Eat, train, sleep, eat, train, sleep……A mantra which for the majority of days since entering the Olympic Village we have been abiding by. Skill sessions, weights and match debriefs were aplenty early in the week fine tuning short corners, set plays and tactics.

After a promising start in our first scratch match vs GB we were unfortunately unable to beat current world #1 Holland in the follow-up scratchie. A disappointing start to the game saw us get off to poor start resulting in a chasing game. Better physicality and skill execution further into the game indicated that we are a match for Holland, if we apply ourselves right from the outset. A lesson better learnt now then later.

Not that the Olympic Village is anything to scoff at but after a busy training week we were treated to a rest and relaxation weekend which no girl self-respecting girl is going to turn down.

Kent retreat at Spa Hotel

A break to the countryside was what was in order, and as we boarded the bus I wondered if the town of Kent was adequately prepared for the onslaught of 18 girls. I am happy to report the lovely town is still standing and thanks to our spending patterns in cafes and shops, Kent is now going through an economic boom. The Spa Hotel was enjoyable with many of the girls taking the opportunity to have a massage, facial and in some cases turn 1 large bushy eyebrow into 2 well-groomed brows.

We even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the movies to watch Batman. Some may find Batman an odd choice for a group of girls, but any movie starring Christian Bale is a movie we are interested in. Team mate Anna Flanagan came out of the movie with slight confusion believing Batman’s sidekick Robin, was in fact Robin Hood. Like good teammates we took great delight in informing her of her errors and recounting the story the rest of the group back at the Hotel.

We built the Olympic Stadium in 4 days and well under budget

As I mentioned before, life of an athlete isn’t always as glamorous as one may think often consisting of training and sleeping. On the odd occasion when we get down time, we enjoy and are required to take part in activities which need little effort and minimise time on feet. With these 2 restrictions in mind, a few of us have taken to the ultimate sport of puzzling. In my previous post you may have seen our completed puzzle of Sydney Harbour, but this weeks challenge consisted of building our own Olympic Stadium. As illustrated in the picture above, after numerous hours (primarily completed while in the physio waiting room) we built the stadium on time and well under budget for the Opening Ceremony! Perhaps careers in construction management are in order after our athletic days are over. Furthermore incase puzzling becomes boring or we can’t find a new puzzle to keep us occupied, it was handy to find the village offered extreme jenga as a form of entertainment. Demolition might be a nice change from weeks of building.

Jenga to the extreme. Mini break from puzzling

The final exciting news to report from the village is that we were privy to an Australian team induction lead by Australian legend Laurie Lawrence. Held in the very aptly named Boomerang room, Laurie delivered an inspiring and memorable poem with gusto, even opting to give Fiona Boyce a nice tap of the cheeks to send the message home. After a team rendition of Waltzing Matilda with a few mumbled verses but pitch perfect choruses we ventured to statue of the Olympic Rings for photos. Armed with our Aussie Mascot the Boxing Kangaroo (BK for short) a great photo was captured highlighting the excitement of the girls to be playing for Australia.

Next bulletin will cover highlights from the next few days including our first game against the Kiwis, where like all good we Aussies we hope for a win against our next door neighbours.

GO AUSSIES!

This post originally appeared on ashleighnelson.org