Diary Entry 27th June 2008
(43 days until Opening Ceremony)

The week started off a little intense for some - there was still one athlete to be selected for the Japan Tour and a member of our Olympic team injured her hamstring, so there were 2 selections to be announced. For the athletes who missed out on Olympic selection this was their final chance. It was bitter sweet, for 2 athletes a great moment and for the others, it was very sad.

The disappointment passed and it was back to what I do and the group do best...hockey!

Our National Coach departed early for the Japan Tour, he is in Holland scouting our Olympic competition. So it was up to our dynamic group of assistant coaches to get us ready for the tour. We've tapered for most of week (apparently) - focusing on individual skill sessions and set plays. As we are all aware, we need to change things up every now and then- otherwise things get boring and in the end we just turn up and go through the motions. So for Tuesday’s session the coaches decided to ‘handball’ and put the ball in our court. Each individual had to design an hour session focusing on areas that you MOST (the list is endless) need to work on. You could work solo, however, the majority of the group worked in small sub-groups targeting specifics.

Tomorrow morning we meet at the International Airport at 7am, for stage 1 or our tour - a 2-night/3-day stop over in Hong Kong. I've researched the weather, its 28 partly cloudy and 90% humidity - and the humidity is our biggest obstacle to overcome. Our training in Hong Kong will be entirely aerobic based; it will definitely test our fitness and our preparation. There is a second form of training though....SHOPPING! It takes a certain level of fitness to get the 'best buy' - sifting through the racks, visiting all the best stores and even the odd bit of 'tug of war' when two females get their mitts on the same piece of clothing. Oh the joys of shopping!

We fly into Osaka and make our way to Tenri, this tour we're staying at the Tenri University (different accommodation than we're used to - bunk beds and rice pillows (we've all been warned to travel with our own pillow) - it has an amazing hockey program. WA are regular hosts to the Tenri hockey team, so any visiting Australian team (whether it be national, under age or university) and treated to amazing kindness and respect. I haven't yet been to Japan so I'm looking forward to enjoying the culture and the sight seeing day trip planned in Osaka.

We have 4 matches against Japan, Japan aren't in our Olympic pool - so it's a great opportunity to expose our Olympic team to great competition without fearing about 'giving too' much away. We're all on the same page and are working hard for the ultimate outcome - Olympic success; this is our final preparation and our final chance to refine what we know we all ready have - the winning edge!!