the World Cup. All the team arrived for an early start, and everyone was really looking forward to the next few days.
We entered the hall and while the coaches carried on with their preparation for the day, the squad began with our normal wheelchair warm up. Next we attempted our 50 passes, however the coaches disagreed with us that we had completed them correctly and forced us to do them again! We were then called in as a team for the coaches set out the morning of training ahead.
We were split into two groups of four, where we worked hard and closely to come up with new set pieces from deep in our own defensive half. We came up with three different set plays, one from the goal kick and two from a defensive throw in. As a group we all know that the best ways to score are from set pieces and so we all needed to work hard as a group to come up with ideas in which we can use during game play situations.
After around an hour of practise we had a short break, which was followed by the two groups coming together and showing each other how the set pieces worked. What I liked most about this was that the team not displaying the set piece got to defend against the other team. As all of these were showed and played out numerous amounts of times, the coaches recorded them down on some paper. This will be collated into a PDF file so that we all have a copy to learn and memorise for the World Cup.
During the training came a little surprise. Prior to the training weekend we had been asked to select a song, which we would use to spur us on and get the World Cup spirit into our systems. These had all been put together on disk and we played them during our training session. This was also done to try and replicate how the crowd noise would be at the world cup.
Once we finished the morning session, we were told to take a 2 hour lunch break. All the players thought this was a long time for lunch, but this was done on purpose. At the world cup we would be in this situation of waiting around in between our matches and the coaches wanted to see how we reacted and our response when we started again.
After lunch we were called in to speak to the coaches. This discussion was to find out how, we as individuals prepare ourselves before games so then the coaching team have an understanding of what our preparation is prior to a game.
After the meeting we then continued a few more set piece drills before going into match play. This saw people switching teams so it gave the coaching staff a look at what players play well with others.
Training then finished around 16:30 and we made our way back to the hotel to have dinner and then a team meeting. The team meeting lasted around one and a half hours in which we had to complete a number of FIPFA forms and were given an update on the rest of the preparation and plans for the World Cup.
Once the meeting was complete we all made our way to our room preparing for an early start the following morning.
Sunday 12th June 2011
It was an early start, up at 7am and down for breakfast by 7:30am. This was to make sure we left the hotel and arrived at the sports hall, ready and on court to start training at exactly 9am. Today was our last chance as players to impress the coaching staff before they cut the squad from 10 down to the 8 players that would travel to France for the 2011 World Cup.
Once on court, it was straight into our warm up routine. After the slalom based warm up, we then went into our 50 passes and we were set and ready for a hard mornings work.
After a brief chat from the Coaches about the outline of our training for the day, we quickly moved on to the first drill of the day where we were divided into “zones”, where a player could not move out of a given area of the pitch, until the attacking team was in the oppositions penalty area.
After a brief drinks break, we went straight into our next drill which was penalties. We were split into 2 teams, each player took a turn to go in goal and try to save a few penalties. Each player took 9 penalties and there were only a few saved as the standard of the striking was excellent.
We then had a 15 minute refreshment break and chat before we were then straight back into some more drills.
This saw us taking each other on as we competed against each other in a 1v1 battle to see who could score first. This was using the whole pitch with a goal at either end. We then progressed the drill onto 2v2’s and then onto 3v3’s.
We were put into the same teams from the earlier zonal drill and we ended our hard working weekends training with a full length match.
After the match we had a debriefing with the coaching staff, said our goodbyes and headed off on our separate ways home. We would now have a nervous wait as the coaching staff make their decision on the final eight. The spirit of the squad is growing each time we get together. The squad will be 2 players lighter the next time we meet but the standard of play has been incredible.
All the players will now return to their domestic teams as we gear up for the climax of the National League.
Saturday 11th June 2011
Some of the squad arrived in Nottingham last night and we stayed at the new Village Hotel. After a little lie in and some good breakfast, we headed across town to meet the rest of the squad at the training venue for a midday start. We had a quick chat and briefing in the sunshine before we headed into the sports hall to do our routine warm up. The warm up took all of 15 minutes and then Allen set us up with our first drill of the day... Penalties!
Whilst discussing the order in which penalties would be taken, a boom box started belting out tunes. This was to create some atmosphere in the gym and try to replicate some pressure on the takers, as we will experience at the World Cup. Each player took a turn in goal, as the coaches were assessing different approaches that maybe used during the tournament.
After a short refreshment break we focused on our technique. The coaches divised a number of drills that were designed to test our accuracy. We had to hit a goal post from a set piece delivery. This was finished with a quick competition to increase the power of the strikes as we had to strike the post and move it from the penalty spot to over the goal line. This was a little harder than we had expected…
Obviously we're all competitive and the best way to prove chair control was a timed slalom race. This involved forward, stopping and reversing. We each individually got timed through the slalom and then went head to head as a team of five. We had to slalom though the cones, picking up the last cone we came to and then reverse to the goal line. A few carers nearly lost a limb or two as they passed the cones to us!
We finished the session with a full length game. The teams were picked to meet the classification criteria and players were swapped and changed position as the coaches looked at a variety of formations. It was a tight game and chances were limited as the final selection came all too real. Everyone was trying to step up their game.
After a quick debrief, it was back to the hotel for a splash in the pool. After working up an appetite we had a team meal and then headed to the meeting room for the evenings events. We had a briefing regarding the current situation with the squad, an update on the World Cup and what tomorrow would involve. It was then time for the “entertainment”. Articulate was the game! With a mish mash of celebrities, characters and even some names from the world of Powerchair Football, we had to describe to person for our teams mates to guess. You can imagine the laughs we had…
It was then time for bed as we would be up early in the morning for a team breakfast, before the last day of training before the squad would be cut.
Sunday 10th April 2011
It was an early start this morning. We were all awake, dressed and down for breakfast by 7:15 as we were leaving for the venue at 8am. We were on court and ready to go at half eight and it was straight into our warm up routine. After the slalom driving, it didn’t take us long to fire our 50 passes and we were set for the mornings drills.
The group was split into goalkeepers, TDX and Storm players. The TDX guys went to work on their technique of striking a dead ball, while the Storms worked on long range (half and reverse spinning) shooting at the goalkeepers. This was high intensity and really started to work all the players. The accuracy and power of the strikes improved as we all developed our timing. This drill developed into us attacking in threes. The first player laid the ball off to a winger, they would then cross the ball for the 3rd attacker to have a strike at goal. Again this was done at a high speed with us all rotating positions and not having time to think.
After a short drinks break, we all came back together and worked on a number of set plays. This was combining all of the work we had done over the previous hour and we learnt a number of different plays.
We stopped for a break, talked over what we had done in the first couple of hours while having a drink. With the sun shining outside, it was hot in the hall so the break was a chance to cool down and prepare for the final part of the weekend.
We began with a number of drills working on 1v1 and 2v2 situations. The banter was good and the spirit in the squad is great as we challenged each other. We then got split into two teams, had a quick passing challenge before we finished with a full match. The coaches kept changing the teams and positions of the players as looked to execute some of the work from last two days. It was a great weekend, we all learnt some new things and bring on the next training event.
Saturday 9th April 2011
After meeting the England team at Wembley a few weeks back, everyone was itching to get back training together. We all met at the Lodge Park Leisure Centre, Corby ready for a midday start. Ahead was going to be a hard 4 hour training session.
We started by discussing the outline for the weekend, which included two training sessions, a team swimming session, dinner and the now legendary evening quiz (not to forget the Grand National sweep stake!).
After a brief chat we moved onto the serious work, firstly looking at a new team warm up that we would use prior to matches. This was designed to ensure our chairs were at top speed ready for kick off. This involves a “slalom” like approach, with players crossing each other so works on our mental preparation as well as the chair skills and finishes with some quick passing.
Following the warm up, we moved onto looking at goal keeping focusing on how the attackers moved the ball around, switching the play to create space to score goals. We started off by splitting off into two groups working on a range of set pieces, rotating round to ensure that everyone was familiar with the roles required for each position. The main focus was creating space by drawing the defender’s out of position in order to create goal scoring opportunities.
We finished with a full game, where the first 20 minutes focused on the goal keeper being outnumbered in the final third to encourage us to move the ball around and put the keepers under pressure. This successfully led to more chances being created and a close 2-2 score line at half time. We finished the game with normal rules trying to bring the new tactics into a match, which successfully led to more passing and opportunities for goals to be scored.
The standard of play had improved again and there were real signs of everyone starting to gel!
Monday, 28th March 2011
After a weekend of hard fought National League competition the National team were invited to Wembley meet the England Senior team. We would get the chance to meet the players and watch them train on the pitch prior to their match against Ghana.
The day began at 6.15am, getting up to ensure I was ready for breakfast with the coaching staff and players. We had stayed at the Holiday Inn, Kettering in preparation for the drive down to the stadium. After a quick breakfast we set off at 7.30, to ensure we were there for a 9.45 meet, especially with the traffic on a Monday morning! We all got there safely and met under Wembley Way.
After a quick briefing, we were escorted into the stadium, out through the tunnel and arrived pitch side. After a few pictures we got into position to wait for the players to make their way out of the dressing room. First out was England Coach, Fabio Capello, who was introduced to each player, shook our hands and offered a few words of encouragement.
Next came a surprise. Each player was presented with an England shirt. This had our names and squad numbers on the back, and we posed for pictures as the Head Coach (Allen) and an FA representative gave them to us. I was presented with the number 3 shirt.
Joe Hart was the first player to head out onto the Wembley turf. On the way he came to shake our hands and was closely followed by the rest of the squad. The team lined up behind us and we posed for some pictures for the media that were present. The training session then started and we got a chance to see how Capello prepared a team ahead of a game. We took this chance to get a few personal photos of the stadium, England players and the training session. At the conclusion of the session, the players came across to speak with us, sign autographs and pose for some photographs.
As the players headed back to the dressing room, we were taking into the Away dressing room. This was used as a base for our squad to have some lunch, get some individual profile shots and speak about some of the things we may experience in the months ahead.
We headed back into the tunnel and pitch side to get some final promotional photographs and it was time to leave.
We said our goodbyes and my 6 hour journey back to Newcastle began. I feel the squad is really starting to bond and we left feeling ready, waiting and raring to go for the next training weekend in a couple of weeks. Today was a great day!
Sunday, 27th February 2011
Sunday morning was a very early start, after a busy Saturday. My day started at around 6.30am, with bath and hair wash, followed by a quick breakfast before heading over to the venue.
By 9am, we were in the sports hall, we had all warmed up and been speed tested. The coaches then put us into two groups of 5 and we played a 25 minute half! This was to allow changes to be made every five minutes as the teams rotated. My team were trailing 2-0 at the break. We then spent half an hour working on attacking and defensive set plays in our groups. We then played the 2nd half and were to try and execute some of our moves.
At the final whistle we had a short refreshment break, before changing teams and getting back into match scenarios. This time the pitch was divided into “zones”, where a player could not move out of a given area, until the attacking team was in the attacking third. Then we had to try and execute some of the attacking plays. With 10 minutes left we were allowed out of the “zones” to see if we could retain our shape. Unfortunately, a defensive mix up led to the opposition capitalising and taking the lead. For the final few minutes, we changed formation to play 4-up, but were unable to convert any of the pressure and get an equaliser.
The 4 hours training had flown by and it was time to finish, pack up and make our way back home. It was a good start to the first England training camp and the standard of play was phenomenal. Bring on the next weekend.
Saturday, 26th February 2011
I was up early as I was getting ready to head to Corby. I arrived at 10am and as the others turned up, it was good to catch up as it was the first time we had all met up since the squad was announced.
The morning officially started at 11am when we gathered with the 3 coaches to discuss the plans for the weekend and what is expected from the players.
Once the talking finished we were split into 2 teams, were speed tested and we warmed up. We got straight into a full game as the coaches watched on. Towards the end of the match, we had a small mechanical failure, as when I challenged Rob for the ball, part of his attachment broke. Thanks to Mark, who managed to go and find somewhere to fix it! Rob used Sam’s chairs so we could finish the game. We were speed tested at half time and at the end in order to gather some more data on the chairs.
The afternoon involved more tactical matches in which we had to stick to certain positions to allow more space during a game. This showed that if everyone sticks to your position then you find it easier to move the ball around and create more.
Training finished around 3pm and everyone made our way back to the hotel. A swimming session had been arranged so all the players and careers went down to the swimming pool for swim and to socialise. Once everyone had finished swimming, we got changed and had to be down for dinner at 6pm.
After dinner the Coaches called the players for a meeting. We discussed the day and how we felt the day had gone. The next task was to create a Code of Conduct for the players, carers and coaches, which we all agreed and would be in place for the duration of the World Cup.
Following the players meeting, the careers were then asked to join us and they were informed about the code of conduct and we were updated on a number of developments with the team. We finished with a game of “Would I Lie to you?”, then we had time to chill until 11pm, when we had to head to our rooms (as set by the Code of Conduct!). It’s been a long and busy day, but I am looking forward to tomorrow.
