Snow no go.

Practice for Thursday Jan 13'TH was cancelled by both a snow storm and one of the coaches sick at home with kidney stones.  After all the time we lost at Christmas it is a shame to lose another evening so soon after.  It was noticed at the last practice that a few of the players did not keep up their exercises during the Holidays so we were planning to work them a little harder until they got back in game shape.  All is not lost though as this Sunday is a practice day, we go one Sunday a month and this is our Sunday.
I am not to concerned though with the missed time as the boys are good athletes and really work hard when we pratcise, but like most people like to rest when they have the chance.
They will be fine reps for both P.E.I. and Canada at the event.
Guess that's all for now, till next time.
Lew.

Will do better.

Pictured are 3 happy coaches who are showing the gold medals won at the S.O. Canadian championships by the P.E.I. S.O. softball team they coach.  I am on the left, Judy is the prettier one in the middle with Richard on the right.
I must apologize for missing so much time since my last entry but will do at least one a week after our practice on Thursday nights.  If something special happens for the team I will post it when it happens.
Practice is going well and the boys were looking better every week up till Christmas.  The two weeks we had off for the holidays took their toll on some of them as they sort of took the off time as a reason not to keep up on their exercises.  They really felt in last week during our work-out, hopefully they learned something from it.  Richard was not too happy with a few of them but with 14 players I guess you can expect to have a few who will take advantage.  Glad to say all are back on track now.
Till next week, so long for now.

Great Week-End

Well our training week-end in Ch'town went really good.  The boys all did well in their fitness test on Friday morning & for the rest of the time we had some good practices.
We were with the power lifters who are part of team Canada, they are a great group of 2 girls & 2 boys.  It was nice to meet them & if I can swing some down time I hope to be able to see them perform in Athens at the worlds.
We also had some lectures on both nutrition & mental preparedness which was good for our athletes & parents.
We have practice again tonight at UPEI gym so it will be nice to have another get-together with the boys.
Till next time, take care.

First Practice.

     Thursday October 21 we had our first practice as Team Canada, we are no longer Team PEI.  This is just one of many we will have before next June when we will be heading for the Special Olympics World Games in Athens Greece.
   
 I was surprised by the condition the players were in after more than 2 months of inactivity, you would have thought they never missed a week or practice, just goes to see how much they care and the work they plan on doing so they will be excellent reps of both Team Canada & PEI.
    
They were a very good team in London, Ontario at the Special Olympic Canada games but believe me after another year of hard work & practice they will surprise a lot of people.  As I said before I know they will win a medal, all that has to be decided is what color it will be.  As for me if I had to bet I would bet on Gold.

Thursday October 28th the team will be going to Charlottetown for training for the week-end along with Team Canada officials from our national team.  It will consist of a fitness test for the players & a lot of training.  We will be at the indoor soccer complex on Friday & the Murphy center on Saturday & Sunday morning.  I am looking forward to the week-end with the team plus a chance to meet some of team Canada officials.

I will report on the training camp next week when I return.  Have a good weekend.  Till my next entry.    

Parents & athelets meeting.

     Had a meeting on Thursday October 7, 2010 with the team & their parents to explain the training program we will be running for the team this winter as we prepare for the worlds.  The team is no problem after last winters training ended with a gold medal & our invite to join Team Canada.  The parents are also on board as they are overjoyed with the success of their boys. 
     Their was also a travel agent their to explain the ins & outs of going to Athens to see the team in action, all in all it was a very productive meeting.
     Our training starts this Thursday night at the UPEI gym in Charlottetown.   Time of our sessions are from 19:00 to 21:30 and since we live 1 hour away in Summerside we will not be home until 22:30 but this will not be a problem.  We will also train once a month on Sundays at the indoor soccer facilities in Stratford, makes for a busy winter as I also coach bowling one night a week but it will make for a quick winter.  As a friend of mine used to say "the best way to kill time is to work it to death."
     Well That all for now, till next time Drive safely & arrive alive.

Time to get started.

Just got an E-MAIL to advise me the coaches, Richard, Judy and I will be holding a meeting on Thursday September 16 to discuss setting up a training program for the winter to sharpen their skills and to keep the boys in shape.  We spent the last 10 months before the Canada games getting the boys ready and we will be doing the same thing this winter to prepare for the World Olympics.
They are a good bunch who always give their best and after this winters training they will be even better than they were last year.  I finally caught on that a coaches job is to hone the skills of their athletes and to make them better at their sport.  Sometimes when you are trying to explain their mistake it is taken as personal criticism and you have to explain to them the idea is to make them better players.   These boys will win a medal next June in Athens, Greece you can quote me on this, just what medal we will win is the only question. 

Finally Official

Special Olympics finally announced the members of Team Canada who will attend the Special Olympics World Games in Athens Greece in June 2011.  I am happy to announce that team PEI softball team is now officially a member of Team Canada.
I can start believing that we are really going to Greece and compete for our country.
We have a meeting in Ch'town tThursday October 7th with the athletes & parents to explain what we have in mind for our training this winter to get the boys in good shape & ready to go to Greece to kick some foreign butt.  On October 14 the real training will start & will be held every Thursday all winter.  I will keep you posted on how the boys are doing with the training.  Our hitting is the very best, we have an infield that will be the envy of the rest of the other teams, our pitching is excellent but our weakness is our outfield as they are not as good as you would like but they won us a gold medal so we have no complaints.  Our job this winter is to keep our pitching & infield as sharp as they were at London & to spend time on the outfield to get them tp play up to a highrer leval.  They are a great group of guys so I will be quite suprised if they do not lift up their play.