Back to 7's

Wednesday 20th – Monday 25th august: getting used to 7’s again. working a lot on ball handling and attacking moves and just getting to know each other and how we play. not done much on defence yet.

break from 7's

Wednesday 6th august: we went through circuit training with doc. agility ladders, slalom poles, hitting ruck pads, hopping over tackle bags, bupees, shuttle runs. Our last fitness session (actually our last 7’s session) before we come back from elgon cup then he’ll step it up a lot. eeks!

would have been ...

Monday 4th August: we would have been preparing to head to South Africa this week if they had not cancelled the tournament. griping aside we worked on attacking plays. 2 girls from lira joined us today. they are here to try out for places on the 7’s team. mutaks took us through a light session because we have been having crazy fitness sessions with doc and the 15 aside training has been tough as well. we’ll get back to heavy stuff after the elgon cup (16th august).

Running variations

Wednesday 30 July: we ran the whole session: different variations of 150 metre sprints then did fire(wo)man’s lifts and piggy backs. some crab walks as well.

no one fainted, collapsed or threw up.

51 days until the qualifiers.

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 …