Waiting for schools to reopen

Unsurprisingly, there has been a significant delay in getting power back to Ottawans (although Ottawackers have been lucky). Thursday morning saw Ottawacker Jr.'s school still closed, and as the weather had closed in again and other schools were open, I decided that braving the mud was better than listening to another hour of FIFA21 on XBox.

His match last night had revealed a few deficiencies in Ottawacker Jr.'s game - the blame for all of which I place firmly at the door of said XBox. A lack of mobility, a hesitation before turning with the ball, a tendency to watch plays develop before acting. So the park it was.

Changes of pace were on the menu. And to be fair, he lapped it up. With only two "no, go back and do it again"s, he got it right. His sprinting technique improved dramatically - lean forward, push from chest, use arms as levers - and he even mastered the looking up with the ball at your feet (see photo) which it took me another couple of years to master. 

I'd never really entertained the thought that he might be a better footballer than me - not that I was brilliant, but he is learning in a footballing wasteland - but he could be. He is not getting appropriate training at the club he is at - so we're going to have to either change clubs or change countries... (Spain, maybe...) (you see where this is going...)

Anyway, it was a good day. If the schools are closed again tomorrow, then back we will go.