I've had a very good week off. Bearing in mind I was supposed to be refereeing an international football tournament in Denmark this week, ultimately, I'm very glad I didn't go. The weather here has been marvellous, events almost non-stop and to miss the start of the Olympics, escaping the country whilst the whole world's eyes are on yours would have been a regrettable mistake.
The start of the week mainly saw me enjoying the sunshine as we had a couple of nets in the baking heat and also just relaxing down the park, basking in temperatures touching 30 degrees. It was a life you could get used to, but I was pretty damn determined to forget about work completely and enjoy it. We had a laugh, enjoyed ourselves, ate ice-cream and for the majority of this week, I have been loving life.
But I was loving it even more when the clock ticked round to 00:00 on Friday 27th July 2012. Officially, the starting date of London 2012, and I'll be the first to admit that, before then, I hadn't really got involved in the buzz of it all. After reading and listening to all the negativity surrounding security, cost and Phillips Idowu, the day had finally come and we, as a country, could let the events do the talking. For the whole of Friday, despite not being totally fussed about the Olympics before, I was absolutely buzzing for the Opening Ceremony from the Olympic Stadium.
The ceremony itself was incredible. Amazing. Inspiring. Spine-tingling. 11 out of 10. Seriously, a lot of people were saying beforehand that we were going to embarrass ourselves in the midst of Beijing 2008, but in my honest and most probably biased opinion, the opening ceremony of London 2012 topped it. It was different, original, comic and spectacular all at once and I could not take my eyes off it for the whole 3 and a half hours. Everything from the electric Industrial Revolution routine, to the bizarreness of the parachuting Queen to the pure genius of Rowan Atkinson, right to the very end where the honour of lighting the cauldron was handed over to the next generation, and even finding out that there were countries competing that you've never heard of. The whole thing was an experience and a half and I am so, so glad I was in the country to watch it, as it was happening just down the road.
As for the actual sport, I haven't really had much of a chance to watch a lot. On Saturday, Bedford CC had a free week, so I helped out Riseley CC and hit a pretty good 34 before losing concentration. We lost by 1 wicket, which was pretty annoying but not too gut-wrenching.
"However. All of a sudden, I have a case of the 'Holiday Blues', as a return to work is imminent..."
...Is what I should be saying. But I don't think I do. I knew this moment would come. I have accepted it and accept that I will be walking to work at midday to do my stint, working towards my targets and hoping that GB don't win too many gold medals so we don't have to give away "gold medal stamps" to the strange stamp-collecting people...
But I'll leave it there. The Olympic Games is in London! I'll try and catch some of it, and enjoy it at the same time! Have a good week!
Monday 30 July 2012
Tuesday 24 July 2012
The Finest of Lines
That meeting went well. It was about 10 days ago now, but the discussion was frank, gentlemanly and most importantly in my mind, conducted between two men who were respective and assertive. We listened to each other's views, took them on board, and put forward our own opinions. Starting and ending with a handshake, and we both knew where we stood. Job done.
Except it's not job done. To anyone else, it would be a simple chat and move on, but to me it was a vital stepping stone in teaching myself to be confident enough to put forward my own views without disintegrating into a quivering wreck. The fact that I held my own in a conversation that could easily have turned into me agreeing with all of his views without fight, is a good sign. It's happened before, so it wouldn't have surprised me if it did happen again.
And since then, things have been on the up. There have been absolutely no slip ups in the fight, but complacency is the last thing on my mind. I have learnt that as soon as I think it's gone, it comes roaring back unexpectedly, and hits you hard. I still use the same techniques I learnt six months ago to get rid of possible negative scenarios and replace them with the most positive of positive scenarios. I dismiss what I think people are thinking of me, and replace it with the phrase, "Who gives a fuck?" That is literally what I say to myself. Crass, maybe. But it works.
So what has happened in the past 10 days? Only very recently has Summer finally made an appearance, but what happened before that? I had a long week at work, realised my stock unit was £40 up and dismissed the thoughts of negativity once more. "It's better than losing money", I told myself. Replace the negativity with the positive spin. Practice makes perfect. In the past week also, I have closed a lot of friendships from my refereeing days, preferring to forget about them and move on to pastures new. I was rather harsh with some of them, but I think its the best way for me. There is no need keeping friendships when you're never going to see or work with them again. I was of course, supposed to be refereeing in Denmark this week, but obviously I haven't gone. And I'm very happy I haven't.
This weekend however, has been a BTW. Big Time Weekend. On Friday night, after a surprisingly quick(ish) day at work, we descended on Master Kettle's to enjoy his 21st birthday celebrations and met Watty in town for his 22nd! A good night was had my most, (Hey Beddoe...), and the sounds of us screaming our way through our favourite songs is a noise that will stay with me for a long time.
The key word there is, "noise".
On Saturday, hangover-less, of course, we went on our way to the first instalment of a beautiful cricketing weekend, in Graveley, Hertfordshire. It was a bit of a trek and upon arrival, and we also worked out that we had to climb a hill to reach the pitch, which was a bit of a pain. The match itself though, went swimmingly, and after bowling them out for 50, we knocked them off in 9 overs, (including my first 6 in two seasons!) and was home for tea! Our team is now 64 points clear at the top of the table, but just like my other battle, I will tell the team not to get complacent. Important games coming up, against good sides, and we shall need to be at our best to beat them.
On Sunday, it was even better. Away to fellow promotion-chasers Biddenham and for the first time in a long, long time, I was a little bit nervous. I don't usually get nervous before cricket matches, tending to just go with the flow. But I'm not sure what happened yesterday. Fielding first, we kept it very tight in very warm conditions and a beauty of a batting track, keeping them down to 185. During the tea break, I sat in the corner and thought. Just thought, visualised my innings, working out what I needed to do and how to go about it. I never put this much thought into an innings...
It worked. Chasing 186 to win, me and Monty put on 182 in 36 overs to all but secure us the victory. I have rarely concentrated so hard in an innings, yet I'm pretty sure I have never enjoyed an innings as much as this one. Monty scored a fantastic 92 not out, and mine was the only wicket that Biddenham managed to snaffle, but that was after I'd scored the most patient 79 you're going to see. I was very pleased, although Boony, walking to the wicket with 4 to win, wasn't and we secured a very comfortable and professional 9 wicket win. We only took 4 wickets in the Biddenham innings however, so we dropped down the table. It's a strange scoring system in our league... And our division is very close...
And today... Well, today was pretty awesome aswell! I had a week booked off work in advance because I was due to be in Denmark, of course. I thought I might aswell keep it booked off, and given the forecast, it looks like it's going to be an inspired decision! Today, I played a bit of snooker with Checks before going to the Seattle Steakhouse in Hemel Hempstead. A delightful selection of Camel, Crocodile, Impala, Springbok, Zebra, Kudu, Wildebeest and Blesbok greeted us and it was phenomonal. I really, really enjoyed it and we had a good old catch up aswell!
The rest of the week looks to be going in a similarly cheery vain, but once again I must urge myself, in writing it seems, not to get complacent. Complacency is the first step to negativity, and I will not be negative.
"There is a fine line between being assertive and being too relaxed."
Except it's not job done. To anyone else, it would be a simple chat and move on, but to me it was a vital stepping stone in teaching myself to be confident enough to put forward my own views without disintegrating into a quivering wreck. The fact that I held my own in a conversation that could easily have turned into me agreeing with all of his views without fight, is a good sign. It's happened before, so it wouldn't have surprised me if it did happen again.
And since then, things have been on the up. There have been absolutely no slip ups in the fight, but complacency is the last thing on my mind. I have learnt that as soon as I think it's gone, it comes roaring back unexpectedly, and hits you hard. I still use the same techniques I learnt six months ago to get rid of possible negative scenarios and replace them with the most positive of positive scenarios. I dismiss what I think people are thinking of me, and replace it with the phrase, "Who gives a fuck?" That is literally what I say to myself. Crass, maybe. But it works.
So what has happened in the past 10 days? Only very recently has Summer finally made an appearance, but what happened before that? I had a long week at work, realised my stock unit was £40 up and dismissed the thoughts of negativity once more. "It's better than losing money", I told myself. Replace the negativity with the positive spin. Practice makes perfect. In the past week also, I have closed a lot of friendships from my refereeing days, preferring to forget about them and move on to pastures new. I was rather harsh with some of them, but I think its the best way for me. There is no need keeping friendships when you're never going to see or work with them again. I was of course, supposed to be refereeing in Denmark this week, but obviously I haven't gone. And I'm very happy I haven't.
This weekend however, has been a BTW. Big Time Weekend. On Friday night, after a surprisingly quick(ish) day at work, we descended on Master Kettle's to enjoy his 21st birthday celebrations and met Watty in town for his 22nd! A good night was had my most, (Hey Beddoe...), and the sounds of us screaming our way through our favourite songs is a noise that will stay with me for a long time.
The key word there is, "noise".
On Saturday, hangover-less, of course, we went on our way to the first instalment of a beautiful cricketing weekend, in Graveley, Hertfordshire. It was a bit of a trek and upon arrival, and we also worked out that we had to climb a hill to reach the pitch, which was a bit of a pain. The match itself though, went swimmingly, and after bowling them out for 50, we knocked them off in 9 overs, (including my first 6 in two seasons!) and was home for tea! Our team is now 64 points clear at the top of the table, but just like my other battle, I will tell the team not to get complacent. Important games coming up, against good sides, and we shall need to be at our best to beat them.
On Sunday, it was even better. Away to fellow promotion-chasers Biddenham and for the first time in a long, long time, I was a little bit nervous. I don't usually get nervous before cricket matches, tending to just go with the flow. But I'm not sure what happened yesterday. Fielding first, we kept it very tight in very warm conditions and a beauty of a batting track, keeping them down to 185. During the tea break, I sat in the corner and thought. Just thought, visualised my innings, working out what I needed to do and how to go about it. I never put this much thought into an innings...
It worked. Chasing 186 to win, me and Monty put on 182 in 36 overs to all but secure us the victory. I have rarely concentrated so hard in an innings, yet I'm pretty sure I have never enjoyed an innings as much as this one. Monty scored a fantastic 92 not out, and mine was the only wicket that Biddenham managed to snaffle, but that was after I'd scored the most patient 79 you're going to see. I was very pleased, although Boony, walking to the wicket with 4 to win, wasn't and we secured a very comfortable and professional 9 wicket win. We only took 4 wickets in the Biddenham innings however, so we dropped down the table. It's a strange scoring system in our league... And our division is very close...
And today... Well, today was pretty awesome aswell! I had a week booked off work in advance because I was due to be in Denmark, of course. I thought I might aswell keep it booked off, and given the forecast, it looks like it's going to be an inspired decision! Today, I played a bit of snooker with Checks before going to the Seattle Steakhouse in Hemel Hempstead. A delightful selection of Camel, Crocodile, Impala, Springbok, Zebra, Kudu, Wildebeest and Blesbok greeted us and it was phenomonal. I really, really enjoyed it and we had a good old catch up aswell!
The rest of the week looks to be going in a similarly cheery vain, but once again I must urge myself, in writing it seems, not to get complacent. Complacency is the first step to negativity, and I will not be negative.
"There is a fine line between being assertive and being too relaxed."
Friday 13 July 2012
Frustrations
I've had a highly frustrating evening. Multiple discussions based around two things. 1) The ethos and selection policy of a cricket club and 2) The main principles of friendship.
In all fairness, by the time I got around to discussing point 2, I was already highly strung and frustrated over point 1, which I believe I have spoken briefly about here before. I have taken over 2 cricket sides, both of which I want to be successful. In the last post, I spoke about how I have been involved in sport for too long simply to want to "be involved". After taking away the transport problems and my level of talent, I want to be able to play the best cricket available to me. The club I am with at the moment, are languishing in the middle tier of our Saturday league setup, (although promotion is looking good) and right at the bottom of the Sunday league setup, (again, with promotion still in the mix). The reason we are fighting for promotion is because we have had our best players playing for the past month or so. If we want to get promoted, this is the way to go.
However, our self-proclaimed "Director of Cricket" thinks differently. Bedford Cricket Club is predominantly a youth cricket club, with successful youth setups across the board. No one will say that our youth setup is bad, because it plainly isn't. The problem is, when the youth of the club turn 17, they have nowhere else to go instead of into the adult setup, which is nowhere. Ultimately, these players will leave and look elsewhere for a better standard, leaving our adult sides drowning at the bottom of the league setup. To change this, we need to get promoted, and fast. Promising young players in the past have gone from successful youth teams to adult teams who are worse, simply because the adult teams have no substance.
Except our so-called "Director of Cricket" has other ideas. After texting him the selected XI's for this weekend, just for his information, he replied with a long essay about how I haven't been fair with the selection, and have gone with nearly the same XI for both days, (which isn't strictly true). He berated me for not having the right maturity for the role and not understanding the ethos of the club. He thinks I should be giving everyone a fair game, but also wants the teams to be promoted, which, given our poor strength in depth, is almost impossible. It is clear we disagree on certain aspects of running the two sides, except his reasoning is daft and I am being realistic. I simply cannot expect to pick two sides, both of which will get promoted, whilst also giving people their "chances". In my experience, you cannot pick a side based on "fairness", giving everyone a fair bat and a bowl AND get promoted. With a squad of 20 good players, then yes, quite possibly, but not at this cricket club. No way. Maybe a year ago, I'd have swayed to giving people chances, but like I say, I've changed. I now think there is little point in playing, especially when you're using up whole weekends, just to go along and lose. I don't want that anymore. I have a "meeting" with him tomorrow, and I don't imagine it to be very civilised..
Another thing that annoys me somewhat is, at the beginning of the season, I was assured that I would have total control in who plays, how I would go about running the side, and that our Director of Cricket would only step in if I asked for help, (which I did on occasions). Clearly, this isn't happening anymore, as he has stepped in and become quite aggressive in questioning my decisions. This all may seem a little OTT, but in recent months, especially after the FA fiasco, I have become a man of principle. I do not want to be involved in anything where my ideas are different to that of the club/organisation/association around me, and that is final. I don't feel like I could comfortably play for a team, knowing that their main goal isn't to progress. What's the point? We have laughs along the way, we enjoy ourselves, we have fun, yes. But ultimately, I want to be part of a team that works its way up from the bottom to new heights and that's going to be hard enough without the owner breathing down your neck at every turn and heavily criticising decisions. I might be improving mentally, but even so, I'm not sure I want to cope with that pressure just yet.
After that charade, Point 2 started, that basically involved me and my friend having a discussion about Summer trips, its organisation and what not, none of which I can be bothered, or want to discuss. There's not really much need. I do just wish sometimes though, that people can just get on without argument or discussion. Have a few alcoholic beverages, and enjoy the days without acrimony, animosity or indignation.
I have one primary concern and one minor concern though. Yes, I am becoming a man who takes his principles and morals very seriously, and yes, I am starting to think that I am seriously growing up and maturing, but I want none of this to be personal. There was one line from this exchange with the Director of Cricket, that angered me a little. He claimed I didn't have the passion for the game and the club that he did. I accept, of course, that he has put a lot of effort in. But to suggest I don't care is ludicrous. I could have moved on a few years ago, but stayed to help fight to get us up and going. I took over to help take the strain off him along with my own want to get up and going. For him to chuck that back in my face is a little upsetting.
However, my primary concern is my state of mind. As if it needed saying. These past few months, I have stood up for what I think with surprising strength, but I feel that the next few weeks, beginning tomorrow with this meeting, is going to take that to the next level. I need to be able to control my emotions, whilst having important discussions face-to-face, keeping a lid on feelings and staying rational throughout. I think I know what's going to happen tomorrow at this meeting, and I think I know what I'm going to do if certain home truths arise, and I don't think it's going to end well. However, I need to be an adult about it. Accept it. Move on. Hopefully I can continue to play cricket there, without feeling like I'm going against my own thoughts and ideas, but somehow I don't think that's going to be possible, on Saturdays at least. We shall see.
It's all very well talking about standing up for yourself and being strong in the Summer, but this Winter is going to be the real challenge. If I can get through one winter, with few troubles, then I'll know I'm on the road to recovery. Given the current state of the British weather, and the oncoming storm at the cricket club, I almost want that challenge to begin tomorrow.
I just want to get on with it. No excuses.
In all fairness, by the time I got around to discussing point 2, I was already highly strung and frustrated over point 1, which I believe I have spoken briefly about here before. I have taken over 2 cricket sides, both of which I want to be successful. In the last post, I spoke about how I have been involved in sport for too long simply to want to "be involved". After taking away the transport problems and my level of talent, I want to be able to play the best cricket available to me. The club I am with at the moment, are languishing in the middle tier of our Saturday league setup, (although promotion is looking good) and right at the bottom of the Sunday league setup, (again, with promotion still in the mix). The reason we are fighting for promotion is because we have had our best players playing for the past month or so. If we want to get promoted, this is the way to go.
However, our self-proclaimed "Director of Cricket" thinks differently. Bedford Cricket Club is predominantly a youth cricket club, with successful youth setups across the board. No one will say that our youth setup is bad, because it plainly isn't. The problem is, when the youth of the club turn 17, they have nowhere else to go instead of into the adult setup, which is nowhere. Ultimately, these players will leave and look elsewhere for a better standard, leaving our adult sides drowning at the bottom of the league setup. To change this, we need to get promoted, and fast. Promising young players in the past have gone from successful youth teams to adult teams who are worse, simply because the adult teams have no substance.
Except our so-called "Director of Cricket" has other ideas. After texting him the selected XI's for this weekend, just for his information, he replied with a long essay about how I haven't been fair with the selection, and have gone with nearly the same XI for both days, (which isn't strictly true). He berated me for not having the right maturity for the role and not understanding the ethos of the club. He thinks I should be giving everyone a fair game, but also wants the teams to be promoted, which, given our poor strength in depth, is almost impossible. It is clear we disagree on certain aspects of running the two sides, except his reasoning is daft and I am being realistic. I simply cannot expect to pick two sides, both of which will get promoted, whilst also giving people their "chances". In my experience, you cannot pick a side based on "fairness", giving everyone a fair bat and a bowl AND get promoted. With a squad of 20 good players, then yes, quite possibly, but not at this cricket club. No way. Maybe a year ago, I'd have swayed to giving people chances, but like I say, I've changed. I now think there is little point in playing, especially when you're using up whole weekends, just to go along and lose. I don't want that anymore. I have a "meeting" with him tomorrow, and I don't imagine it to be very civilised..
Another thing that annoys me somewhat is, at the beginning of the season, I was assured that I would have total control in who plays, how I would go about running the side, and that our Director of Cricket would only step in if I asked for help, (which I did on occasions). Clearly, this isn't happening anymore, as he has stepped in and become quite aggressive in questioning my decisions. This all may seem a little OTT, but in recent months, especially after the FA fiasco, I have become a man of principle. I do not want to be involved in anything where my ideas are different to that of the club/organisation/association around me, and that is final. I don't feel like I could comfortably play for a team, knowing that their main goal isn't to progress. What's the point? We have laughs along the way, we enjoy ourselves, we have fun, yes. But ultimately, I want to be part of a team that works its way up from the bottom to new heights and that's going to be hard enough without the owner breathing down your neck at every turn and heavily criticising decisions. I might be improving mentally, but even so, I'm not sure I want to cope with that pressure just yet.
After that charade, Point 2 started, that basically involved me and my friend having a discussion about Summer trips, its organisation and what not, none of which I can be bothered, or want to discuss. There's not really much need. I do just wish sometimes though, that people can just get on without argument or discussion. Have a few alcoholic beverages, and enjoy the days without acrimony, animosity or indignation.
I have one primary concern and one minor concern though. Yes, I am becoming a man who takes his principles and morals very seriously, and yes, I am starting to think that I am seriously growing up and maturing, but I want none of this to be personal. There was one line from this exchange with the Director of Cricket, that angered me a little. He claimed I didn't have the passion for the game and the club that he did. I accept, of course, that he has put a lot of effort in. But to suggest I don't care is ludicrous. I could have moved on a few years ago, but stayed to help fight to get us up and going. I took over to help take the strain off him along with my own want to get up and going. For him to chuck that back in my face is a little upsetting.
However, my primary concern is my state of mind. As if it needed saying. These past few months, I have stood up for what I think with surprising strength, but I feel that the next few weeks, beginning tomorrow with this meeting, is going to take that to the next level. I need to be able to control my emotions, whilst having important discussions face-to-face, keeping a lid on feelings and staying rational throughout. I think I know what's going to happen tomorrow at this meeting, and I think I know what I'm going to do if certain home truths arise, and I don't think it's going to end well. However, I need to be an adult about it. Accept it. Move on. Hopefully I can continue to play cricket there, without feeling like I'm going against my own thoughts and ideas, but somehow I don't think that's going to be possible, on Saturdays at least. We shall see.
It's all very well talking about standing up for yourself and being strong in the Summer, but this Winter is going to be the real challenge. If I can get through one winter, with few troubles, then I'll know I'm on the road to recovery. Given the current state of the British weather, and the oncoming storm at the cricket club, I almost want that challenge to begin tomorrow.
I just want to get on with it. No excuses.
Sunday 8 July 2012
The Fall and Fall of British Sport
After Andy Murray's loss in the Wimbeldon final today, to an excellent Roger Federer, there has been much discussion of why, when it comes to winning tournaments, Britain is generally quite bad.
Let's get one thing straight. When it comes to tennis, I don't like Andy Murray. He has the charisma of a particularly grey piece of coal, (despite today's tears!), gets angry too often when the situation asks for a cool head and ever since he wore a Paraguay shirt when England were playing them in the football World Cup, I have been hesitant to support him as a Brit. I'm not his biggest fan, and I love the way that Federer plays the game. He is arguably the greatest, but is classy and a touch modest aswell as being hugely competitive at the same time. A winner, but gracious.
But this post has nothing to do with personality. It's about attitude. Over the years, I have always been an advocate of "it's the taking part that counts", but slowly and surely, I am changing. I have been involved in sport long enough now that taking part simply isn't enough. As captain of 2 cricket teams at the weekend, I am trying to instil the attitude of winning. Not winning in an arrogant or senseless way, but winning with grace. I want to play at a better standard, without jumping ship. However, whilst my own personal attitude is switching from one stage to another, the general consensus in British sport is going in the other direction. At this moment in time, schools, clubs and teams around the country tend to go into lessons, games and tournaments with the attitude of "giving everyone a go". Give everyone a fair game, a fair slice of the action, and keep them interested. In the short term, its the easy option, but in the long run, the competitiveness is just going to evaporate. As a young teenager, I wasn't given this option. I was once the captain of a successful young football team, but when I stopped playing well, I was dropped. Left on the bench, game after game, because my team mates were winning. Our team was winning leagues and cups, so why change it? At the time, it was hugely frustrating, but having matured, I know it was the right thing to do. By keeping the best side available, we won trophies. We were winners.
And after a few years of playing the game through enjoyment, I am now swinging back to wanting to win again. As captain of my cricket club, I go out of my way to pick the best 11 players available to me to win matches. Because of this, we are top of the league on Saturdays, and after taking over the captaincy on Sundays, improving our league position. I am going against the attitude of the club in general, to boost our own chances of success, and this is how it should be.
Looking into the future, the British chances in sport in 20 years time look bleak. The competitive nature of school sport especially is being extinguished by the horrible notion that kids will get upset if they aren't given a fair game.
One other aspect that affects British sport's prospects are membership prices. On a personal level, I had football, tennis and golf memberships up until I was 18, and then the prices rocketed. At junior level, I paid £120 for a year's worth of green fees at my local golf club. When I turned 18, that price went up to over £500. At my local tennis club, I paid £30 per term, (£90 for the year). When I turned 18, the price went up by over 300%. I think it was about £105 per term. When you add kit and equipment on top, the vast majority of people cannot afford to carry on, which ultimately means they lose interest, and somewhere in the country, that club has lost a talented individual. Only football and rugby have the inclusive nature where everyone can get involved at little cost, which is probably the main reason why they are 2 of the most popular sports.
Also, Britain still suffers from the divide between the upper, middle and working class. Watching the Wimbeldon final, I saw a crowd full of famous faces, some of which must have no interest in tennis at all. Why? The public must get annoyed watching at home, knowing that a "normal" person's seat has been taken by Victoria Beckham's botox-filled face.
Increased competitiveness, lower membership prices leading to higher participation and deletion of the traditional British class values are all needed to get Britain's kids off their PlayStations and out in the fresh air. If we don't, then watching Wimbeldon finals, world cup finals and British Gold medal ceremonies are going to be few and far between.
Let's get one thing straight. When it comes to tennis, I don't like Andy Murray. He has the charisma of a particularly grey piece of coal, (despite today's tears!), gets angry too often when the situation asks for a cool head and ever since he wore a Paraguay shirt when England were playing them in the football World Cup, I have been hesitant to support him as a Brit. I'm not his biggest fan, and I love the way that Federer plays the game. He is arguably the greatest, but is classy and a touch modest aswell as being hugely competitive at the same time. A winner, but gracious.
But this post has nothing to do with personality. It's about attitude. Over the years, I have always been an advocate of "it's the taking part that counts", but slowly and surely, I am changing. I have been involved in sport long enough now that taking part simply isn't enough. As captain of 2 cricket teams at the weekend, I am trying to instil the attitude of winning. Not winning in an arrogant or senseless way, but winning with grace. I want to play at a better standard, without jumping ship. However, whilst my own personal attitude is switching from one stage to another, the general consensus in British sport is going in the other direction. At this moment in time, schools, clubs and teams around the country tend to go into lessons, games and tournaments with the attitude of "giving everyone a go". Give everyone a fair game, a fair slice of the action, and keep them interested. In the short term, its the easy option, but in the long run, the competitiveness is just going to evaporate. As a young teenager, I wasn't given this option. I was once the captain of a successful young football team, but when I stopped playing well, I was dropped. Left on the bench, game after game, because my team mates were winning. Our team was winning leagues and cups, so why change it? At the time, it was hugely frustrating, but having matured, I know it was the right thing to do. By keeping the best side available, we won trophies. We were winners.
And after a few years of playing the game through enjoyment, I am now swinging back to wanting to win again. As captain of my cricket club, I go out of my way to pick the best 11 players available to me to win matches. Because of this, we are top of the league on Saturdays, and after taking over the captaincy on Sundays, improving our league position. I am going against the attitude of the club in general, to boost our own chances of success, and this is how it should be.
Looking into the future, the British chances in sport in 20 years time look bleak. The competitive nature of school sport especially is being extinguished by the horrible notion that kids will get upset if they aren't given a fair game.
One other aspect that affects British sport's prospects are membership prices. On a personal level, I had football, tennis and golf memberships up until I was 18, and then the prices rocketed. At junior level, I paid £120 for a year's worth of green fees at my local golf club. When I turned 18, that price went up to over £500. At my local tennis club, I paid £30 per term, (£90 for the year). When I turned 18, the price went up by over 300%. I think it was about £105 per term. When you add kit and equipment on top, the vast majority of people cannot afford to carry on, which ultimately means they lose interest, and somewhere in the country, that club has lost a talented individual. Only football and rugby have the inclusive nature where everyone can get involved at little cost, which is probably the main reason why they are 2 of the most popular sports.
Also, Britain still suffers from the divide between the upper, middle and working class. Watching the Wimbeldon final, I saw a crowd full of famous faces, some of which must have no interest in tennis at all. Why? The public must get annoyed watching at home, knowing that a "normal" person's seat has been taken by Victoria Beckham's botox-filled face.
Increased competitiveness, lower membership prices leading to higher participation and deletion of the traditional British class values are all needed to get Britain's kids off their PlayStations and out in the fresh air. If we don't, then watching Wimbeldon finals, world cup finals and British Gold medal ceremonies are going to be few and far between.
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