Norway Judo Camp Diary
Norway Judo Camp Diary
At least we started at a sensible time for this camp. We arranged to meet at 08:00 on the Monday morning. Much better than the 03:30 meet for the last camp we did in Sweden.
The journey to Stansted Airport went without a problem and we all arrived in good time for the flight to Norway. There were nine of us in total; Chris, Jason (a helper – well that’s his excuse for a week off) and seven players; Luke Marchant, James Sparks, James Martin, Paul Crouch, Dean Garlick, Michael Musker and Enrico Atkinson.
The first little problem of the week was about to happen. Some players have terrible memories. We were all told the luggage allowance was 15kg each but for the odd player that just isn’t enough. No, some of us (they know who they are) have to bring their favourite toys, several pairs of shoes (high heels and sparkly trainers included) three or four pairs of jeans, loads of tops plus all their designer toiletries, (Oh, and a judo suit of course) and then try to check in with 20kg. Good job we managed to appear all famous at check-in and then plead with them to let off the budding England international stars from the excess baggage charge.
All that shuttle run training on a Monday in the dojo really paid off as we raced to the plane bagging decent seats. No seat pre allocation on Ryan Air. It’s survival of the fittest… or fastest.
After a 90 minute flight and landing safely in Oslo we collected our bags (the heavy ones did arrive) and headed for the mini bus with the lads (and ladies!!) from one of the Bristol Judo Clubs ready for the trip to Kongsberg where the training camp was to be held.
Two hours later we arrived at school… Not our usual schools of course, we had the week off after all, but the school that was hosting the camp. Having been shown to our classroom (or was it bedroom?) we all unpacked our gear.
Everyone was hungry so a meal out in the town was needed. Having great taste the boys chose a pizza restaurant, but Chris and Jason needed meat and decided to go for a steak (and a few beers maybe, they were training too!) in the posh room adjoining the Pizza place.
Walking back to the school after 10pm it was still daylight. In fact it didn’t get dark until close to midnight and was light again by 03:00, what a strange place!! Good job the classroom had curtains.
The second little problem surfaced. Jason was sharing our room and boy did he SNORE!!!!
As no one could sleep properly because of the light and the noise it was up early ready for the first days training.
Oh, and the third little problem. Who ordered the breakfast?? The supplier hadn’t quite got the hang of feeding us and delivered bread and jam (ok!) but water (mmm!), milk (we gave that up when we were 18months) and strangest of all mackerel paste!!!!!!! Who eats that for breakfast?? Or anytime come to think of it.
Fortunately on day two the supplier had got the hang of the early start time and things improved. The fish paste disappeared to be replaced with cheese and we also got butter and juice as well.
Training took place in the school hall. There was about 100 players in all from clubs in Bristol, Kendal and also Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Training was hard work but fun. We did two sessions each day plus a gym exercise to follow with stuff like rope climbing, tumbling, gymnastics, stretching, etc. Judo sessions focused on all the different aspects of the sport with separate classes for ground work, standing, throws, etc.
At the end of training every day we also did a different activity in the sports hall including football, hockey and even karate (which will never catch on)!!
Lunches were pretty light but dinner was really good with lots of Norwegian food, including some really fresh, local caught salmon and plenty of meat balls, stews and similar stuff. But no mackerel paste thankfully.
On Thursday we got to have a day off and went to the largest water park in Norway.
Little problem number 4. This was Norway, not Florida, and it was raining!!
Still it was great fun and it was good to get out in the fresh air and have a laugh. And we laughed lots when Chris told us that he didn’t have any swimming shorts only a pair of Speedo’s!! What a fashion disaster. James spoiled the fun though by lending him a pair of his. What did he pay you James??
After more training on Friday we had a tournament on the Saturday to finish off. All the players were put into different teams… a change to competing individually which is normal at these camps. The Tonbridge boys did really well, although it was a bit strange when we were matched against each other.
Saturday night was hilarious. Everyone knew each other really well by then and there was plenty of fun going on. Most laughs were had at the card games. Losers had to pay a forfeit. Did anybody notice a player when he turned up for training the following week with parts of his eyebrows missing?? Let’s just say that by losing the game he also lost part of them too!!!
It was a great week and we were all grateful for the opportunity to train with different players and coaches and to work on different techniques. All of us came back better players, much fitter than when we left and having learned lots, trained hard, as well as having made new friends.
Thanks to Chris and Jason for arranging everything it was a great week. When’s the next training camp? Bring it on!