For the Ugandan women who have been training hard over the last few months in the build up to Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009, today is d-day … the day they learn whether they have survived the cut and made the 12-strong squad that will make history for their country in Dubai next month.
Helen Buteme will give us an insight into this squad and its characters in her blog for www.rwcsevens.com next week, but for now she brings us up-to-date with the last week in training and the feeling in the camp ahead of this d-day.
Training this week was really good but at the same time very challenging. Playing games and analysing how we played in each game took up most of our sessions during the week. The coaches were trying out different combinations, while as players we were trying to polish our moves and see how we react to different scenarios.
Then we had a two-day camp over the weekend and it was brutal. Fitness was the theme of the camp and although the coaches had forewarned us that it was going to be a really tough camp, we did not expect it to be that hard!
We had to push ourselves and each other to the limit and beyond. The great thing is that we all pulled through it and we are really amazed with ourselves. We discovered that we have so much strength, both physical and mental, as individuals and as a team and that we are fit.
It’s a huge positive and we are going to build on that. We have gone through so much together that the girls are so close knit now. The team spirit is unbelievable – we just can’t wait to step on the pitch.
Initially, the draws had us all over the place but then we pulled ourselves together and right now we are working too hard at the moment to be nervous about the World Cup itself.
Then again there is something a lot closer than the World Cup that is foremost in everyone’s minds. We know that our management will send in the 12 names to the IRB on 9th February but we’ll be in the dark until the 11th.
Right now the whole team is on edge. We’ve all been working so hard and no one wants to get the ‘axe’. Unfortunately we are 16 and just 12 are needed so four of us will not make it to Dubai.
Last week our media was still excited that our men’s senior cricket team had qualified for a cricket World Cup qualifier (not the World Cup itself) so the sports press was awash with cricket.
Last week there was one newspaper article on us – featuring my first blog article for the RWC Sevens website- and a TV station covered us on the late night news. Other than that the coverage is still poor, although we have just three weeks to go.
That said, the Ugandan press does tend to latch onto teams at the last moment so there may be a flurry of activity and actual press coverage in the last week or two before the team travels to Dubai.
On a positive note, there are loads of Ugandans and non-Ugandans reading my Lady Cranes blog and the RWC Sevens website blog and we’ve got messages of support coming in from all over the world.
So we are getting quite a bit of publicity which is great.
Finally, my thought for the week ahead: Without pain, there is no gain and without unity there is no team so we shall grit our teeth and the Lady Cranes will prevail.
Helen Buteme will bring us more news from the Uganda camp next week, but in the meantime you can check out her blog which is keeping their fans around the world in the know as Dubai draws ever closer.
