Wow!

Wow,

I’ve nearly been in Oz 2 years at the end of the month, sometimes you reflect on decisions you have made and weigh up the past. When I tweet I tend to hashtag #livingthedream, sometimes this is a little tongue and cheek and just a bit of banter. This however has a greater, personal meaning to me. I am over here living the dream and have sacrificed a lot to be here. The reference is to something that my Dad has said to me previously and really strikes a chord with me; decisions have been made, live with them, grab life by the balls and give everything your best shot, “living the dream”!  I am not going to let life pass me by.

These past 2 weeks have proven unequivocally that my move has been completely worth it.

The past 2 weeks I have been to the NRL Grand Final, spent 3 days with Vern Gambetta, pretty much to myself and then spent a few days with the England Rugby Team in the lead up to their quarter final match against France.

OK, these may not be completely related or purely professional opportunities but for me these types of experience are what I had been craving and unfortunately I wasn’t necessarily exposed to at home.

On another plus side in the next month I am doing a ‘Podium presentation’ at the ASCA conference on “Athletic Pathway for Developing Soccer Players: How to apply the theory of Long term Athlete Development Models to the practical Strength and Conditioning Environment”. Then I head to London for the UKSEM Conference, hopefully to present a poster on my work with Netball at the AIS.

I am looking forward to both conferences but my head is exploding in anticipation for the UKSEM conference. The programme and workshops so far are truly amazing, then there are the personal meet ups and coffee/beers with other professionals that I am hopefully lining up. If anyone else is going to these, give me a shout, always happy to chat and spit the shit, hopefully we can all learn something!