A prelude to a season

It
 ’t know what to do with it, and others have none…well none that they let us have anyway! (We are one of the third type in case you hadn’t guessed by the slightly bitter tone!). As a result, there tends to be leagues within the league each year.
The problem with National 3 London and South East is that it is the level where money starts to rear its confused head. This means that some teams have a lot of it, some have a bit and don

Last year Jersey and local rivals Old Albanians led the big spenders and were promoted whilst Barnes and Ampthill came down. Jersey had some truly fantastic players and it was sad to see them go…if only because we miss out on the mid-season mini tour this year! Barnes had dominated the league two years ago but suffered the same yo-yo affect of many promoted teams at this level. Ampthill came with a formidable reputation and a forward pack seemingly recruited from Lord of the Rings!
 …a Christmas present I could have done without.


The Ampthill front row rush to a scrum

 I was a little apprehensive at the start of the season. The trouble with playing for an amateur club at this level is that other paying clubs are constantly trying to swipe our best players and last season was no different. Tim Holgate, our top try scorer for the last two seasons, took the carrot and moved to London Scottish. Inspired more by family reasons than financial, Tim took the step up to National 1 and, I am happy to say, is doing extremely well.

Despite wishing Tim the best of luck, I suspected we might struggle without him. I was also struggling for confidence myself following an injury last season. Unfortunately, I have been cursed with shoulders made of chocolate! I have had any number of dislocations through Rugby but two operations seemed to have put a stop to it. December last year was the first time my right shoulder had dislocated again since the op
 ’m no spring chicken anymore, not exactly playing for England, so is it really worth the heartache of trying to carry on? If a 6’7” 19 stone Second row runs at me, will I have the confidence to make the tackle? Or will the memories of three nurses and a doctor yanking my shoulder back into joint with no painkillers forever sear itself onto my sub-conscious?!
Another dislocation sparked self-doubt - should I play anymore? I

I thought my Rugby career was over and resigned myself to watching from the sidelines. However, the desire to play soon overtakes any logical thinking. After just a handful of games, I was desperate to get back out onto the field and I started to double my physio and rehab work to be ready for the coming season....

How do you prepare for sport? Have you had any horrible injury stories? Share them here!... ’s hard to write about a season in any sport and avoid the standard clichés…‘emotional rollercoaster…‘a real journey’…‘had its ups and downs’…boring! I will try and avoid these but I warn you it is hard.