This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), Tuesday 28 Spetember 2010 at 7:00PM, through the Australian Community Radio Network.
In Part 2 our discussion with Ian Shaw, Technical Director Capital Football, we continue our discussion based on the Capital Football HPP and the Summer 20's. As things go with Football discussions we get into a lot of related subjects which are never far from thought or discussion. The Capital Football HPP and Coach Education has made a lot of good ground in the last year, as the FFA National Football Curriculum is implemented in the ACT Region (and everyhwere else in Australia). Clubs feature far more in the development dialogue than ever before. There is a very contructive effort being made to eliminate the age relative effect and becom more inclusive of all the talent at age as it develops, largely through the reduction of the unhelpful aspects of "playing squads". The focus has shifted, slowly but steadily to the benefit of all those young players that wish to be developed, not just the selected few. As much "community development" as "High performance" type development. Good thing too! Its a complicated business, a job never realy completed and one that takes a lot of time, years in fact, before we see the outcomes. Some of the indicators already look very promising. This discussion is worthy of careful listening.
Download the Podacst here:
Two Societies Joined
I thought I would give an update on my society decisions. I joined CSU, which is the Catholic Student's Union very early on. Michael and I went to mass at St. Albert the Great's Chapel a couple of times while he was here and the first person I met was Fr. Tim. He is a Black Friar and basically the big man on campus with regards to the chapel. St. Albert's is the chaplaincy for the University. Anyhow, they have a student-only mass every Sunday night during term and always have something going on afterwards (in association with CSU). The first night it was a wine and cheese get together, which was really great in the fact that many people made an effort to say hi to me and introduce me to others they thought I might have something in common with (like being from the US). The club has a fantastic group of students and the mass and functions are very well attended. I was immediately pegged as a postgrad student (wonder what gave that away) and invited to attend the inaugural meeting of STAGGS (St Albert the Great's Graduate Society). We had dinner in the basement of the chapel (cooked by some CSU folks) with plenty of wine to go around. I met some very interesting PhD and Master's students from all over the world. Tuesday nights are 'Theology and then the Pub' night. This involves a 20 minute talk by one of the friars on a relevant subject, then we all head to the pub for more discussion, if desired, and some serious pool playing. I ended up Fr. Tim's partner last week and basically blew us out of the water. He is pretty darn good.
The first talk was the about the history of the Domincan Order and the Black Friars. It was rather interesting. Tonight is another goody - how you can believe in both science and God. Obviously very appropriate for me. I have unfortuately noticed that a LOT of veterinary students call themselves atheist and agnostic. Rather disheartening. There is also a mid-week meal every Wednesday (again cooked by CSU'ers and down in the basement) for one whole pound per person. It seems like a club that I am going to get way more out of than I ever would have expected. It is good for me to be involved in something outside of the vet school and its student population. I know I have not written on my program yet, but most students are very, very young here. It is important for me to interact with some students that have relatively similar backgrounds, experiences and challenges.
The second club is AVS, which stands for Association of Veterinary Students. I am a First Year Representative. YAY. Yes, for perhaps the first time in my life, I have actually wanted to be a representative of something important to me so that I can have a say. There are 8 of us selected from first year out of our class of 120. They wanted a diverse group (UKers, those who have completed A levels and/or highers, second degree students, international, male and female. While there are plenty of international students with degrees already (mostly from the US/Canada), I take it to another level with the whole 'mature student' aspect.
The purpose of AVS is to serve as a liasion betweeen our class, the program in general and the staff and faculty. We will meet once a semester (I believe) to discuss any and all matters associated with the program - scheduling, grading, course content, practicals, etc etc. I am excited about being involved and depending on how it goes, may look to become a candidate for a postion with the VSC (Veterinary Student Council). This has much wider ranging implications on our education, as the council is composed of students from many vet schools and is directly involved with the curriculum in the UK.
So, those are my two clubs for now. I also have talked myself into going to soccer practice this week just to 'check it out'. I simply cannot help myself. I need to exercise and team sports seem like a good solution to something you really do not want to do at all, let alone by yourself. I may change my mind again, but I'm pretty certain about this. The team is made up of only vet students, so everyone understands the limitations we have and if we cannot make a practice or game. It is supposed to be a very laid back deal. This could be good or bad for me. Not sure yet. Good in the sense that I do not have to go 110% at it and win the Dick Vet World Cup, bad in the sense that I want the most bang for my buck when I DO decide to exercise and if it is not a serious atmoshpere, I may get bored, take my ball and go home.
We shall see.
Time to get a bite to eat so I can leave in about 30 minutes for the Theology and the Bar night. I am not planning on going to the bar, but that may change too :-)
Tomorrow is an easy, easy day. There are no lectures, as we all have to meet at some point with our Director of Studies (DOS). They ensure we are making good academic process throughout the year and are there for us if we are having any academic and/or personal issues. My meeting is from 9-930am and then I am free. I will get some errands done after my meeting - post office, sign up with a doctor so I can get my free healthcare, find an optometrist (getting some pretty good headaches from eyestrain and no glasses) and some minor grocery shopping. Oh yeah, and soccer practice tomorrow night...wheeeee.
Over-N-Out
The first talk was the about the history of the Domincan Order and the Black Friars. It was rather interesting. Tonight is another goody - how you can believe in both science and God. Obviously very appropriate for me. I have unfortuately noticed that a LOT of veterinary students call themselves atheist and agnostic. Rather disheartening. There is also a mid-week meal every Wednesday (again cooked by CSU'ers and down in the basement) for one whole pound per person. It seems like a club that I am going to get way more out of than I ever would have expected. It is good for me to be involved in something outside of the vet school and its student population. I know I have not written on my program yet, but most students are very, very young here. It is important for me to interact with some students that have relatively similar backgrounds, experiences and challenges.
The second club is AVS, which stands for Association of Veterinary Students. I am a First Year Representative. YAY. Yes, for perhaps the first time in my life, I have actually wanted to be a representative of something important to me so that I can have a say. There are 8 of us selected from first year out of our class of 120. They wanted a diverse group (UKers, those who have completed A levels and/or highers, second degree students, international, male and female. While there are plenty of international students with degrees already (mostly from the US/Canada), I take it to another level with the whole 'mature student' aspect.
The purpose of AVS is to serve as a liasion betweeen our class, the program in general and the staff and faculty. We will meet once a semester (I believe) to discuss any and all matters associated with the program - scheduling, grading, course content, practicals, etc etc. I am excited about being involved and depending on how it goes, may look to become a candidate for a postion with the VSC (Veterinary Student Council). This has much wider ranging implications on our education, as the council is composed of students from many vet schools and is directly involved with the curriculum in the UK.
So, those are my two clubs for now. I also have talked myself into going to soccer practice this week just to 'check it out'. I simply cannot help myself. I need to exercise and team sports seem like a good solution to something you really do not want to do at all, let alone by yourself. I may change my mind again, but I'm pretty certain about this. The team is made up of only vet students, so everyone understands the limitations we have and if we cannot make a practice or game. It is supposed to be a very laid back deal. This could be good or bad for me. Not sure yet. Good in the sense that I do not have to go 110% at it and win the Dick Vet World Cup, bad in the sense that I want the most bang for my buck when I DO decide to exercise and if it is not a serious atmoshpere, I may get bored, take my ball and go home.
We shall see.
Time to get a bite to eat so I can leave in about 30 minutes for the Theology and the Bar night. I am not planning on going to the bar, but that may change too :-)
Tomorrow is an easy, easy day. There are no lectures, as we all have to meet at some point with our Director of Studies (DOS). They ensure we are making good academic process throughout the year and are there for us if we are having any academic and/or personal issues. My meeting is from 9-930am and then I am free. I will get some errands done after my meeting - post office, sign up with a doctor so I can get my free healthcare, find an optometrist (getting some pretty good headaches from eyestrain and no glasses) and some minor grocery shopping. Oh yeah, and soccer practice tomorrow night...wheeeee.
Over-N-Out
ESPN GameDay and BSU Football History
To celebrate Boise State University hosting ESPN GameDay on September 25, the Special Collections department in Albertsons Library contributed historical photographs and moving image footage of old football games towards the creation of this video created by ESPN, which aired both during GameDay footage on television and on their website. The video looks back at Boise State's steady climb from humble beginnings as Boise Junior College to its prominence as a nationally ranked football team.To see more photographs of Boise State football since 1933, visit the Historic Boise State digital collection.
Cow Naming Contest
There is an Official Cow Naming Contest going on. As previously posted, this is my 'adopted cow' out at the school's very own Langhill Farm.
She needs a name. This was her as a cute little calf back in 2006:
She is adorable, I know. I am taking suggestions on a name for her....every cow needs a name, right? Only one entry per person is allowed. They must be received by Friday, October 1st at 5pm EST. I will pick the bestest name ATM (according to Me) and post my decision on Sunday. Bribes are accepted, but I cannot say if they will or will not affect my decision.....the risk is yours to take.
A little history about my cow. She is a dairy cow and was born January 23, 2006. She became part of the milking herd back in December 2007. She has had 3 calves, a male in November 2007, a female in November 2008 and a male last November. I am very curious as to whether she is pregnant now, as I have not yet 'met' her, so I do not know. However, I do know according to her mothly milk quality reports, there is no data for August and Sepember. This only means that she is not being milked right now. This coincides with last year when she was pregnant and there are no recent visits to the vet that suggest it is due to her not being healthy enough to milk.
That is all I know about my cow, so put your creative hats on and send me some names!
The winner will get some type of prize...a Scottish surprise, if you will.
Good Luck!
She needs a name. This was her as a cute little calf back in 2006:
She is adorable, I know. I am taking suggestions on a name for her....every cow needs a name, right? Only one entry per person is allowed. They must be received by Friday, October 1st at 5pm EST. I will pick the bestest name ATM (according to Me) and post my decision on Sunday. Bribes are accepted, but I cannot say if they will or will not affect my decision.....the risk is yours to take.
A little history about my cow. She is a dairy cow and was born January 23, 2006. She became part of the milking herd back in December 2007. She has had 3 calves, a male in November 2007, a female in November 2008 and a male last November. I am very curious as to whether she is pregnant now, as I have not yet 'met' her, so I do not know. However, I do know according to her mothly milk quality reports, there is no data for August and Sepember. This only means that she is not being milked right now. This coincides with last year when she was pregnant and there are no recent visits to the vet that suggest it is due to her not being healthy enough to milk.
That is all I know about my cow, so put your creative hats on and send me some names!
The winner will get some type of prize...a Scottish surprise, if you will.
Good Luck!
Honor Among Christians
Well, at long last, it's out. Honor Among Christians is my take on the so-called "messianic secret" in Mark. I'm trying to answer the question, "How would ancient Mediterranean people have heard these stories in Mark in which Jesus attempts to conceal his deeds and identity?"
In 1901 William Wrede wrote a book that we call in English The Messianic Secret. Since that time, the language of "secrecy" has done a lot of heavy lifting in Markan scholarship. Ancient people, however, understood secrecy rather differently than we do. They also understood issues such as fame, power, great deeds, and prestige differently than we do. More specifically, such issues were governed by the values of honor and shame. My goal in this book is to examine the passages associated with the messianic secret in light of these ancient Mediterranean values.
DRAW - 2010 FFA NATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR BOYS
The full competition draw for the Boys Under 14 and Under 15 National Youth Championships can be found on the Capital Football Website.
Go to http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/userfiles/B%2010%20NYC%20Draw.pdf
Go to http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/userfiles/B%2010%20NYC%20Draw.pdf
ACT Under 15 Boys (1995 born) Squad to Compete at the NAtional Youth Championships
All the best to the the ACT Under 15 Boys team to contest the FFA National Youth Championships for Boys to be held in Coffs Harbour from the 28th of September to the 1st of October.
I would think all of these lads are already playing Premier League Under 16 or in some cases, Premier League Under 18 Football this season just passed. There is some first rate talent in this group. It is sure to be a red hot competition at this age.
Jakob Cole
Hugh McGrath
Gianmarco Senatore
Sam Ossato
Keighan Ramirez-Hodgson
Aitamoit Mon
Nathan Tidmarsh
Ilija Cotric
Goran Mukevski
Connor Nolan
Jas Abarquez
Kirby Murdoch
Regan Walsh
Romeo-J Romeo
Michael Taurisi
Rory Larkin
Watch the Capital Football webiste and this Blog for results.
I would think all of these lads are already playing Premier League Under 16 or in some cases, Premier League Under 18 Football this season just passed. There is some first rate talent in this group. It is sure to be a red hot competition at this age.
Jakob Cole
Hugh McGrath
Gianmarco Senatore
Sam Ossato
Keighan Ramirez-Hodgson
Aitamoit Mon
Nathan Tidmarsh
Ilija Cotric
Goran Mukevski
Connor Nolan
Jas Abarquez
Kirby Murdoch
Regan Walsh
Romeo-J Romeo
Michael Taurisi
Rory Larkin
Watch the Capital Football webiste and this Blog for results.
ACT Under 14 Boys (1996 born) Squad to Compete at the National Youth Championships
The following players will compete at the FFA National Youth Championships to be held in Coffs Harbour from the 28th of September to October 1.
These lads have played some terrific football int he lead up to the Nationals and they are well coached.
All the best!
Ben Jackson (GK)
Matt Stirton
Nicholas Matkovic
Alex Gelonesi
Johnno Cimminelli
Antonio Barbaro
Jordan Tsekenis
Jak Olim
Alex Popovich
Joshua Gaspari
Kieran Matress
Ryan Little
Nick Keir
Alex Moscatritolo
Alex Tilley
James Trevanion (GK)
Darian McGarry-Watson
Watch the Capital Football webiste and this Blog for results.
These lads have played some terrific football int he lead up to the Nationals and they are well coached.
All the best!
Ben Jackson (GK)
Matt Stirton
Nicholas Matkovic
Alex Gelonesi
Johnno Cimminelli
Antonio Barbaro
Jordan Tsekenis
Jak Olim
Alex Popovich
Joshua Gaspari
Kieran Matress
Ryan Little
Nick Keir
Alex Moscatritolo
Alex Tilley
James Trevanion (GK)
Darian McGarry-Watson
Watch the Capital Football webiste and this Blog for results.
Buddy Walk
My family and I participated in the Dayton area 2010 Buddy Walk yesterday. The Buddy Walk is an event that occurs all over the country to raise awareness and promote inclusion of people with Down Syndrome. There were several folks from the UTS community there who are not directly affected by DS but who came in support of the event and cause. It was a great event, and if you want to learn more about it, click here.
Exercise???
Perhaps some of you have noticed that I have not mentioned the word 'exercise' once since I've been here? I know. That is because I have not exercised (other than 1 hour on the cruise) in about....oh......2 months, or so? I'm not sure I can really count a few bike rides on the beach in Hilton Head, so it is closer to 3 months. Although, before that is when I had broken my wrist and couldn't do hardly anything...so.... well, you get the point. It's been a looong time. Do I miss it? Not so much. The only thing I miss is getting a good sweat on and knowing that I usually feel so much better afterwards.
I think the reason the exercise thing has not been such a big deal is because I am walking an inordinate amount since being here. Walking is a mode of transportation for me, so I do not dawdle. I walk fast anyways, but now it's even faster because I'm usually anxious to get to my destination and it's not just a 'walk in the park'. I'm not sure how many miles I put in a day, but it's a lot.
Here is the schedule. I walk the dogs for 30 minutes at 8am. At 830, I leave my flat to walk to class (10 minutes at a very fast pace). I then sit in lecture for 2 hours and walk back to my flat. I take the dogs for a 10-15 minute walk. If I don't have to go back to school, I may take them down to the park to play...this is a 30 minute outing. Come back, make a sandwich and walk back to school. Or, if not in class, walk to the grocery, to a meeting for a society, downtown to the bank, etc.
Another dog walk in the evening before I settle in to study or before I head out to whatever I'm doing. I usually have 3-4 nights where something is going on and of course, I walk there.
So, I'm not really feeling like I'm not getting any exercise, I'm just not getting the cardio or resistance training that I've been used to. And frankly, I do not necessarily feel like exercising after all of that walking. But, I have to. So, I think I'm going to start P90X again here in the comfort of my flat. Because, I need to sweat and I need all of the benefits of exercise again. I should start my program today. Should. We will see. P90X is an intense program on DVD's and it had a lot of resistance training - pushups, pullups, dips, etc and also has some cardio- 'kickboxing', plyometrics, yoga (not really cardio, but it does make me sweat), etc. It is a great regime and does work. My pants are pretty much hanging off me at this point and all of my belts are on the last notch. I'm certainly not complaining about this, but I do need to start toning up the muscles again....skinny arms and legs are not my thing.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was thinking of joining the women's rugby or football (soccer) teams. Yes, that still gets my competitive juices flowing, but I am not so sure it is a good idea. For one, my feet are already KILLING me. Here is a picture of one reason why:
No, that is not the picture of a happy foot. I've had the bunion for a while now and it has affected me in some of my footwear choices, but it is now a large problem. This foot is now problematic and my footwear is critically important with all of this walking. I wore some 'cute' shoes the other night and boy did I pay for it afterwards. The bone associated with the ball of your foot was actually throbbing and painful. This is the same foot I tore the plantar fascia about 2 years ago training in Vegas, so it's understandable why I'm having trouble with it.
With the feet thing, playing a sport where I have to run around on them is not something that is going to help. Plus, I figured if I busted an ankle or something, that will severely affect my commute, which I cannot afford to compromise. I also talked myself out of it because they practice at a field that is not easily commutable for me two nights a week. It would involve a bus ride or bike (which I decided not to buy another one). Instead, I decided to try and hook up with the mountain biking team (which I have yet to do), start swimming some (there is a place a block away), or figure out something else that is not going to be so stressful on the big, ugly dawgs. Plus, I've done the whole college athetics once already and now I'm concentrating on some academic and social societies instead. These take up a portion of my time, but it is going to be time well spent. I'll post on my societies at some other time, once I am certain of which ones I'm going to be a member.
I'll keep you all posted, but I do believe I'm starting with P90x and concentrating on some upper body stuff for now and the rest should fall into place. Now that I've procrastinated enough, I think I'll take the Boyz to the park and consider going shopping...ugh.
Over-N-Out
I think the reason the exercise thing has not been such a big deal is because I am walking an inordinate amount since being here. Walking is a mode of transportation for me, so I do not dawdle. I walk fast anyways, but now it's even faster because I'm usually anxious to get to my destination and it's not just a 'walk in the park'. I'm not sure how many miles I put in a day, but it's a lot.
Here is the schedule. I walk the dogs for 30 minutes at 8am. At 830, I leave my flat to walk to class (10 minutes at a very fast pace). I then sit in lecture for 2 hours and walk back to my flat. I take the dogs for a 10-15 minute walk. If I don't have to go back to school, I may take them down to the park to play...this is a 30 minute outing. Come back, make a sandwich and walk back to school. Or, if not in class, walk to the grocery, to a meeting for a society, downtown to the bank, etc.
Another dog walk in the evening before I settle in to study or before I head out to whatever I'm doing. I usually have 3-4 nights where something is going on and of course, I walk there.
So, I'm not really feeling like I'm not getting any exercise, I'm just not getting the cardio or resistance training that I've been used to. And frankly, I do not necessarily feel like exercising after all of that walking. But, I have to. So, I think I'm going to start P90X again here in the comfort of my flat. Because, I need to sweat and I need all of the benefits of exercise again. I should start my program today. Should. We will see. P90X is an intense program on DVD's and it had a lot of resistance training - pushups, pullups, dips, etc and also has some cardio- 'kickboxing', plyometrics, yoga (not really cardio, but it does make me sweat), etc. It is a great regime and does work. My pants are pretty much hanging off me at this point and all of my belts are on the last notch. I'm certainly not complaining about this, but I do need to start toning up the muscles again....skinny arms and legs are not my thing.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was thinking of joining the women's rugby or football (soccer) teams. Yes, that still gets my competitive juices flowing, but I am not so sure it is a good idea. For one, my feet are already KILLING me. Here is a picture of one reason why:
No, that is not the picture of a happy foot. I've had the bunion for a while now and it has affected me in some of my footwear choices, but it is now a large problem. This foot is now problematic and my footwear is critically important with all of this walking. I wore some 'cute' shoes the other night and boy did I pay for it afterwards. The bone associated with the ball of your foot was actually throbbing and painful. This is the same foot I tore the plantar fascia about 2 years ago training in Vegas, so it's understandable why I'm having trouble with it.
With the feet thing, playing a sport where I have to run around on them is not something that is going to help. Plus, I figured if I busted an ankle or something, that will severely affect my commute, which I cannot afford to compromise. I also talked myself out of it because they practice at a field that is not easily commutable for me two nights a week. It would involve a bus ride or bike (which I decided not to buy another one). Instead, I decided to try and hook up with the mountain biking team (which I have yet to do), start swimming some (there is a place a block away), or figure out something else that is not going to be so stressful on the big, ugly dawgs. Plus, I've done the whole college athetics once already and now I'm concentrating on some academic and social societies instead. These take up a portion of my time, but it is going to be time well spent. I'll post on my societies at some other time, once I am certain of which ones I'm going to be a member.
I'll keep you all posted, but I do believe I'm starting with P90x and concentrating on some upper body stuff for now and the rest should fall into place. Now that I've procrastinated enough, I think I'll take the Boyz to the park and consider going shopping...ugh.
Over-N-Out
What to do, what to do
It's official...i've completed my first week of vet school! Yay. I think it is going to be fairly easy to get into the swing of things and develop a consistent schedule. We met last night at the Southsider Pub (this is a vet student hangout) to celebrate. The GEP's (that's the Graduate Entry Program - it's 4 years instead of 5) showed up to celebrate the completion of their Animal Body 1 course and a 3 day anatomy exam. They all seemed happy and as if they did really well, so congratulations to them! I got home rather early, but then skyped for a few hours and ended up going to bed pretty darn late.
Today, I relax. I very much need to go downtown to the mall and do some clothes shopping. I am sorely short on proper fall/winter clothing. The thought of shopping makes me want to pull my eyelashes out one by one, but there is no way around it. I am enjoying my lounging today so much, that I can see myself procrastinating until tomorrow to go shopping. But, that would mean I should do some studying today and I'm not really up for that either...so, maybe I will shop. If I procrastinate long enough, perhaps I could have a most unproductive day. Then, I would not be so happy tomorrow. If I knew all of my UK sizes, I could do some online shopping.
Tonight is already planned. A few of us are going to a Spanish restaurant to get our spanish food fix. I'm looking forward to eating some tasty food...yummo.
Ciao
Today, I relax. I very much need to go downtown to the mall and do some clothes shopping. I am sorely short on proper fall/winter clothing. The thought of shopping makes me want to pull my eyelashes out one by one, but there is no way around it. I am enjoying my lounging today so much, that I can see myself procrastinating until tomorrow to go shopping. But, that would mean I should do some studying today and I'm not really up for that either...so, maybe I will shop. If I procrastinate long enough, perhaps I could have a most unproductive day. Then, I would not be so happy tomorrow. If I knew all of my UK sizes, I could do some online shopping.
Tonight is already planned. A few of us are going to a Spanish restaurant to get our spanish food fix. I'm looking forward to eating some tasty food...yummo.
Ciao
Boomerangs FS to represent ACT in National Club Championships
Boomerangs FS will represent Capital Football in the National Club Championships to be held in Dural next weekend.
Futsal Grassroots Coaching Seminar
This really is a good initiative. If you are coaching a team in the local South or North competitions, do your best to get to this seminar.
FUTSAL GRASSROOTS COACHING SEMINAR
Date: Friday October 15
Time: 6.00pm-8.00pm
Location: ANU Sports Hall
Fee: $25.00
Registration: Register and make Payment Online Now
This seminar has been designed to provide the beginner Futsal coach/Parent with some basic information in regards to coaching Futsal. (Fifa 5-a-side Football).
Topics covered will include:
FUTSAL GRASSROOTS COACHING SEMINAR
Time: 6.00pm-8.00pm
Location: ANU Sports Hall
Fee: $25.00
Registration: Register and make Payment Online Now
This seminar has been designed to provide the beginner Futsal coach/Parent with some basic information in regards to coaching Futsal. (Fifa 5-a-side Football).
- Practical Session on Basic Laws of the game.
- Theory Session on Basic Team Tactics (Formations, Positions, Individual roles and responsibilities)
- Practical Exercises for the development of players aged 8-14.
- Practical Exercises for team warmups
- Practical Session on appropriate Coach Behaviour
Almost finished first week!
I cannot believe after tomorrow I will have completed my first week of vet school! It's been great so far. The Animal Body lectures are mostly review...cell biology and back into biochemistry...lovely, just lovely. The material is less than exciting for me, but it is a welcome and needed review. The great part about our program, is that we get to start handling animals very early...like 3rd week. This is very unusual compared to US vet schools. It is not uncommon for them to not touch an animal until 3rd or 4th year! One of the main reasons I chose this school is because of its animal husbandry requirements. I have been in the working world for so long and do not have recent clinical or animal husbandry experience, so the emphasis on hands-on animal handling here, suits me very well. I will do a separate post on this, as it differs greatly from the US schools.
Today was a long day. I had two lectures and then straight into a 2 hour practical looking at black and white zerox copies of cells (not easy to see everything), with questions on certain structures and their functions. We also spent a good deal of time differentiating between different types of microscopy on the pictures of the slides. We only had a 30 minute window before we had to head out to Langhill Farm for our afternoon practical. Another vet student drove me to my flat so I could take my dogs out (in the pouring rain), grab a quick bite and then head to Langhill.
Langhill Farm is our school's farm. It houses our dairy cows. It is an actual working farm where they milk and breed the cows. We need to not only be able to differentiate between all of the breeds of cows, but also be able to handle them (put a halter on, do an exam, etc), know their nutrition requirements and be educated about milk production and quality of milk. We could learn all of this in lecture, but the clever ones at Dick Vet have found that it's a better learning model to give us an 'adopted cow' with which we get all of the information with regard to their milking and health and follow them for a long period of time. We are given their specific numbers in terms of quantity of milk and its composition. This will allow us to research what is normal and how our cow compares. We are also given the records of its health and all of the information regarding any visits by the vet.
This is my adopted cow. I'm still thinking of a name for her. Suggestions are welcome.
And, this is her as a calf. How cute is she??
Today was a long day. I had two lectures and then straight into a 2 hour practical looking at black and white zerox copies of cells (not easy to see everything), with questions on certain structures and their functions. We also spent a good deal of time differentiating between different types of microscopy on the pictures of the slides. We only had a 30 minute window before we had to head out to Langhill Farm for our afternoon practical. Another vet student drove me to my flat so I could take my dogs out (in the pouring rain), grab a quick bite and then head to Langhill.
Langhill Farm is our school's farm. It houses our dairy cows. It is an actual working farm where they milk and breed the cows. We need to not only be able to differentiate between all of the breeds of cows, but also be able to handle them (put a halter on, do an exam, etc), know their nutrition requirements and be educated about milk production and quality of milk. We could learn all of this in lecture, but the clever ones at Dick Vet have found that it's a better learning model to give us an 'adopted cow' with which we get all of the information with regard to their milking and health and follow them for a long period of time. We are given their specific numbers in terms of quantity of milk and its composition. This will allow us to research what is normal and how our cow compares. We are also given the records of its health and all of the information regarding any visits by the vet.
This is my adopted cow. I'm still thinking of a name for her. Suggestions are welcome.
And, this is her as a calf. How cute is she??
So, back to our practical today. It was on biosecurity, handwashing and clothing washing. While we didn't get to play with cows, all of this information and techniques are critically important. Biosecurity is basically ensuring that diseases are not passed from farm to farm, animal to person, person to animal, etc. The foot and and mouth outbreak really brought light to the importance of biosecurity.
Our practical was from 2-5pm. We split into groups. One hour was designated for a biosecurity lecture/group project/video, one hour for handwashing technique and one hour for washing of your waterproofs and wellies (waterproof top and bottom and boots). The handwashing was interesting. You 'wash' your hands with a lotion that once you put it in a black light box, shows all of areas you missed. They then teach you how to properly wash and you do the exercise over to see how you do. We also put our hands on an agar plate before and after we washed. They are going to grow the cultures and post with pictures all of the nasties that were on our hands.
Learning of the proper washing of the waterproofs and wellies was fun. We smeared each other with mud, as if we had been out on a call to a farm and had mud, feces, blood and whatever else on our waterproofs. We were taught how to hose and brush off, then disninfect. This should be done everytime you leave a farm. It is so easy to spread really bad stuff from one farm to the next and even from your clothes/hands/boots right back to your home, family and pets. Even the healthy animals carry stuff we can get pretty sick from and it is ever so important for us to remember this.
I finally got home around 530pm and my Bingos were really happy to see me. I think that is the longest I have been gone in one day from them..ever. I could not believe it, but there were no accidents. So proud.
Ok, it's off to look at my notes from today and check out the 4 lectures for tomorrow. Oh yeah, and to eat somehing too....
Over-N-Out.
New videos! Citing Sources in MLA
Check out our new playlist for citing sources in MLA! Each video will cover how to cite a book, article or website. The first one covers the broad elements of an MLA citation. The very last one in this playlist is how to cite websites in MLA style. You can scroll through this playlist using the arrows on the left and the right of this screen. Enjoy!
Coach Smarter, Not Harder
Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/
If something isn't working on the training pitch many coaches resort to shouting louder or making their players do a routine over again until they get it right.
Here's an example: Your U11 players give the ball away too easily in matches so you decide to devote a training session to keeping possession of the ball.
The usual way of doing this is to play games where one team has to keep the ball away from the other team for a set number of passes. Sounds like it should work, doesn't it?
Divide your players into teams and tell them to try to make five consecutive passes before losing possession. Easy! But it doesn't work. If you continue to make them try for a long time without success, they will lose interest and you will be frustrated.
What a coach in this situation should do (and we've all been there) is to take a step back and consider why the game or drill isn't working.
In this example the answer is clear: keepaway is boring. Passing the ball around the pitch with no end product – other than the coach shouting at you to try harder – is not soccer. There's no fun in it. A smarter coach would realise this and stop playing this way.
He would think of a different way to achieve his objective. He might, for example, put up a couple of goals and tell his players that they must pass the ball five times before shooting.
You might think that this is just common sense. And you're right - it is! But, as Roy Keane said: "Coaching is common sense. Trouble is, common sense isn't that common." You have to work at it. If you want to be a smarter coach, you have to be flexible.
If something isn't working, stop doing it and do something else instead. Be creative and don't be afraid to take risks. Smarter coaches also know that young soccer players get bored easily and they have two session plans in their back pocket – one that should work and one they can use if the first plan falls flat.
Coach smarter, not harder!
If something isn't working on the training pitch many coaches resort to shouting louder or making their players do a routine over again until they get it right.
Here's an example: Your U11 players give the ball away too easily in matches so you decide to devote a training session to keeping possession of the ball.
The usual way of doing this is to play games where one team has to keep the ball away from the other team for a set number of passes. Sounds like it should work, doesn't it?
Divide your players into teams and tell them to try to make five consecutive passes before losing possession. Easy! But it doesn't work. If you continue to make them try for a long time without success, they will lose interest and you will be frustrated.
What a coach in this situation should do (and we've all been there) is to take a step back and consider why the game or drill isn't working.
In this example the answer is clear: keepaway is boring. Passing the ball around the pitch with no end product – other than the coach shouting at you to try harder – is not soccer. There's no fun in it. A smarter coach would realise this and stop playing this way.
He would think of a different way to achieve his objective. He might, for example, put up a couple of goals and tell his players that they must pass the ball five times before shooting.
You might think that this is just common sense. And you're right - it is! But, as Roy Keane said: "Coaching is common sense. Trouble is, common sense isn't that common." You have to work at it. If you want to be a smarter coach, you have to be flexible.
If something isn't working, stop doing it and do something else instead. Be creative and don't be afraid to take risks. Smarter coaches also know that young soccer players get bored easily and they have two session plans in their back pocket – one that should work and one they can use if the first plan falls flat.
Coach smarter, not harder!
Men's Premier League Grand Final Wrap Season 2010
The 2010 season has closed, all Men's grand finals in the Premier League concluded. Mission accomplished!
The celebrations for some continue on.... For the rest of us, there is always next season.
The team that won the grand final is pictured below and my wrap on the Men's Premier League Grand Finals (I saw all of them) follows. Some content sourced from Capital Football - well done Russ Gibbs, Media Liaison Officer for the very timely results updates on the CF website all season - it made a big difference.
Men's Premier League Grand Finals 2010
Men's PL 16
Canberra Olympic 4 (Yusef Kamara 13’, 16’, Danny Brice 36’, Michael Bornholt 84’) Woden Valley 2 (Petar Varga 7’, Darcy Crosthwaite 72’)
Two of the best young teams going around they were a pleasure to watch each week. Congratulations to two very fine coaches.
Canberra Olympic: 1. Matteo Di Giannicola (gk), 2. Steve Tadic, 3. Michael Mauito, 4. Tom Tadic, 5. Daniel Giovinazzo, 6. Ben Plunkett, 7. Jeremy Habtemariam, 8. Yusef Kamara, 9. Josh Ratnam, 10. Billy Illeris, 11. Jock McDonnell, 12. Michael Bornholt, 13. Matt Murcutt, 16. Danny Brice, 17. Oli Brown
Woden Valley: 1. Rory Larkin (gk), 2. Sam Ossato, 3. Josh Calabria, 5. Josh Lind, 6. Jake Wilsener, 7. Regan Walsh, 8. Nathan Swientek, 9. Petar Varga, 10. Alex Popovich, 11. Josh Gregory, 12. Damiano Luzzi, 14. Darcy Crosthwaite, 15. Eliot Bassili, 16. Mohammed Al-Althari, 17. Jordan Tsekenis, 111. Andrew Ciszek
Woden Valley: 1. Elliott Duncan (gk), 3. Reece Vlazlovski (13. Ikenna Moneke), 4. Andrew Kiley (15. Steve Masters), 6. Chris Ruiz, 7. Lukas Cole, 9. Bensah Afiabo (2. Adrian Stroh), 10. Tom Hirst, 11. Jordyn Nayna, 12. Lachlan Nicholls, 14. Gary Alexander (8. Nick Tsakiris), 17. Grant Davoren
Belconnen United: 1. Keegan Jackson (gk), 2. Eamon Ritchie, 3. Glen Smith, 4. Joshua Shippley, 5. Sam Wynn, 6. Joel Sverdrupsen (14. Josh Sands), 7. Jason O’Dwyer (12. Matthew Phillips), 8. Michael Reeve, 9. Matthew Grayson (13. Lukasz Bednark), 10. Callum Smith, 11. Joshua Broekhuyse (16. John Colley)
Men's Premier League
Canberra FC 6 (Danai Gapare 2’, 45’, Adam Spaleta 9’, 63’, Matt Grbesa 18’, Alex Castro 37’) Belconnen United 0
Canberra FC: 18. Ben Klug (gk), 4. Marcin Zygmunt, 6. Alex Castro (12. Ian Graham), 7. Paul Ivanic (14. Josip Jadric), 8. Matt Grbesa, 10. Stephen Lee, 15. Danai Gapare, 17. Aidan Brunskill, 19. Adam Spaleta (3. Jordan Whittiker), 21. Victor Yanes, 22. Jon Ison
Belconnen United: 1. Rohan Shepherd (gk), 2. Matt Valeri (18. Jason O’Dwyer), 3. Dustin Wells, 5. Taylor Beaton, 6. Phil Borgeaud (4. Lee Pietrukowski), 7. Callum Beaton, 8. Cameron Reinhart, 10. Danny Macor, 11. David Kemp, 12. Jack Blackley (9. Tai Smith), 19. David Arranz
The Men's Grand Final follows..
The PL18s was noteworthy for the drama and desperation of the struggle to win, rather than the quality of the football. Tuggeranong won a dour affair, a game that was influenced more by the high winds, endless turnover of possession and long balls, rather than the sort of football the FFA Techncial Director might hope to see at this level. That said, it was good theatre and plenty of passion. Woden found itself 2:0 in front and probably counted itself lucky to be in this position, going into the second half with more than a hope they could win the GF. The Woden Coaching brains (and they are a pretty smart lot) trust knew only too well that they would need all the luck they could get to beat a Tuggeranong team that had finished strongly to the end of the competition rounds, while Woden had the "collie wobbles", with a playing roster that was now paper thin. Faced with the real prospect of defeat in the second half, the Tuggeranong coach changed his structure to 1-4-3-3 in order to chase the goals, but it didn’t quite work for him and Woden seemed to gather a bit more momentum by way of more possession. This was a relief for the spectators, who were getting sore eyeballs watching the never ending turnover of possession. Woden were holding on for dear life and Tuggeranong were doing all they could to chase a goal. Tuggeranong would just not go away! Coaches were beside themselves, finding it hard to influence the game, as the game just took off in its own direction. Then it happened. Someone hit the gong for Woden and it all came tumbling down before our eyes – a dubious call for a second yellow on a Woden player, saw them down to 10 players at the worst possible time. The Tuggeranong coach's change in structure now seemed to begin to work for him and the momentum of the game went with his team. Woden had nothing left in the locker, nothing more to influence the game. Goals came. Strange how things can change – or perhaps it illustrates just how finely balanced this game had really been all along. The send off incident was quickly followed by a dreadful head collision between a player from each team, as they went for a high ball, knocked rotten and bleeding, necessitating their removal from the game (both recovered on the sidelines). There was a substantial break in the game. This works for some teams and not for others and I guess it depends on circmstances of the game at the time. Woden never recovered from the loss of another important player or the break in concentration. Injuries, illness, suspension and send off had finally done for Woden minutes before the end of the GF. It had been that close! Tuggeranong recomposed themselves and stormed home to take the GF. Not a pretty game, but lots of action. It had everyone watching. Entertaining, yes, but not for the purist and perhaps not every week thankyou!
The Mens PL Pathways was quite a remarkable game.
Belconnen v Woden Valley lined up against each other, and Belconnen must have felt they were a real chance of victory following their clashes through the season. I recall the Belconnen Coah steering his team materfully to a Pathways GF win over a highly regarded ACTAS side a couple of years ago. Belconnen had experience to burn! Woden Valley, playing the 1-4-3-3 all season saved their best for last. A lot of things have changed at Woden Valley FC this season and all for the good of the young players. It all came together in that game, after months and months of work which had begun in last year’s Summer 20s, through a specialist techncial coaching program with Coerver (and it was really good!) then on to a range of fixtures with Clubs in NSW as part of the preseason preparation. Lots of football. Woden made this playing system sing, it was like watching a little master class for the FFA, demonstrating the way ahead via the national football curriculum. Han Berger would have been jumping for joy over this game. Belconnen were industrious but this was not their day, they were firmly shut out of the game by a superior football performance. It was the first time a Woden Valley PL team had secured a Grand Final victory. This game alone was the one worth the price of admission. Good thing too, because what followed probably justified a refund! But I get ahead of myself.
The Mens PL game was a great disappointment. Not if you are CFC support of course, but there is more to this game than the result for football int he ACT region. CFC were the benchmark team for all Pl teams this season. Simple as that! But CFC didn;t always play like they were the best, nor were they necessarily the best to watch. But good enough to keep winning on the back of some truly wonderful football players. The history of these two teams in 2010 indicated that this just had to be a close contest, a real heavy duty contest. Both Coaches are clever and crafty fellows and both teams know each other very well. No surprises you would think. That was my view before the match started. I could hardly wait for this game to get going!
Belconnen must have fancied there chances after dragging CFC to extra time in the preliminary finals. CFC have not had a smooth running season, sacking the coach before he lost a game, rumours of unhappiness in the playing squad and unhappiness with the players by the Club officials, the roster seemingly at its lowest ebb in a while, with a number of players not available and a style of play that seemed to be dangerously reliant on the moments of football inspiration from a small core of highly talented players, as opposed to some discernable or coherent system and style of play. And yet, they had held off every other team for the premiership title again. How good could they be if they got their act together people would say, and they said that a lot this season, even when they were winning!
Well , for one game, yes one game in a season, we found out! Looking as fluid, purposeful and menacing as a team could be for 45 minutes, CFC sliced and diced a good Belconnen Team. I cannot overstate just how dominant the CFC team was in the first half, their movement, passing, support and finishing was dazzling. It seemed like they had 20 players out there. Just amazing. They took everyone at the game by surprise and any CFC support who says otherwise is telling a fib.
I haven’t seen anything close to that this season. Why have they been unable to do this more this season? Makes no sense to me and raises more questions than it answers. The game was gone from vision at half time with a score of 5:0 to CFC. Unbelievable! Unstoppable! If this was a horse race you call in the stewards!
Sadly, the rest of the game was a waste of time. One wag in the crowd cried out for the basketball “mercy rule” to be applied and game ended. CFC had done enough, they had crushed their opponent and in that realistation, simply went through the motions. Who could blame them. Perhaps they were a bit in awe of their own performance. I don’t know, but I wanted my admission charge refunded.
What motivated the CFC players? Was it monetary reward for one game, was that it? Was it the week off that heped them rediscover their true footballing self? I want to know, because if its something other than monetary reward, I’d like a bottle of it for my club next season. This was the most impressive 45 minutes of football from an ACT PL team I can reall in recent years. If you want a point of comparison, it was of the standard (well for one half of a game anyway) produced by that incredible Japanese High School team from Nara we were treated to earlier this year.
The following day, some supporters of CFC declared that going back to the NSW Premier League was now the only logical next move for this club. Predictable I suppose and not without some substance. Well, good if they do and if they want to, go and do it. Don’t just talk about it. They have the personnel and resources to do it.
I don’t blame CFC for the game that it was, any more than I am angry with Belconnen. We were all hit by a football force of nature for 45 minutes and I for one have not yet recovered.
The celebrations for some continue on.... For the rest of us, there is always next season.
The team that won the grand final is pictured below and my wrap on the Men's Premier League Grand Finals (I saw all of them) follows. Some content sourced from Capital Football - well done Russ Gibbs, Media Liaison Officer for the very timely results updates on the CF website all season - it made a big difference.
Men's Premier League Grand Finals 2010
Men's PL 16
Canberra Olympic 4 (Yusef Kamara 13’, 16’, Danny Brice 36’, Michael Bornholt 84’) Woden Valley 2 (Petar Varga 7’, Darcy Crosthwaite 72’)
Two of the best young teams going around they were a pleasure to watch each week. Congratulations to two very fine coaches.
Canberra Olympic: 1. Matteo Di Giannicola (gk), 2. Steve Tadic, 3. Michael Mauito, 4. Tom Tadic, 5. Daniel Giovinazzo, 6. Ben Plunkett, 7. Jeremy Habtemariam, 8. Yusef Kamara, 9. Josh Ratnam, 10. Billy Illeris, 11. Jock McDonnell, 12. Michael Bornholt, 13. Matt Murcutt, 16. Danny Brice, 17. Oli Brown
Woden Valley: 1. Rory Larkin (gk), 2. Sam Ossato, 3. Josh Calabria, 5. Josh Lind, 6. Jake Wilsener, 7. Regan Walsh, 8. Nathan Swientek, 9. Petar Varga, 10. Alex Popovich, 11. Josh Gregory, 12. Damiano Luzzi, 14. Darcy Crosthwaite, 15. Eliot Bassili, 16. Mohammed Al-Althari, 17. Jordan Tsekenis, 111. Andrew Ciszek
Men's PL18
Tuggeranong United 3 (Andrew Lawrence 73’, 86’, Sam Ramey 84’) Woden Valley 2 (Jonathan Kipnis 8’, Adrian Canizares 65’ (pen))
Tuggeranong United: 1. Callum Hogan (gk), 2. Jordan Carige, 4. Ian Gower, 5. Cameron Moutrey, 7. Andrew Lawrence, 9. Tristan Anderson (15. Sean Kiddey), 10. Cameron Doherty (6. Tim Dehelean), 11. Steven Klug, 12. Oscar Ignetik (3. Joe Campbell), 14. Michael Pritchard (8. Sam Ramey), 16. Jordan Lamb
Woden Valley: 1. Jacob Cole (gk), 2. Matthew Kocic, 3. Nic Connell, 4. Evan Dawson (Regan Walsh), 5. Matthew Salaysay, 7. Steven Lee, 8. Nick Kramer (16. Julien Renard), 10. Milenko Novakovic (9. Petar Varga), 11. Jonathan Kipnis, 14. Adrian Canizares, 15. Arden Law
Men's Premier League Pathways
Woden Valley 4 (Chris Ruiz 16’, Lachlan Nicholls 33’, Bensah Afiabo 61’, Gary Alexander 75’) Belconnen United 1 (Josh Sands 68’)
Woden Valley: 1. Elliott Duncan (gk), 3. Reece Vlazlovski (13. Ikenna Moneke), 4. Andrew Kiley (15. Steve Masters), 6. Chris Ruiz, 7. Lukas Cole, 9. Bensah Afiabo (2. Adrian Stroh), 10. Tom Hirst, 11. Jordyn Nayna, 12. Lachlan Nicholls, 14. Gary Alexander (8. Nick Tsakiris), 17. Grant Davoren
Belconnen United: 1. Keegan Jackson (gk), 2. Eamon Ritchie, 3. Glen Smith, 4. Joshua Shippley, 5. Sam Wynn, 6. Joel Sverdrupsen (14. Josh Sands), 7. Jason O’Dwyer (12. Matthew Phillips), 8. Michael Reeve, 9. Matthew Grayson (13. Lukasz Bednark), 10. Callum Smith, 11. Joshua Broekhuyse (16. John Colley)
Men's Premier League
Canberra FC 6 (Danai Gapare 2’, 45’, Adam Spaleta 9’, 63’, Matt Grbesa 18’, Alex Castro 37’) Belconnen United 0
Canberra FC: 18. Ben Klug (gk), 4. Marcin Zygmunt, 6. Alex Castro (12. Ian Graham), 7. Paul Ivanic (14. Josip Jadric), 8. Matt Grbesa, 10. Stephen Lee, 15. Danai Gapare, 17. Aidan Brunskill, 19. Adam Spaleta (3. Jordan Whittiker), 21. Victor Yanes, 22. Jon Ison
Belconnen United: 1. Rohan Shepherd (gk), 2. Matt Valeri (18. Jason O’Dwyer), 3. Dustin Wells, 5. Taylor Beaton, 6. Phil Borgeaud (4. Lee Pietrukowski), 7. Callum Beaton, 8. Cameron Reinhart, 10. Danny Macor, 11. David Kemp, 12. Jack Blackley (9. Tai Smith), 19. David Arranz
The Men's Grand Final follows..
The Mens grand finals were a mixed bag. The day ended in sensational fashion. Read on...
The PL 16s saw two first rate teams in Woden Valley and Canberra Olympic play very good football, just as they had done for most of the season. Both teams are fortunate to have first rate coaches. It was a very good standard of football that would have got the tick in the box from Han Berger. It was a good win to Olympic, left no one in any doubt they were just a bit better on the day and for good measure, played in perfect weather on a flat pitch, which isn’t always the case for PL16 games during the season. It was delight to watch. A ggreat way to start a big weekend of football.
The PL18s was noteworthy for the drama and desperation of the struggle to win, rather than the quality of the football. Tuggeranong won a dour affair, a game that was influenced more by the high winds, endless turnover of possession and long balls, rather than the sort of football the FFA Techncial Director might hope to see at this level. That said, it was good theatre and plenty of passion. Woden found itself 2:0 in front and probably counted itself lucky to be in this position, going into the second half with more than a hope they could win the GF. The Woden Coaching brains (and they are a pretty smart lot) trust knew only too well that they would need all the luck they could get to beat a Tuggeranong team that had finished strongly to the end of the competition rounds, while Woden had the "collie wobbles", with a playing roster that was now paper thin. Faced with the real prospect of defeat in the second half, the Tuggeranong coach changed his structure to 1-4-3-3 in order to chase the goals, but it didn’t quite work for him and Woden seemed to gather a bit more momentum by way of more possession. This was a relief for the spectators, who were getting sore eyeballs watching the never ending turnover of possession. Woden were holding on for dear life and Tuggeranong were doing all they could to chase a goal. Tuggeranong would just not go away! Coaches were beside themselves, finding it hard to influence the game, as the game just took off in its own direction. Then it happened. Someone hit the gong for Woden and it all came tumbling down before our eyes – a dubious call for a second yellow on a Woden player, saw them down to 10 players at the worst possible time. The Tuggeranong coach's change in structure now seemed to begin to work for him and the momentum of the game went with his team. Woden had nothing left in the locker, nothing more to influence the game. Goals came. Strange how things can change – or perhaps it illustrates just how finely balanced this game had really been all along. The send off incident was quickly followed by a dreadful head collision between a player from each team, as they went for a high ball, knocked rotten and bleeding, necessitating their removal from the game (both recovered on the sidelines). There was a substantial break in the game. This works for some teams and not for others and I guess it depends on circmstances of the game at the time. Woden never recovered from the loss of another important player or the break in concentration. Injuries, illness, suspension and send off had finally done for Woden minutes before the end of the GF. It had been that close! Tuggeranong recomposed themselves and stormed home to take the GF. Not a pretty game, but lots of action. It had everyone watching. Entertaining, yes, but not for the purist and perhaps not every week thankyou!
The Mens PL Pathways was quite a remarkable game.
Belconnen v Woden Valley lined up against each other, and Belconnen must have felt they were a real chance of victory following their clashes through the season. I recall the Belconnen Coah steering his team materfully to a Pathways GF win over a highly regarded ACTAS side a couple of years ago. Belconnen had experience to burn! Woden Valley, playing the 1-4-3-3 all season saved their best for last. A lot of things have changed at Woden Valley FC this season and all for the good of the young players. It all came together in that game, after months and months of work which had begun in last year’s Summer 20s, through a specialist techncial coaching program with Coerver (and it was really good!) then on to a range of fixtures with Clubs in NSW as part of the preseason preparation. Lots of football. Woden made this playing system sing, it was like watching a little master class for the FFA, demonstrating the way ahead via the national football curriculum. Han Berger would have been jumping for joy over this game. Belconnen were industrious but this was not their day, they were firmly shut out of the game by a superior football performance. It was the first time a Woden Valley PL team had secured a Grand Final victory. This game alone was the one worth the price of admission. Good thing too, because what followed probably justified a refund! But I get ahead of myself.
The Mens PL game was a great disappointment. Not if you are CFC support of course, but there is more to this game than the result for football int he ACT region. CFC were the benchmark team for all Pl teams this season. Simple as that! But CFC didn;t always play like they were the best, nor were they necessarily the best to watch. But good enough to keep winning on the back of some truly wonderful football players. The history of these two teams in 2010 indicated that this just had to be a close contest, a real heavy duty contest. Both Coaches are clever and crafty fellows and both teams know each other very well. No surprises you would think. That was my view before the match started. I could hardly wait for this game to get going!
Belconnen must have fancied there chances after dragging CFC to extra time in the preliminary finals. CFC have not had a smooth running season, sacking the coach before he lost a game, rumours of unhappiness in the playing squad and unhappiness with the players by the Club officials, the roster seemingly at its lowest ebb in a while, with a number of players not available and a style of play that seemed to be dangerously reliant on the moments of football inspiration from a small core of highly talented players, as opposed to some discernable or coherent system and style of play. And yet, they had held off every other team for the premiership title again. How good could they be if they got their act together people would say, and they said that a lot this season, even when they were winning!
Well , for one game, yes one game in a season, we found out! Looking as fluid, purposeful and menacing as a team could be for 45 minutes, CFC sliced and diced a good Belconnen Team. I cannot overstate just how dominant the CFC team was in the first half, their movement, passing, support and finishing was dazzling. It seemed like they had 20 players out there. Just amazing. They took everyone at the game by surprise and any CFC support who says otherwise is telling a fib.
I haven’t seen anything close to that this season. Why have they been unable to do this more this season? Makes no sense to me and raises more questions than it answers. The game was gone from vision at half time with a score of 5:0 to CFC. Unbelievable! Unstoppable! If this was a horse race you call in the stewards!
Sadly, the rest of the game was a waste of time. One wag in the crowd cried out for the basketball “mercy rule” to be applied and game ended. CFC had done enough, they had crushed their opponent and in that realistation, simply went through the motions. Who could blame them. Perhaps they were a bit in awe of their own performance. I don’t know, but I wanted my admission charge refunded.
What motivated the CFC players? Was it monetary reward for one game, was that it? Was it the week off that heped them rediscover their true footballing self? I want to know, because if its something other than monetary reward, I’d like a bottle of it for my club next season. This was the most impressive 45 minutes of football from an ACT PL team I can reall in recent years. If you want a point of comparison, it was of the standard (well for one half of a game anyway) produced by that incredible Japanese High School team from Nara we were treated to earlier this year.
The following day, some supporters of CFC declared that going back to the NSW Premier League was now the only logical next move for this club. Predictable I suppose and not without some substance. Well, good if they do and if they want to, go and do it. Don’t just talk about it. They have the personnel and resources to do it.
I don’t blame CFC for the game that it was, any more than I am angry with Belconnen. We were all hit by a football force of nature for 45 minutes and I for one have not yet recovered.
The Womens Premier League Grand Final Wrap for 2010
The 2010 season has closed, all Women's grand finals in the Premier League concluded. Mission accomplished!
The celebrations for some continue on.... For the rest of us, there is always next season.
The team that won the grand final is pictured below and my wrap on the Women's Premier League Grand Finals (I saw all of them) follows. Some content sourced from Capital Football - well done Russ Gibbs, Media Liaison Officer for the very timely results updates on the CF website all season - it made a big difference.
Women's Premier League Grand Finals
Women's PL 18
Belconnen United 5 (Brittany Tully 4’, Talia Backhouse 13’, 69’, Brittany Smale 44’, 81’) Woden Valley 2 (Meg McLaughlin 7’, 88’)
Belconnen United: 1. Tahlia Gash, 2. Tegan Taylor, 3. Grace Tosic, 4. Lianna Maddaffari, 5. Samantha Lazdovkis, 6. Jess Goyne, 7. Brittany Smale, 8. Madeleine D’Ambrosio, 9. Shiann Knight-Moore, 10. Brittany Tully, 11. Natalie De Marco, 12. Talia Backhouse, 13. Rebecca Richards, 14. Sarah Murcutt, 16. Chloe Gash, 18. Lauren Keir
Woden Valley: 1. Tatiana Curic, 2. Izzy Velzen, 3. Bronte Carlin, 4. Nida Mollinson, 5. Kadee Hollis, 6. Caitlin White, 7. Sophie Velzen, 8. Thembi Compton, 9. Meg McLaughlin, 10. Brittany Palombi, 11. Courtney Allen, 12. Nia Southwell, 13. Morgan McGown, 14. Rachael Goldstein, 15. Jaline Hoek, 16. Amy McLachlan, 17. Rhianna Goldstein
Belwest Foxes: 1. Melanie Luksa, 2. Claire Hill, 4. Lara Weston-Indrascott (9. Ping Saengmany), 5. Vanessa Burdett, 6. Stephanie Trimble, 7. Cassie Rankine, 8. Gemma Matheson (3. Elizabeth Dernee), 11. Emma Gillies (12. Alysha Bowman), 13. Aniko Berguno, 15. Samantha Price, 16. Claire Johnson
Belconnen United: 1. Jocelyn Mara, 2. Sabrynka Zawartko, 3. Bianka Jagarinec, 4. Emma Heaney, 5. Ellie Weston, 6. Caitlin Taylor (14. Kiley Green), 7. Jordan Buchanan, 8. Vanessa Cordett (12. Talia Collins), 9. Danielle Donne (15. Sabrina Spinapolice), 10. Tayla Zanotto (13. Rose Tickner), 11. Sarah Tutt
Women's Premier League
Belwest Foxes 3 (Snez Veljanovska 30’, Cian Maciejewski 45’, Hope Wilkins 73’) Woden Valley 5 (Erin Frewin 2’, Georgia Yeoman-Dale 23’, 56’, 8’ (pen), Ashleigh Palombi 29’)
Belwest Foxes: 1. Melanie Luksa, 2. Kim Crocker (4. Erika Pennyfield), 3. Cian Maciejewski, 5. Hope Wilkins, 6. Katrina Staniforth, 9. Shahreen Goodrick (16. Stephanie Trimble), 10. Snez Veljanovska, 11. Lucy Hanrahan, 13. Julia Hoy, 15. Elizabeth Pearson (14. Sam Price), 18. Hayley Buckingham
Woden Valley: 1. Gill Raymond, 4. Stephanie Coates, 5. Jen Walsh (12. Grace Field, 17. Haley Hinde), 6. Erin Frewin, 7. Sally Rojahn, 8. Isabella Boag-Taylor, 10. Ashleigh Palombi (3. Ellen Kromar), 11. Georgia Yeoman-Dale, 13. Emma Thornton, 14. Krista Hagen, 15. Catherine Brown
The PL reserves was an edge of the seat contest between Belwest and Belconnen, with Belwest looking the stronger team over the whole game, scoring the winner late in the second half. The strength of the Womens Pl game was emphasised in the Reserves game, as both teams treated the crowd to a really good game of football.
Then it was on to the PL Womens blockbuster between Woden Valley and Belwest. The NPL has interviewed the coaches of these two teams on several occasions this season and you could only be impressed by both coaches. They play a different style, both successful and coach teams who have displayed discipline and purpose over a long season. These two teams and coaches know a lot about each other. The season started with Belwest hammering Woden in the Fed Cup final. It looked a long season that day for Woden. They played each other three times following that game in the competition proper, and each time the margin got smaller between the teams, till Woden snatched a victory in the last of their clashes. This set the stage for the Grand Final. It was game that lived up to expectations in every respect. Woden Valley went out to a flying start, a bit like Belwest had done to them in the Fed Cup all those months ago. 3:1 at half time was a score that left no one at Woden comfortable, because the Belwest machine had started to gather some real momentum. Half time may have come at just the wrong time for Belwest. Both Coaches looked like they were dying on the inside! The players looked cool! Woden may have had the lead, but Belwest were alaways threatening to overhaul Woden. So much good football talent on display and they were all going for it. It is impossible to catalogue the ebb and flow of the second half, we all felt the game hung by a thread at times, they matched each other for goals, the gap closed and finally Woden broke free. The standard of play was just sensational. This game promised so much and delivered on everything. As they say, pity there has to be a winner. But it is worth remembering that while Woden Valley now holds it’s first Womens PL GF trophy, Belwest hold the premiership. Can’t say fairer than that.
Womens PL football is the best.
The celebrations for some continue on.... For the rest of us, there is always next season.
The team that won the grand final is pictured below and my wrap on the Women's Premier League Grand Finals (I saw all of them) follows. Some content sourced from Capital Football - well done Russ Gibbs, Media Liaison Officer for the very timely results updates on the CF website all season - it made a big difference.
Women's Premier League Grand Finals
Women's PL 18
Belconnen United 5 (Brittany Tully 4’, Talia Backhouse 13’, 69’, Brittany Smale 44’, 81’) Woden Valley 2 (Meg McLaughlin 7’, 88’)
Belconnen United: 1. Tahlia Gash, 2. Tegan Taylor, 3. Grace Tosic, 4. Lianna Maddaffari, 5. Samantha Lazdovkis, 6. Jess Goyne, 7. Brittany Smale, 8. Madeleine D’Ambrosio, 9. Shiann Knight-Moore, 10. Brittany Tully, 11. Natalie De Marco, 12. Talia Backhouse, 13. Rebecca Richards, 14. Sarah Murcutt, 16. Chloe Gash, 18. Lauren Keir
Woden Valley: 1. Tatiana Curic, 2. Izzy Velzen, 3. Bronte Carlin, 4. Nida Mollinson, 5. Kadee Hollis, 6. Caitlin White, 7. Sophie Velzen, 8. Thembi Compton, 9. Meg McLaughlin, 10. Brittany Palombi, 11. Courtney Allen, 12. Nia Southwell, 13. Morgan McGown, 14. Rachael Goldstein, 15. Jaline Hoek, 16. Amy McLachlan, 17. Rhianna Goldstein
Women's Premier League Reserves
Belwest Foxes 1 (Gemma Matheson 79’) Belconnen United 0
Belconnen United: 1. Jocelyn Mara, 2. Sabrynka Zawartko, 3. Bianka Jagarinec, 4. Emma Heaney, 5. Ellie Weston, 6. Caitlin Taylor (14. Kiley Green), 7. Jordan Buchanan, 8. Vanessa Cordett (12. Talia Collins), 9. Danielle Donne (15. Sabrina Spinapolice), 10. Tayla Zanotto (13. Rose Tickner), 11. Sarah Tutt
Women's Premier League
Belwest Foxes 3 (Snez Veljanovska 30’, Cian Maciejewski 45’, Hope Wilkins 73’) Woden Valley 5 (Erin Frewin 2’, Georgia Yeoman-Dale 23’, 56’, 8’ (pen), Ashleigh Palombi 29’)
Belwest Foxes: 1. Melanie Luksa, 2. Kim Crocker (4. Erika Pennyfield), 3. Cian Maciejewski, 5. Hope Wilkins, 6. Katrina Staniforth, 9. Shahreen Goodrick (16. Stephanie Trimble), 10. Snez Veljanovska, 11. Lucy Hanrahan, 13. Julia Hoy, 15. Elizabeth Pearson (14. Sam Price), 18. Hayley Buckingham
Woden Valley: 1. Gill Raymond, 4. Stephanie Coates, 5. Jen Walsh (12. Grace Field, 17. Haley Hinde), 6. Erin Frewin, 7. Sally Rojahn, 8. Isabella Boag-Taylor, 10. Ashleigh Palombi (3. Ellen Kromar), 11. Georgia Yeoman-Dale, 13. Emma Thornton, 14. Krista Hagen, 15. Catherine Brown
The NPL Grand Final wrap follows:
The Womens grand finals were played at Hawker on Sunday. Not one game disappointed with all teams playing in good style, a wonderful atmosphere at Hawker and near perfect weather. What a great day! Read on...
The PL18s went to Belconnen. It was impressive game from these young players and many were younger than 18. Woden impressed everyone with the quality their passing game and the willingness to stay with it, but Belconnen seemed to have the force with them that day and secured a good win. The PL reserves was an edge of the seat contest between Belwest and Belconnen, with Belwest looking the stronger team over the whole game, scoring the winner late in the second half. The strength of the Womens Pl game was emphasised in the Reserves game, as both teams treated the crowd to a really good game of football.
Then it was on to the PL Womens blockbuster between Woden Valley and Belwest. The NPL has interviewed the coaches of these two teams on several occasions this season and you could only be impressed by both coaches. They play a different style, both successful and coach teams who have displayed discipline and purpose over a long season. These two teams and coaches know a lot about each other. The season started with Belwest hammering Woden in the Fed Cup final. It looked a long season that day for Woden. They played each other three times following that game in the competition proper, and each time the margin got smaller between the teams, till Woden snatched a victory in the last of their clashes. This set the stage for the Grand Final. It was game that lived up to expectations in every respect. Woden Valley went out to a flying start, a bit like Belwest had done to them in the Fed Cup all those months ago. 3:1 at half time was a score that left no one at Woden comfortable, because the Belwest machine had started to gather some real momentum. Half time may have come at just the wrong time for Belwest. Both Coaches looked like they were dying on the inside! The players looked cool! Woden may have had the lead, but Belwest were alaways threatening to overhaul Woden. So much good football talent on display and they were all going for it. It is impossible to catalogue the ebb and flow of the second half, we all felt the game hung by a thread at times, they matched each other for goals, the gap closed and finally Woden broke free. The standard of play was just sensational. This game promised so much and delivered on everything. As they say, pity there has to be a winner. But it is worth remembering that while Woden Valley now holds it’s first Womens PL GF trophy, Belwest hold the premiership. Can’t say fairer than that.
Womens PL football is the best.
Football Is An All Year Sport These Days
In tonights program we have a Premier League Grand Final wrap (more to follow in the next week), but the rest is given to junior Football development.
We begin by continuing our discussion with Eddie Senatore and Eddie gives his thoughts on the standard of the Under 13 Open competition this season and the impact of the national curriculum. Very intersting and encouraging.
Then its on to Ian Shaw, Technical Director Capital Football. The Summer High Performance Program is the key topic for Part 1 of this interview series.
There have been huge changes in junior / youth player development over the last two years, with the introduction and implementation of the National Football Curriculum. Ian has been at the forefront of impementing changes demanded by the FFA. Its not an easy job, but it's also not above critical examination. Ian has never stepped back from making himself available to the NPL and its not always been comfortable. Everyone in Football has an opinion and in times of change, it can be hard to bring everyone with you, particularly when the change is mandated by the FFA. Waiting and admiring the problem is not an option for any techncial director and staff. So they got moving.
Change we have had and there is a fair bit to be please about. These changes (ie the national football curriculum) will take many years to embed in our football culture and practice. Clubs will increasingly become the agent of theis change. Witness the changes at clubs like Majura, Woden, Belconnen (United, West, South etc), Tuggeranong, Monaro to name a few. Summer programs and Futsal are now well and truly on the agenda. The Boomerangs admission to the NSW Supa League Futsal competition and their success is another.
The emphasis on coach education cannot be overstated, it was and is a key underpinning requirement of successful implementation of the curriculum, all the way down to the depths of junior clubs. We are now seeing many more new coaches (Senatore among others is one of those that make this change possible at the grass roots), trained in the current football thinking, developing the future generations of players - and keeping them in the game. Thats a big change. There is no room for egos in this work.
Listen carefully as Ian talks of the importance of developing as many young players as possible, not just a seleceted few. Building the player base, the opportunities, keeping them in Football, getting them better technically and so on. You might say that this is not really "High Performance" in its purist sense and you would be right - its more important than that - it's ensuring that here in the ACT region we give every young player a chance to get better and in so doing, the whole game improves, with the result that we create a Club competitive environment that nutures good footballers.
We like fast results in Football, but when did the best ever happen quickly in Football? We have made progress in the ACT and more must come, a lot more and that will take time, resolve and greater resourcing (other than from parents pockets) than is to hand at this time.
Ian and his crew have made a difference.
Download the Podcast here:
We begin by continuing our discussion with Eddie Senatore and Eddie gives his thoughts on the standard of the Under 13 Open competition this season and the impact of the national curriculum. Very intersting and encouraging.
Then its on to Ian Shaw, Technical Director Capital Football. The Summer High Performance Program is the key topic for Part 1 of this interview series.
There have been huge changes in junior / youth player development over the last two years, with the introduction and implementation of the National Football Curriculum. Ian has been at the forefront of impementing changes demanded by the FFA. Its not an easy job, but it's also not above critical examination. Ian has never stepped back from making himself available to the NPL and its not always been comfortable. Everyone in Football has an opinion and in times of change, it can be hard to bring everyone with you, particularly when the change is mandated by the FFA. Waiting and admiring the problem is not an option for any techncial director and staff. So they got moving.
Change we have had and there is a fair bit to be please about. These changes (ie the national football curriculum) will take many years to embed in our football culture and practice. Clubs will increasingly become the agent of theis change. Witness the changes at clubs like Majura, Woden, Belconnen (United, West, South etc), Tuggeranong, Monaro to name a few. Summer programs and Futsal are now well and truly on the agenda. The Boomerangs admission to the NSW Supa League Futsal competition and their success is another.
The emphasis on coach education cannot be overstated, it was and is a key underpinning requirement of successful implementation of the curriculum, all the way down to the depths of junior clubs. We are now seeing many more new coaches (Senatore among others is one of those that make this change possible at the grass roots), trained in the current football thinking, developing the future generations of players - and keeping them in the game. Thats a big change. There is no room for egos in this work.
Listen carefully as Ian talks of the importance of developing as many young players as possible, not just a seleceted few. Building the player base, the opportunities, keeping them in Football, getting them better technically and so on. You might say that this is not really "High Performance" in its purist sense and you would be right - its more important than that - it's ensuring that here in the ACT region we give every young player a chance to get better and in so doing, the whole game improves, with the result that we create a Club competitive environment that nutures good footballers.
We like fast results in Football, but when did the best ever happen quickly in Football? We have made progress in the ACT and more must come, a lot more and that will take time, resolve and greater resourcing (other than from parents pockets) than is to hand at this time.
Ian and his crew have made a difference.
Download the Podcast here:
My schedule...finally!
So, it took a while for our schedule to be posted, but we finally have them. In all honesty, it's not too terrible. I'm not saying the work that results from my classes is not going to take up all of my time, but the actual schedule of classes and practicals is manageable. I am really, really glad I'm in the 5 year program and not the 4 year.
We do what is called 'blocks'. Basically, I am taking 3 classes this semester (over 30 credits) - The Animal Body 1, Professional & Clinical Skills and Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety (AHWAFS). Professional & Clinical Skills runs the full 5 years and AHWAFS runs through 4 years of our education and we only drop it in 5th year when we take on full clinicals with no lectures. The Animal Body 1 is a full year and is everything from Cell to Animal Structure & Function. It is broken up into three sections:
1. Animal Body Overview: introduction to the adult animal body plan with respect to general anatomy, physiology, and basic tissues; neural and endocrine integration of function; introduction to homeostasis
2. Animal Cell: the molecules of the cell; the management & flow of genetic information; cellular signalling; physiology of excitable cells; cell motility & division; embryology, histogenesis & organogenesis
3. Anatomical Structure & Relationships
small animal limb and topographical anatomy incorporating the skin and derivatives.
So, one block will be the first section and then when that is over, we move on to the second. Thing is, the weekly lecture schedule changes. It's not like undergraduate where you had the same class monday, wednesday, friday from 9-950am. Here, you have lectures and practicals (labs - indoor and outdoor) on different days at different times.
For the most part, I have two really long days starting at 9am and ending at 5pm with an hour or two break in the middle. These days usually consist of a 30 min bus ride out to our farms at Easter Bush for some sort of practical, like cattle husbandry. Then, the other days I go from 9am till as early as 11am (get out of town!) or noon! Wednesdays, university-wide, they do not teach in the afternoon. This is reserved for societies and sports teams to get together...sweet! I do know that some of our 'free' afternoons will be filled up with random veterinary educational opportunities, which is great and I hope to take advantage of as many opportnities as possible.
Tomorrow, I start officially! My schedule is very first - dayish:
9-950 Intro to first year
10-1030 Intro to EEVeC. This is our electronic veterinary curriculum online..way cool. It has a Virtual Farm where you can watch cows being born, videos of procedures (goat and dog castrations, surgery on an open wound), techniques and videos of animal handling (how to take a single rope, make it into a halter and put it on a cow), pictures of breeds of cows and sheep, pictures and explanations of the different types of feed, etc etc. I have spent a lot of time on the Virtual Farm. EEVeC also houses our class schedule for the year, notices, lectures and slide shows, staff contacts, etc. It is an incredible tool that I'm excited to learn all of what it has to offer.
1110-1300 Photographs (not too excited about this one)
1400-1450 Course overview and intro to portfolio (we are required to keep a portfolio over our 5 years. I'm sure a lot of students will complain about this component since it will be time consuming, but I think it will be something really worthwhile to have at the end as a visual representation of all that we have accomplished. Plus, this is the first year it will be completely electronic. They seem to have spent a lot of time in choosing the software for us to use.
1500-1550 Into to AHWAFS (Animal Health Welfare & Food Safety)
1610-1700 Transition to University (been there done this. This is for the younguns...which I will explain in another post).
Tuesday looks better:
9-950 Anatomy of adult body plan
10-1050 Physiology of adult body plan
11-1130 Vet Library tour Optional. (Guess what time I'll be done on Tuesday?)
Wednesday I go from 9-12 and Thursday and Friday are pretty full days.
The following week is short on M, W, F and long on T, Th. I can deal with this. Heck, I'm used to working 8-12 hour days and then some. Studying is going to take up a huge amount of my time, but I can do that in the comfort of my own flat.
Ok, well I have a BIG day tomorrow and need to get ready to get ready to go to bed. Of all times, I came down with a cold......grrrr....and need my beauty rest.
Over-N-Out
We do what is called 'blocks'. Basically, I am taking 3 classes this semester (over 30 credits) - The Animal Body 1, Professional & Clinical Skills and Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety (AHWAFS). Professional & Clinical Skills runs the full 5 years and AHWAFS runs through 4 years of our education and we only drop it in 5th year when we take on full clinicals with no lectures. The Animal Body 1 is a full year and is everything from Cell to Animal Structure & Function. It is broken up into three sections:
1. Animal Body Overview: introduction to the adult animal body plan with respect to general anatomy, physiology, and basic tissues; neural and endocrine integration of function; introduction to homeostasis
2. Animal Cell: the molecules of the cell; the management & flow of genetic information; cellular signalling; physiology of excitable cells; cell motility & division; embryology, histogenesis & organogenesis
3. Anatomical Structure & Relationships
small animal limb and topographical anatomy incorporating the skin and derivatives.
So, one block will be the first section and then when that is over, we move on to the second. Thing is, the weekly lecture schedule changes. It's not like undergraduate where you had the same class monday, wednesday, friday from 9-950am. Here, you have lectures and practicals (labs - indoor and outdoor) on different days at different times.
For the most part, I have two really long days starting at 9am and ending at 5pm with an hour or two break in the middle. These days usually consist of a 30 min bus ride out to our farms at Easter Bush for some sort of practical, like cattle husbandry. Then, the other days I go from 9am till as early as 11am (get out of town!) or noon! Wednesdays, university-wide, they do not teach in the afternoon. This is reserved for societies and sports teams to get together...sweet! I do know that some of our 'free' afternoons will be filled up with random veterinary educational opportunities, which is great and I hope to take advantage of as many opportnities as possible.
Tomorrow, I start officially! My schedule is very first - dayish:
9-950 Intro to first year
10-1030 Intro to EEVeC. This is our electronic veterinary curriculum online..way cool. It has a Virtual Farm where you can watch cows being born, videos of procedures (goat and dog castrations, surgery on an open wound), techniques and videos of animal handling (how to take a single rope, make it into a halter and put it on a cow), pictures of breeds of cows and sheep, pictures and explanations of the different types of feed, etc etc. I have spent a lot of time on the Virtual Farm. EEVeC also houses our class schedule for the year, notices, lectures and slide shows, staff contacts, etc. It is an incredible tool that I'm excited to learn all of what it has to offer.
1110-1300 Photographs (not too excited about this one)
1400-1450 Course overview and intro to portfolio (we are required to keep a portfolio over our 5 years. I'm sure a lot of students will complain about this component since it will be time consuming, but I think it will be something really worthwhile to have at the end as a visual representation of all that we have accomplished. Plus, this is the first year it will be completely electronic. They seem to have spent a lot of time in choosing the software for us to use.
1500-1550 Into to AHWAFS (Animal Health Welfare & Food Safety)
1610-1700 Transition to University (been there done this. This is for the younguns...which I will explain in another post).
Tuesday looks better:
9-950 Anatomy of adult body plan
10-1050 Physiology of adult body plan
11-1130 Vet Library tour Optional. (Guess what time I'll be done on Tuesday?)
Wednesday I go from 9-12 and Thursday and Friday are pretty full days.
The following week is short on M, W, F and long on T, Th. I can deal with this. Heck, I'm used to working 8-12 hour days and then some. Studying is going to take up a huge amount of my time, but I can do that in the comfort of my own flat.
Ok, well I have a BIG day tomorrow and need to get ready to get ready to go to bed. Of all times, I came down with a cold......grrrr....and need my beauty rest.
Over-N-Out
The Bingo Boyz
I realize many of you are ever so familiar with my Boyz, nevertheless, they deserve a formal introduction.
So, please meet my two little furry guys who keep me laughing and smiling all the time and show me their unconditional love each and every day. It is a such a joy and I am forever grateful to be able to come home to such liveliness and adoration......I'm addicted.
This is my Harley Bones. He is a 5yr old Yorkshire Terrier. I call him my 'Velcro', as if he is not on my lap, on his bed next to my desk, or curled up on my neck at night, something is amiss. He is a true gentleman and a sweetheart.
So, please meet my two little furry guys who keep me laughing and smiling all the time and show me their unconditional love each and every day. It is a such a joy and I am forever grateful to be able to come home to such liveliness and adoration......I'm addicted.
This is my Harley Bones. He is a 5yr old Yorkshire Terrier. I call him my 'Velcro', as if he is not on my lap, on his bed next to my desk, or curled up on my neck at night, something is amiss. He is a true gentleman and a sweetheart.
And, this is his brother Mugsy. Mugsy is 4 and came from the same breeder, but they are only distantly related. Mugsy, or the 'Mugger', is a bit more of a class clown. He is obsessed with his toys, mainly his ball (he plays soccer and it is really amazing to watch) and a little more independent. He has his times of wanting to be clingy and then those in which he hangs out on the couch. He is a little athlete and knows how to tell time apparently because he wakes me up at 730 on the dot every morning for breakfast. This is the Mugs with his favorite birdie.
One of their favorite pastimes is to sit like cats and check out what is going on outside.
They will be a familiar reference in my posts.
The Pope Visits Edinburgh
Edinburgh made international news today with the Pope's visit. He is doing a tour of Great Britain, which started in Edinburgh and will end in England. He met with Her Majesty the Queen today in Edinburgh and then travelled to Glasgow to celebrate a public Mass. He will continue on to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury for Evening prayer at Westminster Abbey, celebrate Mass at the Cathedral and beatify Cardinal John Newman during Mass in Birmingham. He had lunch today with the Cardinal and it was 8 minutes from my neighborhood. I passed it on the way to run an errand. I wish I would have seen the procession, I did not realize it was coming this close to me.
It was a beautiful day and I hope that some of my friends/family got to see some clips on the news back in the US.
Our orientation was completed yesterday, so I had the day off to get some things done. Tomorrow, I have my first hair appointment here and am hoping all goes well. I really, really need a good cut since I haven't done anything in about 7 weeks....yikes.
We got our schedules today.....finally. It is not too bad, really. I'm so glad I'm in the 5 year program because we do have a more reasonable schedule than the 4 years. Monday is pretty chock full from 9-5 with an hour break for lunch, but two days this week I am only in lecture from 9-12! Apparently, on Wednesdays university wide, they do not believe in teaching in the afternoon. It is a time for students to take part in their sports/societies, or just have some free time to take care of business that needs attention during business hours. I absolutely love this hump day reprieve.
I'm getting unbelievable excited to start and feel like a school kid. I am so looking forward to the torture....I'm just different like that.
I miss all of my family and friends, but have certainly started to settle in. This is a pretty cool city and I see why everyone told me I would love it.
Oh, the best news is........I can now watch UFC and mixed martial arts again!! Thank Goodness!! I'm getting all caught up with some fights that I seriously was sad I missed. The only good news about the TV being terrible here is that there is no ESPN (like we know it), so no sports scores are ruined for me. Heck, I can't even watch the sports I want, for the most part. No college football and only like two NFL games a week.....Boooooo.
Ok, time to go get some shut eye. I feel like I may be getting a weakened immune system and do not want to get sick. Good Night.
Over-N-Out
It was a beautiful day and I hope that some of my friends/family got to see some clips on the news back in the US.
Our orientation was completed yesterday, so I had the day off to get some things done. Tomorrow, I have my first hair appointment here and am hoping all goes well. I really, really need a good cut since I haven't done anything in about 7 weeks....yikes.
We got our schedules today.....finally. It is not too bad, really. I'm so glad I'm in the 5 year program because we do have a more reasonable schedule than the 4 years. Monday is pretty chock full from 9-5 with an hour break for lunch, but two days this week I am only in lecture from 9-12! Apparently, on Wednesdays university wide, they do not believe in teaching in the afternoon. It is a time for students to take part in their sports/societies, or just have some free time to take care of business that needs attention during business hours. I absolutely love this hump day reprieve.
I'm getting unbelievable excited to start and feel like a school kid. I am so looking forward to the torture....I'm just different like that.
I miss all of my family and friends, but have certainly started to settle in. This is a pretty cool city and I see why everyone told me I would love it.
Oh, the best news is........I can now watch UFC and mixed martial arts again!! Thank Goodness!! I'm getting all caught up with some fights that I seriously was sad I missed. The only good news about the TV being terrible here is that there is no ESPN (like we know it), so no sports scores are ruined for me. Heck, I can't even watch the sports I want, for the most part. No college football and only like two NFL games a week.....Boooooo.
Ok, time to go get some shut eye. I feel like I may be getting a weakened immune system and do not want to get sick. Good Night.
Over-N-Out
NPL Classic - Interview with the CEO Vikings Futsal - Part 1
By popular request we have Part 1 of the interview the NPL did with CEO Vikings Futsal, Alastair Miller. This guy really thinks big and he and his organisation deliver the goods. This is one Futsal organistion, no, make that one sports orgainsation that really knows how to get itself organised and promote it's game to people. As a business model, Capital Football Board may wish to take a close look, get a few tips and do something truly inspirational for Football and Futsal in the ACT!
Download Podcast here:
Download Podcast here:
Back online!
I lost my borrowed internet connection all of yesterday (they secured it). Thank goodness today was my day for British Telecom to hook up my landline, install my broadband and give me my Sky TV bundle. I can now call US landlines for free up to 60 minutes. If I am going to talk longer, I simply have to hang up and redial....talk about a bargain!
So, we finished orientation today. It started out interesting with information on doing the research track, an intercalcated degree (another BSc, a Master's or PhD), a residency (postgraduate clinical training) and summer research projects (Paid!) and ended up with us getting the longer version of history of the Dick Vet that we've heard a couple of times now.
I am actually interested in at least pursuing the idea of research. The university is world renowned for it's research capabilities and facilities. I think it would be a shame not to at least consider the options. The cloning of Dolly the Sheep is perhaps what we are best known for, but we are at the forefront on infectious disease, genomics and biomedical research. The University of Edinburgh is currently the top research institution in the UK. That is pretty impressive in my book. The Roslin Institute is our research arm. Check it out: http://www.roslin.ac.uk/. It is located next door to our new teaching facility out at Easter Bush: http://www.easterbush.estates.ed.ac.uk/royal-dick-school-of-veterinary-studies/
Since I just got my internet back up online, I have some catch up to do.
Over-N-Out
So, we finished orientation today. It started out interesting with information on doing the research track, an intercalcated degree (another BSc, a Master's or PhD), a residency (postgraduate clinical training) and summer research projects (Paid!) and ended up with us getting the longer version of history of the Dick Vet that we've heard a couple of times now.
I am actually interested in at least pursuing the idea of research. The university is world renowned for it's research capabilities and facilities. I think it would be a shame not to at least consider the options. The cloning of Dolly the Sheep is perhaps what we are best known for, but we are at the forefront on infectious disease, genomics and biomedical research. The University of Edinburgh is currently the top research institution in the UK. That is pretty impressive in my book. The Roslin Institute is our research arm. Check it out: http://www.roslin.ac.uk/. It is located next door to our new teaching facility out at Easter Bush: http://www.easterbush.estates.ed.ac.uk/royal-dick-school-of-veterinary-studies/
Since I just got my internet back up online, I have some catch up to do.
Over-N-Out
Timely Grand Final Advice - How to Take A Penalty Kick!!!
Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/
Given the number of penalty shoot outs lately, this might be useful before this weekend.
How to take the perfect penalty
Whether playing in the park with jumpers for goalposts or at the end of a tense cup final, your players need to know how to take penalties.
Successful penalty taking is not simply a case of running up and shooting. There are a number of techniques that can be taught to even very young soccer players that will dramatically improve their chances of coping with the pressure and help them convert spot kick into goals.
A study by the University of Exeter found that penalty takers who looked at the goalkeeper during their run up often ended up shooting straight at the goalkeeper. Their advice to penalty takers was to try to blot the goalkeeper out to the point where he or she is not there at all.
Another study by the boffins at John Moores University in Liverpool offered a more scientific approach to scoring from the penalty spot. They suggested that:
This study did find that while using cue words was off putting for some players in a practice situation, they did help when the pressure was on by keeping a players' mind 'on the job' and stopping their thoughts from wandering or becoming negative.
The penalty king - how did he take spot kicks?
Alan Shearer scored 54 times from the penalty spot during his league career and scored a dozen for England.
The majority of his penalties were scored in exactly the same way – he ignored the goalkeeper, took a short run and smashed the ball into the top left of the goal as hard as he could. Even though goalkeepers knew how he would take a penalty, they couldn't save them.
The lesson?
Given the number of penalty shoot outs lately, this might be useful before this weekend.
How to take the perfect penalty
Whether playing in the park with jumpers for goalposts or at the end of a tense cup final, your players need to know how to take penalties.
Successful penalty taking is not simply a case of running up and shooting. There are a number of techniques that can be taught to even very young soccer players that will dramatically improve their chances of coping with the pressure and help them convert spot kick into goals.
A study by the University of Exeter found that penalty takers who looked at the goalkeeper during their run up often ended up shooting straight at the goalkeeper. Their advice to penalty takers was to try to blot the goalkeeper out to the point where he or she is not there at all.
Another study by the boffins at John Moores University in Liverpool offered a more scientific approach to scoring from the penalty spot. They suggested that:
- The perfect penalty is struck at 65mph from a run up of no more than six paces.
- The taker should strike the ball less than three seconds after the referee has blown the whistle.
- The taker should approach the ball from an angle of 20-30 degrees and aim high to the goalkeeper's left or right side.
This study did find that while using cue words was off putting for some players in a practice situation, they did help when the pressure was on by keeping a players' mind 'on the job' and stopping their thoughts from wandering or becoming negative.
The penalty king - how did he take spot kicks?
Alan Shearer scored 54 times from the penalty spot during his league career and scored a dozen for England.
The majority of his penalties were scored in exactly the same way – he ignored the goalkeeper, took a short run and smashed the ball into the top left of the goal as hard as he could. Even though goalkeepers knew how he would take a penalty, they couldn't save them.
The lesson?
- Having a set routine helps when you're under pressure.
- Confidence and focus is the key. Don't try to deceive the goalkeeper.
References [1] Brian Quarstad, How to Take the Perfect Penalty Kick?, http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/05/16/how-to-take-the-perfect-penalty-kick/
[2] http://www.teachpe.com/soccer_football/penalty.php
[3] Anna Stodter & Matt Pain, Taking penalty kicks under pressure - think about It!, Loughborough University
[2] http://www.teachpe.com/soccer_football/penalty.php
[3] Anna Stodter & Matt Pain, Taking penalty kicks under pressure - think about It!, Loughborough University
Grand Final Previews From the Premier League Coaches
This program was broadcast on Tuesday 31 August 2010, on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network.
Tonight's program is given to the Premier League Women's and Men's Grand Finals to be held this weekend.
We speak to Darren Viskovic, the Head Coach of the Tuggeranong United Men's Premier League Club. His analysis of the two teams is instructive and he makes a fearless prediction.
Then we speak to the two Head Coaches of the the two Women's Premier League teams that will contest the Women's Premier League GF - Ed Hollis of Woden Valley and Pat Mills of Belwest. The two best coaches and the two best teams in 2010. Makes sense to me! They are both confident of victory and so very different in playing styles.
The 2010 season has brought change to the Football landscape at the Premier League level.
The Men's competition has seen three new teams admitted to the competition. All did well for their first season. The ANU has withdrawn from the Premier League leaving a nine team competition for season 2010. The ANU Under 20 Elite program was a bold, commendable local initiative by John Mitchell, Head Coach, to assist young players post ACTAS, an initiative that made other PL Clubs (and perhaps Captial Football) sit up and take notice in a postivie fashion. Job well done! If Capital Football has any sense at all it will leave it this way and find a way to construct a season that has three rounds instead of two. ACTAS continues to play for points (but not for finals), ensuring that these young talented players, so well coached at ACTAS, remain remote from Premier League Clubs during the season. This is in sharp contrast to the Women's ACTAS program. The ACTAS fixtures midweek at the PPL level were of considerable assistance to many clubs. Perhaps there is a way to see these players play at Club and train / play fixtures at ACTAS in season 2011. Lets hope so, but of course, the requirements of ACTAS Head Coach for his players must come first. The two best teams this season will contest the GF - Belconnen United and CFC.
The Women's Premier League of 2010 has been terrific, it has seen two new teams in Tuggeranong United and Brindabella Blues. Its been a big step forward from the entertaining season of 2009. Both new teams have campaigned gamely and will be far more threatening in 2011. Western Creek have been steady performers, gaining a place in the semi finals, while Belconnen United started poorly, finished strongly, and perhaps the big improver in 2010. CFC was disappointing, producing some really good football at times, but seemed to disintegrate in the second half of the competition. This is one club that simply must persist with the Womens game at the PL level. With time to plan and recruit for 2011, CFC could be a formidable adversary. Belwest took the competition at top speed and got so far ahead early, they guaranteed themselves a PL semi final spot long before the competition rounds concluded, however, the gap did close. Woden Valley took up where they left off in 2009, but with some very important changes - a new coaching staff and a determination to implement the 1-4-3-3 in compliance with the FFA's new direction. Woden Valley have prospered, getting closer to Belwest each time they played them, ending a win in the final round. I guess that's the virtue of having three competition rounds (the men have two). Both teams fielded ACTAS and / or W League players under new and far sighted management by the Head Coach ACTAS Women's program (and Canberra Untied Coach) Ray Junna. The return of these very talented players to the Womens PL competition has been sensational. This works! So now its the two best teams to contest the GF - Belwest and Woden Valley - and it will be as much a clash in systems and styles of play as it is between the players. You just couldn't ask for anything more!
The availability of quality playing surfaces, remains a severe limitation for most Premier League Clubs (excluding Belconnen and CFC). Some no better than a cabbage patch. Training surfaces are worse. The Hawker Enclosed Centre, with its Tiger Turf FIFA standard surface is nothing short of outstanding and the more it is used the more it is used. We must have several of these surfaces available to be used within the next three years,and one south of the lake (Mawson or Kambah), enclosed and with facilities for players and spectators before the commencement of the next season. Its that critical and that necessary.
Download the Podcast here:
Tonight's program is given to the Premier League Women's and Men's Grand Finals to be held this weekend.
We speak to Darren Viskovic, the Head Coach of the Tuggeranong United Men's Premier League Club. His analysis of the two teams is instructive and he makes a fearless prediction.
Then we speak to the two Head Coaches of the the two Women's Premier League teams that will contest the Women's Premier League GF - Ed Hollis of Woden Valley and Pat Mills of Belwest. The two best coaches and the two best teams in 2010. Makes sense to me! They are both confident of victory and so very different in playing styles.
The 2010 season has brought change to the Football landscape at the Premier League level.
The Men's competition has seen three new teams admitted to the competition. All did well for their first season. The ANU has withdrawn from the Premier League leaving a nine team competition for season 2010. The ANU Under 20 Elite program was a bold, commendable local initiative by John Mitchell, Head Coach, to assist young players post ACTAS, an initiative that made other PL Clubs (and perhaps Captial Football) sit up and take notice in a postivie fashion. Job well done! If Capital Football has any sense at all it will leave it this way and find a way to construct a season that has three rounds instead of two. ACTAS continues to play for points (but not for finals), ensuring that these young talented players, so well coached at ACTAS, remain remote from Premier League Clubs during the season. This is in sharp contrast to the Women's ACTAS program. The ACTAS fixtures midweek at the PPL level were of considerable assistance to many clubs. Perhaps there is a way to see these players play at Club and train / play fixtures at ACTAS in season 2011. Lets hope so, but of course, the requirements of ACTAS Head Coach for his players must come first. The two best teams this season will contest the GF - Belconnen United and CFC.
The Women's Premier League of 2010 has been terrific, it has seen two new teams in Tuggeranong United and Brindabella Blues. Its been a big step forward from the entertaining season of 2009. Both new teams have campaigned gamely and will be far more threatening in 2011. Western Creek have been steady performers, gaining a place in the semi finals, while Belconnen United started poorly, finished strongly, and perhaps the big improver in 2010. CFC was disappointing, producing some really good football at times, but seemed to disintegrate in the second half of the competition. This is one club that simply must persist with the Womens game at the PL level. With time to plan and recruit for 2011, CFC could be a formidable adversary. Belwest took the competition at top speed and got so far ahead early, they guaranteed themselves a PL semi final spot long before the competition rounds concluded, however, the gap did close. Woden Valley took up where they left off in 2009, but with some very important changes - a new coaching staff and a determination to implement the 1-4-3-3 in compliance with the FFA's new direction. Woden Valley have prospered, getting closer to Belwest each time they played them, ending a win in the final round. I guess that's the virtue of having three competition rounds (the men have two). Both teams fielded ACTAS and / or W League players under new and far sighted management by the Head Coach ACTAS Women's program (and Canberra Untied Coach) Ray Junna. The return of these very talented players to the Womens PL competition has been sensational. This works! So now its the two best teams to contest the GF - Belwest and Woden Valley - and it will be as much a clash in systems and styles of play as it is between the players. You just couldn't ask for anything more!
The availability of quality playing surfaces, remains a severe limitation for most Premier League Clubs (excluding Belconnen and CFC). Some no better than a cabbage patch. Training surfaces are worse. The Hawker Enclosed Centre, with its Tiger Turf FIFA standard surface is nothing short of outstanding and the more it is used the more it is used. We must have several of these surfaces available to be used within the next three years,and one south of the lake (Mawson or Kambah), enclosed and with facilities for players and spectators before the commencement of the next season. Its that critical and that necessary.
Download the Podcast here:
Listen to the Grand Finals Live on 2xxfm
Capital Football have organised for 2xxfm (98.3mhz) to broadcast the Premier League Grand Finals live to the Canberra Football Community.
Coverage of GPL starts at 5.20 (Saturday) and WPL at 2.50 (Sunday)
Now you can do two things at once - get to the game and watch it live and listen to the expert commentary as the game is played in front of you. No doubt there will be guest commentators and game analysis.
If you can't make the game because you are stuck in the garden, transporting the kids or pretending to be interested in domestic duties, well no problem - tune into the live broadcast on 2xxfm. Simple!
Take your portable FM radio , or Ipod with FM radio function and tune in to the game.
Well done Capital Football and 2xxfm (Canberra's premier community radio station for Football in the ACT region).
Coverage of GPL starts at 5.20 (Saturday) and WPL at 2.50 (Sunday)
Now you can do two things at once - get to the game and watch it live and listen to the expert commentary as the game is played in front of you. No doubt there will be guest commentators and game analysis.
If you can't make the game because you are stuck in the garden, transporting the kids or pretending to be interested in domestic duties, well no problem - tune into the live broadcast on 2xxfm. Simple!
Take your portable FM radio , or Ipod with FM radio function and tune in to the game.
Well done Capital Football and 2xxfm (Canberra's premier community radio station for Football in the ACT region).
Meet Julia, New Archivist in Special Collections!
Hello, BSU community! I am the new archivist in Special Collections and have been here since July. Before this position, I was the archivist at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (Go Packers!). Prior to that, I served as Project Archivist of the Southeast Asian Archive at the University of California, Irvine.I received a Master of Library and Information Science degree and a Master's of History degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I also received a Bachelor of Music degree from Ouachita University.
In my new position I will be working with the University Archives part of Special Collections and working with university records. I will also be working with digital collections that include university materials.
Have a question about BSU's history or donating university records to the University Archives? Feel free to contact me by phone 426-4308, by e-mail juliastringfellow@boisestate.edu, or by visiting Special Collections located on the second floor of the library.
New Exhibit in Special Collections
A new exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the opening of Bronco Stadium was recently installed in the front exhibit windows of Special Collections on the second floor of the library. Construction of Bronco Stadium began in 1969, and it was dedicated on September 11, 1970, during the football game of BSU v. Chico State that BSU won with the final score being 49-14.
The stadium was built at a cost of $2.2 million and originally contained 14,500 seats. The exhibit is comprised of photographs, newspaper articles, programs, and other memorabilia on the stadium. Additional images of Bronco Stadium can be viewed in the digital collection Historic Boise State located on the Special Collections website.
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