Despite the gloomy weather between Christmas and the
welcoming in of 2012, a new year does provide the opportunity
for new beginnings.
We've all had a chance to reflect on 2011, unwind and refocus
for what lies ahead.
Despite warnings about resolutions being a waste of time, we
still make them.
The recently knighted Sir Graham Henry, for instance, has
vowed to focus more on his family this year and Sonny Bill
Williams continues to offer his athletic body irrespective of
the code, country, or creed to the highest bidder.
Like Christmas gifts that were all the rage in 2011, I can't
help but feel SBW is so "last season".
I'm tired of caring about what kind of ball he holds, whom he
boxes and where he has a chai latte. Good luck to him and his
new year's resolution of milking his sports career for all
it's worth.
For some of us who don't have the luxury of waiting for the
highest bid to be made, this is a time to reflect on what we
want to achieve in 2012. We have time to take a breather and
prepare.
For summer sports, however, this is the business end. No time
to reflect, just to get on and do it.
Sports like tennis, cricket, multisport and sevens have their
day in the sun (if the weather will just behave itself, that
is).
I wonder if SBW has considered pursuing a career in sevens?
Physically, he'd make an ideal sevens player and the crowds
would flock to see him for a bit of titillation and eye
candy.
Considering his current modus operandi he'd never consider it
because the NZRU doesn't offer million-dollar contracts to
players of the condensed game, but with sevens being included
in the 2016 Olympics, that might change.
Perhaps we'll see SBW (Show Bill the Wads-of-cash) change his
code and his loyalties once again. Now what did I say about
not caring? Before heading back to work I did get the chance
to soak up one day of sun at the sevens tournament in Mt
Maunganui.
Provincial men's and women's teams from around New Zealand
and Shandong, China, congregated at Blake Park to test out
their squads and the opposition before the national
tournament in Queenstown.
It was touch and go whether the tournament would go ahead at
all with the torrential rain dumping on the Bay of Plenty
region, but the event organisers were blessed with great
field conditions and exceptional weather on the day.
The inclusion of women's sevens in the 2016 Olympics has
meant sevens coaches, players and tournaments for women are
coming out of the woodwork and it was great to see women's
teams from Taranaki, Manawatu, Waikato, Counties, Bay of
Plenty, Shandong (two), and Eketahuna there.
As a woman looking for inspiration, this was the place to be.
One woman breastfed her 2-week-old baby between games,
another made the trip from Australia just for the tournament
with her two young children in tow, another had to kayak over
a flooded road to make it out of Taneatua for the tournament,
and the Shandong province invested thousands to bring two
women's teams to New Zealand for several months to experience
sevens played the Kiwi way.
Pity I'm over the hill. If I was 18 years old again I'd make
sure I was on the sevens bandwagon heading for Rio de Janeiro
in 2016.
Instead I settled for adding to my 2012 list, goals such as
"must get fitter" and "need to play a sport" and "eat less
chocolate".
In other words, after watching these fit and athletic women
running around I said to myself: "get off your A and get into
G!" Nice, specific, measurable and achievable goals to set.
Yeah, right.
As for the men's sevens, I only caught the final between
Canterbury and Taranaki, which was very one-sided, with
Taranaki winning 40-0.
For many of the men's teams, the Mount tournament is a chance
to finalise their squad of 12 and suss out the opposition
players, so I suspect many of the teams keep a few of their
weapons and tactics under wraps until they hit Queenstown.
Hopefully, the weather holds out for that. Meanwhile, I'm
back at work and raring to put those new year's resolutions
into practice.
Now, where did I hide my running shoes?
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.