Pictured: Training with the Brisbane team from 2019-20

This year’s pre-season is unlike any other year, with COVID restrictions in place the structure of the sessions are not ‘normal’. At first it was hard and unsettling to get used to, however, over time it was just what we had to do and follow.

 

Obviously at the beginning I was excited to start the pre-season after a 5 month break from the sport. Due to not having any games outside of school to be training for, the pre-season was solely based on developing the fundamental skills of the sport. Being a senior player now meant that I was someone who is more experienced and have a good understanding of the sport. LO1 was a focus during my pre-season as I knew what my strengths are as a player and the areas I wanted to develop in. In touch I’m always striving to becoming a better player; to learn how to play at my very best. The fundamental skills in touch is what makes the difference in gameplay; refining the fundamentals skills let me become more successful in executing plays in the game.

 

During this pre-season my biggest goal was to focus on the areas of development as a player: building confidence in leadership skills (LO1 and LO2). As a senior player I needed to be a role model towards younger players, in prior years I have been seen as a more experience player. However, now I am seen as a experienced player and as a leader which I knew coming into this year’s pre-season. I am also aware that senior player may seem very intimidating and scary to interact with as I was once a player coming through the ranks and felt that way. I made the effort to help those who have never played touch and guide them and help them understand the game. Sometimes I can be seen as a ‘scary’ player, therefore I wanted to seem as an approachable person that if anyone had any questions that could come up and ask. When we played actual touch games, I was often captains and I made each player in the team feel included and brought something to the team. When talking to each of them I made them feel as they are important, this helped in my leadership skills as I was able to work and lead  a range of different people. Making others feel safe and important felt as if I am a successful leader.

 

One of the drawbacks this season was that there were no games. Usually during pre-season a team is being selected to tour Brisbane and have weekend league games. Without something to work towards made me feel like I had no purpose, as I know that I become very unmotivated and lazy when I don’t have anything that I am working towards. LO4; showing perseverance was something that I had to work on this pre-season. At times it was hard for me to enjoy training as it was a lot of basic skills that I had already developed throughout 8-9 years of playing touch and I wanted to work on more complex skills and gameplay. Most of the trainings, I had to make it fun for myself so I tended to goof off and not take trainings as seriously if it was a ‘normal’ pre-season. Even though I felt this way, what motivated me to stay committed was the fact that I was still able to play the sport and enjoy it at a level where I had no pressure. For several years, I looked at the sport in a competitive nature but being able to just play touch at a social level made me realise how much I love and enjoyment of the sport.