Day 45

Day 45.

Tuesday.

We were back at St Michaels today. They're one of our most dedicated schools and have never let us down in terms of communication and the teacher (Mr Small) is a really nice guy and a big football fanatic. He coaches the Barbados under 20 team. It felt great to be back coaching, there's only so much you can do on your days off so I was personally buzzing to get back coaching! The session was focused on shooting and everything went according to plan and I didn't miss one demonstration which is a big achievement. Believe me.

We headed straight to the beach afterwards. Well, I dropped Shaz off and then quickly knipped back to our house to get some money for jet ski'ing. This would be my third time doing it! Shaz kindly filmed me and each time I'm getting more and more confident. I wish it was a legit method of transport!

My second trip of the day came quite late in the afternoon. I headed to Speightstown to collect the parcel which was sent out to me by my aunt and uncle, Kate and Mark! It was filled with sugary delights from the UK. Thanks a lot guys, much appreciated, if you're reading this! I've been trying to get a bit more fit out here so I'll have to be sparing with them and not go into Augustus Gloop mode! I had to open it infront of the desk to show the customs officer what was in there which was quite humorous. I departed the post office with a few chuckles and murmurs of "Enjoy your chocolate!" aimed my way.

I caught up with a few of my mates today which was nice! Ones that I hadn't spoke to in a few weeks! Can't wait to get back to England and have a proper night out. My nightlife antics have been non existent out here and that's one thing I definitely miss! A good social event on a Friday and Saturday! Don't get me wrong there is a lot to do in Barbados for nightlife but sometimes driving, sleeping arrangements or sessions have scuppered our plans!

Gone past a couple milestones over the last few days. Combined.. My blogs have now had over 10,000 views which I never imagined to get  and I now have reached the two third's mark of my journey in Barbados! Have to make the most of my remaining time now! Still plenty of things to do and see!

All the best

Luke

Day 44

Day 44

Monday.

No sessions today. We called up Lester Vaughan to see whether our session was still on, as we had not been notified and as you can probably guess by now... It was cancelled.

This meant that we had a day off! Shaz used our time by checking out Cave Shepherd sports shop to look at the Barbados shirt which was $74.99 duty free, if you show your passport. £25 sterling basically! Not too bad! Would be a good momento! Quite a nice kit actually. Not a clue who the company "one" are but they make their kit..!

Apart from a small shopping trip, Shaz and I exercised and watched the World Cup!

All the best

Luke

Day 43

Day 43.

Sunday

Today was a really productive, interesting day... Thanks to Mr Martindale and Alma Paris.

Mr.Martindale and the principle of Alma Paris had organised a day out for Shaz and I to visit the renowned Harrison's Cave.

A unique phenomenon of nature, Harrison's Cave is an amazing gallery of stalactites hanging from the roof of the cave, and stalagmites that emerge from the ground, with streams of crystal-clear running water that drop from breathtaking waterfalls to form deep emerald pools. The stalactites and stalagmites were formed over thousands of years and in some places the stalactites have reached down to the stalagmites and a spectacular pillar has been formed.

Visitors are driven in electrically operated trams down through the extensive system of caves and at the lowest level point in the cave, visitors are invited to leave the tram and walk alongside a spectaular waterfall which plunges into a deep pool below .... this is truly an "awesome wonder!"

For those who are thinking I had the phenomenal writing skill of writing that piece about Harison's cave.. You would be wrong. Copy and Paste worked wonders!! But it is all true, I'll vouch for that!

In my own words... Harrison's cave was amazing and I'm so glad both me and Shaz got to view it! Harrison's Cave isn't the cheapest tour on the island, but in our opinion it was very much worth it! We enjoyed seeing the cave- it is truely immense and unique! We did the tram tour which also allows time for photos/short periods of walking if you want to see the waters pools up close. This tour was my first ever inside a cave and one I will definitely remember. The video presentation prior to the actual tour provides an excellent insight into how the cave was formed and what to expect visually. The crystallization inside the cave was both educational and breathtaking! I would massively recommend it! However be prepared to encounter drops of water onto your clothing and photography equipment during the tram ride.

Other than that, Shaz and I just soaked up the World Cup vibes! A very nice day!!

All the best

Luke

Day 42

Day 42

Saturday.

Our sessions on Saturdays as you have probably noted.. Have been awful as of late. This week was no better! We had 3 turn up. As I've said before, this lesson is meant to be a community based one and it's quite comical how only 3 turn up! Shaz and I joined in to raise the grand total of participants up to 5!

Our afternoon was dedicated to watching the World Cup! Shaz's beloved Colombia were playing and they recorded a well deserved victory over Greece, 3-0!

The England match started at 6:00, so we headed down to Bubba's for a bite to eat and to indulge the tourist atmosphere from Italian and English fans! It was packed and the atmosphere was great! Within a few minutes of the game, Raheem Sterling hit an absolute screamer and literally EVERYONE thought it went it! There was people running about, hands in the air and screaming! But then the replay's were shown.. It had gone wide! Even the score in the left corner said 1-0! Me and Shaz were absolutely wetting ourselves! Sooo funny! As they would say in England.. "We got gassed." I thought England played well despite the result, plenty of positives to take from the game. Uruguay next!!

Decent day.

All the best
Luke

Day 41

Day 41

Friday.

Friday! Finally, a day in this weeks blogging, that I can say we have a session!!

The session was at BCC for our coaching and teaching education course that we are delivering to over 30 aspiring PE teachers, if you don't already know.  Today's focus in the theory lesson was on "The circle of learning" (How different students learn and how as a coach you can cater for these learning types), "Generic factors you should always consider as a coach throughout your session". Our next segment of the 3 hour session, was our laws of the game module. This week we focused on, yellow and red cards and we slyly threaded our theory session into it. Our group is quite outspoken and confident  so we catered our session to the way they learn and did role play to learn yellow card and red card offences. To start, the class noted down the 7 yellow card offences and we explained them and then we did the same with the 7 red cards

After getting a good understanding of the offences, we put all 14 offences into a hat and put the group into pairs. Each pair chose an offence at random out of the hat and had to act the scenario out. I would act as the referee and the class would have to tell me what the offence was that the pair acted out and what colour card it warranted. It worked really well and it really benefited them in their learning and it was definitely funny seeing some theatric performances.

It was world cup day number two today! Spain vs Netherlands. BIG GAME!! Shaz and I were going crazy at what happened in the game. 5-1!!!! Rest in peace Tika Taka.

Alma Parris session tomorrow in the morning and then the England game! COME ON YOU THREE LIONS

All the best

Luke

Day 40

Day 40.

Thursday.

We contacted both Alma Paris and Frederick Smith in the morning to see whether Shaz and I had a session today. Both replied with a no, exams being the reason once again.

Despite being a tad annoyed that the sessions for today were cancelled, Shaz and I couldn't hold in our excitement for the World Cup!! We couldn't wait!! It's always such a fantastic spectacle and the atmosphere it creates around the world is crazy! Even in Barbados, a small island with minimal football recognition!

We started the day in the best way possible by heading to the beach, our local beach, Mullins!! We had a somewhat short, sun soaked time at the beach but it was enough! I, typically started to redden up a bit where as Shaz was buzzing to get home for the World Cup ceremony and plus we both had family to Skype!

On the way home we got a few bottles of beer in. Well, Shandy actually, with a massive alcoholic volume of 0.9%. As you can tell we were ready to raise the roof. Ahem. In all fairness, the world up raises enough tension and excitement with alcohol so we were buzzing anyway!

It was nice to Skype my Nan today! It's her birthday in two days and the whole family have prepared something really special for her which I think she'll enjoy! I won't write what it is, Incase she reads this post before she does it!

The game itself was pretty damn exciting! Brazil 3-1 victors over Croatia. What a start! It provided plenty of material for our session at BCC college tomorrow too!

All the best

Luke

Day 39

Day 39

Wednesday

We called Daryll Jordan and as we anticipated they said the session was cancelled because of exams.

After a couple hours extra sleep and relaxation it was time to metaphorically set sail and head down the east coast towards The Lodge School... Which I always weirdly call the lounge. Not a clue why.

We arrived with a few minutes to spare however the teacher was their to greet us on arrival to tell us we had made a wasted trip. So annoying! Only one kid had turned up because of the upcoming exam period.

Luckily Aran and Evan's sessions had been cancelled also and the lodge was not too far from them. We called them to see if they were free and whether they wanted to grab a smoothie before we headed to our BCC session at 4:00. Thankfully, they were free and they did want to catch a smoothie! Not a wasted trip after all.

Our BCC session went smoothly, we focused on the art of ball control and dribbling today. We started the session by picking on 3 people. One to do a warm up, one for stretches and one to do a passing drill from our previous session. (This was the homework we had set them). They went very well and Xavier, Reynolds and Amuniki should be proud of themselves. Afterwards, Evan,Aran, Shaz and myself took one session each and focused on the delivery of dribbling sessions. The session went on till around 8:00!

Let's see what tomorrow holds for Shaz and I. Another coaching-free day? We'll soon see!

All the best

Luke