attacking skills

Monday 28 July: mutaks took us through another light session. 2 on 2, 3 on 2, then down to scrimmaging and open play. the emphasis was on attack.

we’ll have another tough fitness session with doc on wednesday.

The 16

the 16 players that mutaks and doc will be working with for the qualifiers were named:

Aalliya Adania (Rangers)
Sauda Adiru (Thunderbirds)
Joan Andika (Rangers)
Winnie Atyang (Thunderbirds)
Stella Bakole (Thunderbirds)
Helen Buteme (Black Panthers)
Rosenburg Kanyunyuzi (Thunderbirds)
Brenda Kayiyi (Black Panthers)
Harriet Kayonjo (Thunderbirds)
Christine Kizito (Thunderbirds)
Mary Kyoita (Rangers)
Charlotte Mudoola (Rangers)
Prossy Nakakande (Black Panthers)
Josephine Namayega (Thunderbirds)
Dorothy Nekesa (Thunderbirds)
Asha Sonko (Thunderbirds)

Coach: David Mutaka
Fitness coach: Dr Arthur Kwizera
Team manager: Jeroline Akubu

sadly happy

Wednesday 23 July: doc again. we started off with a new version of touch rugby. everyone had to piggy back (carry someone on their back) someone their weight. all the usual touch rugby rules applied with the additional one that the attacking team would lose the ball if the feet of person being carried touched the ground. the person being carried was not allowed to do anything – they could not touch the ball or the ball carrier. i never thought we could run that fast with a dead weight on our backs. fun stuff.

the fun over we got down to serious business. tiptoeing in sprint mode through the agility ladders, sidestepping slalom poles, hopping over tackle bags (on both feet), lifting tractor tyres, tackling tackle bags, a million shuttle sprints between the 22 and try line … i feel it’s getting easier though.

there was a bit of drama this time round: asha (in picture with ball) had not been feeling well and did not tell doc. she decided to push herself and collapsed near the close of the session – not in a dead faint though: her legs just gave way and down she went. everyone rushed to her side – not sure whether it was out of concern or to get a breather. doc said he was happy in a sad way that she had collapsed and he would give her a monetary reward for her fighting spirit. i get the feeling that a lot more girls will be collapsing during training.

handling drills

Monday 21 July: nice light session we had with mutaks. ball handling drills. passing, passing, passing. attack/defence drills: 2 versus 1, 2 versus 2, 3 versus 2 and 3 versus 3. nothing too strenuous.

sweat

Sunday 20 July: yet another morning to mid afternoon fitness session with doc. as we are all under an alcohol ban none of us were suffering from a hangover but what made the session tougher was we had all been playing the last 7’s tournament of the UWRA 7’s league on saturday so our bodies were still aching. doc keeps telling us that what he takes us through is not out of malice but for our own good. it’s hard to believe him when you’ve been sprinting, hitting bags, sprinting, rucking, sprinting for 2 and a half hours in the sun. although we took in lots of water and energade in between none of us developed a stitch as we sweated out the fluid within 5 minutes of taking it in.

oh, as a by the way, black panthers (the club i play for) won the 7’s league.

quads and butts

Wednesday 16 July: fitness session with doc. he promised to make us run until one of us threw up. we looked sufficiently horror stricken so he went on to say it was a joke. ha! no one threw up but it was a tough session.

apparently our (women’s) quadriceps are underdeveloped as opposed to our (in my opinion, especially Ugandan women) buttock muscles which are well developed. doc wants to strengthen our quadriceps so … we did shuttle runs & sprints, did some more sprinting, we sprinted, and eventually we sprant!

oh and then the bad news, south africa has cancelled its tournament …

kickoffs

Monday 14 July: a really really cold day. warmed up with Fijian touch then mutaks got us working on game plan - kickoffs actually. used up the rest of the session then wound down with some fitness, situps and push ups. my stomach still hurts ..

rainy wish

Sunday 13 July: morning session at 10am. Now I can say it was a great session: Then I was ready to kill someone. Doc took us through something equivalent to torture – 10, 20, 50 and 100 metre sprints; shuttle runs, resistance runs, hitting ruck pads etc. It was hot hot hot - the midday sun was not kind to us – I almost (almost) wished for rain. The heat drained all our energy and yet doc kept urging us to sprint. By the time we were done at 1.30 charlotte could not spell her name …

quiet

Wednesday 10 July: dull weather but at least no rain. mutaks had us warm up with a game of touch rugby then watched from the side as doc put us through a session of fitness training: resistance running to the halfway line, sprints to the halfway line, sprints to the 22, shuttle runs, more sprints … each set of running drills for 7 minutes i.e. one 7’s half. he threw in pushups, star jumps and crab walks as well. girls who usually have a lot to say during training were very quiet for some reason. they only found their voices halfway through the warm down stretch.

return to 7's training

monday 7 july: fitness session with mutaks. running: short sprints, long sprints, crashing into ruck pads ...

his words, "you cannot hide from it. in 7's you must run." or "7's is a hard game. that's why some of us retired."

NO boots on wednesday.

preps for SA international tournament

It's been a long long break from Lady Cranes 7's training. 15's training for the Elgon Cup international fixture against Kenya (which we won) had taken over but now it's back to the important business at hand - 7's. Despite that minor inconvenience (the Elgon Cup) we've been having regular 7's tournaments over the last couple of months with Thunderbirds, Black Panthers and Rangers taking part. A couple of exciting new players have shown their form. We'll see what the selection panel and the coaches make of it all.

For now, we are preparing for an international 7's tournament in East London, South Africa, from 7th to 9th August. That will be followed by the World Cup Qualifiers in September. Exciting stuff to come ...