Benching and back on skates (nearly)

It's 5pm on a bank holiday Monday and the weekend has caught up with me in a big way. I consider it to have been a roaring success so I can not feel guilty about spending an afternoon feeling incapable of doing much more than sitting on the couch imbibing tea and listening to Attack and Release on loop.

This weekend it was the return of the AoteaRUMBLE derby training camp in New Plymouth. If you've never been to Taranaki, you should make the effort. It's a stunning part of the world, all rolling surf, gorgeous beaches and a mountain that looks like a child's drawing of what a mountain looks like, all perfect cone and draped in snow. I went last year after I'd been training for about three months and had a ball, and was really looking forward to it this year. The night before the camp they had an exhibition bout between various members of the New Zealand team going to Toronto, and I was asked to bench manage the white team (the "Possibles- something of a misnomer!) I'd helped bench manage a team before, back when I was in plaster with the Mysterious Scaphoid Break That Wasn't. This time though, I was going solo. I only knew some of the players, and I hadn't written the lineups. Tricky.

What derby helmets do when not used for derby

The game was good but sadly the Possibles failed to take the game to the Probables. We made some real gains in the second half but it wasn't enough. Personally though, it was pretty great getting to do something related to derby that was active and beneficial to the team. I was told by some players that I really rate and respect that I'd done a good job wielding the clipboard so I was pretty stoked to hear that!

Bench managing is pretty under-rated as a job and I learned a lot about the way the game is played and how teams should run and work together. Here are my Thinkings on bench managing:

• You are the calm centre of the universe as far as the bench is concerned. Skaters coming off the track are tired, their mind is on the last jam, the next jam, that bitch that hit them out, that ref call they didn't like. It's your job to be as calm and zen as you can be so that they have a better chance of being able to refocus in time for their next jam. Shouty frustrated bench managers will make a situation worse, not better. 
• Watch your players, not the game. Try to see when a player looks tired, in need of a break or even a change in pack rotation. Ask them what they need, but remember that sometimes pride and loving the game can overcome common sense. 
• Be flexible. That set of lineups you and the captain came up with will work for about six jams. Players hit the box. Players get cramp. A pairing might not be working out. Whatever. Be prepared to use your knowledge of the players to change your lineups as you need to. Sticking rigidly to the script can be disastrous.
• Take charge, but ask for feedback. There's nothing wrong with asking a jammer who she wants as her tailgunner if you're going for the flexible option, especially if you're coming into a team cold. However, remember that you have an important role to play and that you need to own that role. Be firm if you need to with players whose heads are elsewhere but don't be a dick about it.
• Establish what your players need from you. Some incredibly tight, experienced teams only need you there to count the number of players on the pivot line and to confirm what they know already. Others might be looking to you to give exact positions and reassurance. If you're really not sure what your team wants from you, talk to the team when they're not in full flow. 
• Keep an eye on your penalties, especially for jammers. If they're on their third minor, make damn sure they're not out on the jam line for that critical power jam you need to win the game. 

I appreciate that bench managing a game like last night's isn't like your usual home or travel team game (usually you know your players way better) but I took a lot from the experience and hope to get another crack at it at some point. 

This was taken today. Scar looks good,
swelling less so.

I left New Plymouth early (no skating and some rugby match that was on hastened my departure) and with my feelings about derby changed. To see so many skaters on Sunday morning, working their asses off and enjoying each other's company, was pretty joyous. I loved catching up with old friends, talking about skating (and other things) and the sense of camaraderie that comes with the sport. Everyone I spoke to was sympathetic to my mixed feelings about a return to blocking but fairly confident I wouldn't be able to stay away for long. However, my aversion to the jammer pantie has been agreed to be a necessary survival instinct that should be obeyed.

It's weird, having this amount of time to think something over. I've been out of skating just over two months now and it'll be the 2012 season before I'm ready to play again. That's a fair chunk of time! However, hopefully next week I'll get a feel for what it's like to get out on the rink, assuming the doctor gives me the green light to put my skates on again. I'm pretty excited at the idea to tell you the truth, as well as a bit apprehensive. Here's hoping the appointment tomorrow goes well, I get a referral for some physio (finally) and the greenlight to go do some exciting things in the very near future! A friend of mine took me out to the Woodhill mountain bike trails this morning (miraculously hangover free) and I had a go at seeing how my ankle would cope with being on the bike and being off-road. It went better than I'd feared (five minutes out the car park and I'm in agony), not as good as I'd hoped (absolutely no issues at all and able to go all day). As exercise for my ankle (and the rest of me- my cardio needs some work!) it was great, as a confidence builder it was excellent. I have a bit more faith in what my body can and will be able to do, and getting out into the forest and really letting go on the downhill silly bits was liberating, a bit terrifying and made me more determined than ever to get back to my previous fitness and beyond it. The same friend (who's running the Auckland marathon next weekend- best of luck to you dude!) suggested I consider taking part in a triathlon next year. This is happening at Maraetai in March and I think I might enter in the sprint tri category. All the distances are achieveable (hell, I'm swimming 2k already!) and it would be happening just over six months after the accident, giving me something really positive to work towards. Definitely thinking about it!

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