The FIMBA GB +40 women were back on their “home” court in Leicester for the first time since their World Cup Silver medal success and their penultimate training session before heading to the European Championships.
The weekend started with medals presented to those players who missed the final and then, as the full squad was not in Croatia, some individual and team photos taken by the fabulous JS Sports Photography with the World Cup Trophy. Head Coach, Tony Harrison, then pulled the team together to dissect Croatia and discuss the weekend plans with an emphasis on “re-focusing” for Italy, before the usual warmups with our partners, Spectrum Physio.
The intensity level was at the highest it has ever been as the coaches pushed the team to work harder and put each other under pressure. After a few drills focused on the improvement areas from Croatia, highlighted by both the players and coaches, the team ran against each other for an hour, with coaching tips throughout, to ensure the correct shots and decisions were being made.
Despite such a tough session, the intensity level did not diminish in the scrimmage as we pushed each other to get better and continued to build on the identity we found in Croatia. It was great to have the team back to my house afterwards so we could relax and rest ready for what we were sure was going to be another intense day, as well as enjoy a nice team dinner with the coaches at the local pub.
Charlie Lauder – Captain
Day 2 started with a debrief of the previous day, before the focus switched to defence with several high intensity drills aimed at making the players think differently to the norm. Assistant Coach Lauder took the “bigs” to work on their footwork and how to maximise their individual abilities, whilst Coach Harrison worked on the guards’ reactions.
Another scrimmage followed with the scoring based on turnovers and offensive boards, as well as correct shot selection, giving the coaches a chance to play around with different combinations and work on specific scenarios ready for their final session in June.
After the success in Croatia another team may reduce its focus being content with the level of play achieved and take that to the next tournament. Not this team, on the contrary, they took inspiration and motivation from the close final to intensify individual and collective training. This “intensity” was brought to the weekend training camp and not only did they rise to meet the physical level of the session prepared but they challenged us as coaches to input even more and to drive harder.
A true team, without stars, who work hard to improve each other as players – a real example for others.
Tony Harrison – Head Coach
The team are highly supported off court and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the partners who have made this journey possible: Care Days; Castings Services; Global Travel Worldwide; Langley Mechanical Services; Ocorian; PPE; Spectrum; Trelleborg Tyres and White Trees Group. For more details on the FIMBA GB +40 Women click here or to keep up to date with the their journey to the European Championships in Italy, follow gbforties on Instagram and Facebook.
If you are interested in partnering the +40 Women and support their journey in 2024, you can find all the relevant details on our partners page or you can support their journey with a personal donation by clicking here.
