It rained cats and dogs on Saturday morning. Not a nice way to start the weekend. Having to wake up at 6:00am was even worse. We got to Mukono at around 9, an hour behind schedule: totally understandable because in Uganda when it rains everything comes to a standstill. We breakfasted, rested then got to the pitch at Uganda Christian Martyrs University (UCU) at 11am.
The training schedule for Saturday and Sunday was
6:00am - 7.30am – roadwork (though we missed that on Saturday because we were travelling).
7:45am – 10:45am – shower/breakfast/rest
11:00am – 1:00pm – training
1:15pm – 4:15pm – shower/lunch/rest
4:30pm – 6:00pm - training
6:15pm – 7:15pm – shower/rest
7:30pm – team talk
9:00pm - supper
Monday’s schedule was slightly different.
6:00am - 7.30am – roadwork
7:45am – 10:00am – shower/breakfast/rest
10:30am – 12:30pm – training
12:45pm – 1:00pm – game
1:15pm – shower/checkout/lunch
3:00pm – hot seat
The training schedule for Saturday and Sunday was
6:00am - 7.30am – roadwork (though we missed that on Saturday because we were travelling).
7:45am – 10:45am – shower/breakfast/rest
11:00am – 1:00pm – training
1:15pm – 4:15pm – shower/lunch/rest
4:30pm – 6:00pm - training
6:15pm – 7:15pm – shower/rest
7:30pm – team talk
9:00pm - supper
Monday’s schedule was slightly different.
6:00am - 7.30am – roadwork
7:45am – 10:00am – shower/breakfast/rest
10:30am – 12:30pm – training
12:45pm – 1:00pm – game
1:15pm – shower/checkout/lunch
3:00pm – hot seat
5:00pm - left camp
The camp was great although the weather was really horrible. The rain welcomed us every morning though strangely enough it would stop to give us a chance to do our roadwork that start again when we were done. We had so much time to work on ball skills, contact skills, fitness, game plan and the all important team bonding. The roadwork was like being in boot camp – a 2 to 3 km run to a hill where we did 16 sprints then jogged back to the hotel and it was uphill most of the way. We would wind up with push-ups, sit-ups, calf raises and squats. We really pushed ourselves to the limit on the Monday roadwork session and impressed Soggy so much that he got emotional and told us that he loved us. How sweet.
Mutaks lauded us for being well brought up and behaving like ladies (the worst culprits were Joan, Prossy, Kayonjo and Charlotte) but said he did not want any of that nonsense on pitch. So he brought on the grid of pain. I think that was our best contact session yet. We were divided into teams of 5 and put in a 7 by 5 metre grid. 2 teams had to flex for the ball and try to cross over the other team’s line and ground the ball. Best of three and the loser stayed on. In such a small space containing 10 people, contact was unavoidable. It was brutal but it had it fun moments. Yogi (in picture rucking) gave Aggie a huge tackle that had Aggie squealing and calling on all her ancestors for help. Yogi was quick to apologise and started fussing over Aggie. Soggy told both of them off: Aggie for squealing and Yogi for apologising. The next time Aggie got the ball she charged through 3 people and crossed over the line; Yogi redeemed herself by tackling me and kneeling on my stomach as she turned over the ball. Justine tried to go through 2 people and was sent back a clear 2 metres and smashed into the ground and hurt her thigh. Enough to put off anyone but not our Justine she kept on going back for more punishment. The hits were big and the tackles even bigger. That grid brought out the animal in each one of us – even Joan, Prossy, Kayonjo and Charlotte forgot about being ladies and went wild. Woooooooooooo!!!! I loved it.
We were always exhausted at the end of the day but lots of girls came out of their shells and literally blossomed – especially Kayonjo and Joan: they have shed some of their reserve and are playing beautiful rugby. The entire team is playing hard and playing well. The focus is way up there and the self belief is growing. Soggy and Mutaks confessed that we are making it hard for them to choose a final team and so far they have selected 15 different sides and are still trying to select.
We had the ‘hot seat’ for coaches on Saturday night during our team talk. An individual sits in front of the team and one by one the team talks about that person’s positive and negative traits and suggestions on how to improve the negative. The ‘hot seat’ is meant to help in team bonding and it was the first time we had done it. It was a really good session. The players’ and rest of management (TM, doctor, UWRA chairperson) 'hot seat' was held on Monday before we broke camp and like the coaches ‘hot seat’ it was great. We left Mukono a much better team than when we arrived.
We did not train on Monday evening and have been ordered to rest on Tuesday: no gym, no running, just ‘chilling’ then a bleep test on Wednesday.
The camp was great although the weather was really horrible. The rain welcomed us every morning though strangely enough it would stop to give us a chance to do our roadwork that start again when we were done. We had so much time to work on ball skills, contact skills, fitness, game plan and the all important team bonding. The roadwork was like being in boot camp – a 2 to 3 km run to a hill where we did 16 sprints then jogged back to the hotel and it was uphill most of the way. We would wind up with push-ups, sit-ups, calf raises and squats. We really pushed ourselves to the limit on the Monday roadwork session and impressed Soggy so much that he got emotional and told us that he loved us. How sweet.
Mutaks lauded us for being well brought up and behaving like ladies (the worst culprits were Joan, Prossy, Kayonjo and Charlotte) but said he did not want any of that nonsense on pitch. So he brought on the grid of pain. I think that was our best contact session yet. We were divided into teams of 5 and put in a 7 by 5 metre grid. 2 teams had to flex for the ball and try to cross over the other team’s line and ground the ball. Best of three and the loser stayed on. In such a small space containing 10 people, contact was unavoidable. It was brutal but it had it fun moments. Yogi (in picture rucking) gave Aggie a huge tackle that had Aggie squealing and calling on all her ancestors for help. Yogi was quick to apologise and started fussing over Aggie. Soggy told both of them off: Aggie for squealing and Yogi for apologising. The next time Aggie got the ball she charged through 3 people and crossed over the line; Yogi redeemed herself by tackling me and kneeling on my stomach as she turned over the ball. Justine tried to go through 2 people and was sent back a clear 2 metres and smashed into the ground and hurt her thigh. Enough to put off anyone but not our Justine she kept on going back for more punishment. The hits were big and the tackles even bigger. That grid brought out the animal in each one of us – even Joan, Prossy, Kayonjo and Charlotte forgot about being ladies and went wild. Woooooooooooo!!!! I loved it.
We were always exhausted at the end of the day but lots of girls came out of their shells and literally blossomed – especially Kayonjo and Joan: they have shed some of their reserve and are playing beautiful rugby. The entire team is playing hard and playing well. The focus is way up there and the self belief is growing. Soggy and Mutaks confessed that we are making it hard for them to choose a final team and so far they have selected 15 different sides and are still trying to select.
We had the ‘hot seat’ for coaches on Saturday night during our team talk. An individual sits in front of the team and one by one the team talks about that person’s positive and negative traits and suggestions on how to improve the negative. The ‘hot seat’ is meant to help in team bonding and it was the first time we had done it. It was a really good session. The players’ and rest of management (TM, doctor, UWRA chairperson) 'hot seat' was held on Monday before we broke camp and like the coaches ‘hot seat’ it was great. We left Mukono a much better team than when we arrived.
We did not train on Monday evening and have been ordered to rest on Tuesday: no gym, no running, just ‘chilling’ then a bleep test on Wednesday.
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