Tag Archives: yanks abroad

I’m Not Crying Wolf

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I can’t believe it’s been nearly 3 weeks since my last post. I joked in a previous post that this blog and I were in a relationship, and if that were the case, I couldn’t argue if it tried to break up with me right here and now. Luckily, however, I think I have enough good things to tell my blog that it might just forgive me.

I also just want to note that I have tried to put together a few posts recently, but they didn’t really flow for me, so they are still in draft form and may show their faces eventually. So far, most of my stories have really come to me out of the blue and the inspiration comes in a moment. When I write at times like that, I am always happier with the outcome. For instance, my last story, on the Missing Ball, came to me the day I had lost the last ball and I went and wrote it that night. The idea to add the story within that post about Mo-vember, came after I started writing. I guess what I am saying is that I don’t want to write, just to write. I need an inspiration.

For the record, I'm not advocating anything going on in this image...

For the record, I’m not advocating anything going on in this image…

Ok, I don’t have an inspiration here, so who knows how this post is going to turn out?

Believe it or not, it may actually be a good thing that I haven’t been writing on my blog! Why? Because it means that I have less time on my hands. Why do I have less time on my hands? Because I have been doing more. If I’ve been doing more, why haven’t I been telling you about it? I don’t know. What have I been doing? Well, I will briefly tell you some of it here and will elaborate on it all in future posts.

To be honest, part of the reason I haven’t told you about my recent happenings is because I didn’t want to get you too excited about things that I couldn’t confirm or that I would have to go back on – come on, you can at least pretend that you get excited by my posts. It would be like calling you to dinner, while it was still cooking, or asking you to marry me…maybe. Essentially, I don’t like causing unrealistic hope. It’s like the boy who cried “Candy”.

Crying Wolf

So, he doesn’t cry “Candy”, but you get the point…don’t be that guy

On that note, I have to tell you a story about a coach who did this to a player. We were having a practice the day before a game and overall it was shambolic. Our coach was not happy. He proceeded to chew us all out, except for one player who seemed to have magic boots on that day and was doing whatever he wanted with the ball. The coach said/shouted something along the lines of “No one has played today like they deserve a spot on the field tomorrow, no one except Bruno (made up name)! The only player who I know will be playing tomorrow is Bruno!” “Bruno” was a fringe player at the time and would get into the odd game, but wasn’t a starter. So needless to say, he was happy to hear he would be getting significant minutes the next day. FALSE…he didn’t play a minute! Absolutely shattered. As a matter of fact, the entire team was shattered along with him.

Unlike other reputable news services, I like to have valid and complete information to back my claims.

I’ve done my research on this and I can confirm that I am fantastic. Thank you and Goodnight.

Back to reality! I do have some news for you mainly in two parts.

The main bit of news is that I have signed with Guiseley AFC who are a semi-professional team in the 6th division, which is called the Blue Square Conference North. I wasn’t going to tell you until I actually played, but they announced it on their website and on their twitter account, and….wait for it…on FACEBOOK!

Here is the brief article that confirms that I Sean O’Reilly, signed with Guiseley. Thankfully for everyone there is no picture of me in the article. The said article has made its way around enough that I figured it was pretty well confirmed.

I have been training with them for the better part of a month and it may have been official sooner had some paperwork issues gone smoothly through the system…which we all know never really happens. I have done well in training and have been enjoying it considerably, but it is only another step in the right direction. The manager has not had the chance to see me play in a full game and thus I still have plenty to prove and far more work to do. I will be sure to let you know when I make my debut!

Guiseley are currently sitting in 2nd place in the 6th division and are considered one of the favorites for promotion into the 5th division. Last year, they lost out on promotion in a final playoff and are very focused on righting that failure. I hope to play a significant part in helping them achieve it. The other added bonus is that they are the closest team to me, which is a big positive!

In other news, I have recently got a part-time job at a local school where I will primarily be helping out with the PE department. It is a Catholic Jr. High/High School called St. Mary’s and is only a few miles down the road. Two of the cousins I am living with, Jenny and Will, attend the school and that is how I got connected with it. Yes, it is another of the many things I am thankful to them for.

PE Teacher

I initially just asked if I could do some volunteer work with any of the football/sports to give myself more things to do and also improve my coaching. After a few meetings, with the relevant and important people in charge, they offered me work as a Teacher’s Assistant. So, come next term, I will be working a few days a week as a St. Mary’s employee. I will be doing most of my work in the PE department, but will also help out as needed in other classroom situations.

It is going to be a challenging and exciting experience for me and I expect to learn a significant amount. I also hope I can do my part in helping the kids who I will be working with improve not only as athletes and students, but as good people with good Catholic values.

Overall, I am very blessed to have both of these opportunities in front of me. Unfortunately, though, it means I did not make it home for Christmas and will miss all my crazy family and friends back home very much. However, I am lucky to have loving relatives here as well, with whom I can celebrate the joy of Christmas.

Do just go, go head first!

Peace,

Seano

Bits and Pieces

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Rome was not built in a day. In the same way a tower is not built as one piece and a pie is not made with one ingredient. We all have our own Rome’s to build, and it is important to realize that each one will be made up of bits and pieces; it is not one giant block that falls out of the sky and hits you on the head. So, here are a few of the bits and pieces that have been added to my Rome the last few weeks.

I have been getting more consistent training with a few amateur sides in the area. So, at least a couple times a week I am able to get into a team training environment, which has been beneficial. The training level is of varying quality and in some cases the speed of play, and more particularly the speed of thought, is not as quick as I am used to. However, it is a good fitness boost and it is far more motivating to work at a training session than by yourself.

The first team I have been involved with is called Thackley AFC. Thackley is just north of Bradford and about 8 miles from where I am staying. They are one division (I think it’s 9th overall) above the side I was playing with a little while ago: Albion Sports. So, it is an improvement in that sense. However, at the training sessions, not too many of the first team players come, since they often play twice a week. The sessions are thus typically filled with reserve/youth players and so they do lack a bit of quality. It is also difficult to judge the level of the first team from this point of view. However, the management staff have been friendly and have offered for me the opportunity to play some games. Once my paperwork goes through I look forward to be playing more competitively again – something I have sorely missed.

Dennyfield – Home of the Dennyboys (Thackley)

I also trained with a team in the same division as Albion Sports called Yorkshire Amateur. They are based in the north suburb of Leeds. One of my relatives works with someone at the club and kindly got me in touch with him. He has been generous enough to let me come out to training. It is a similar situation to Thackley’s training with many of the first team players too busy to come, so many youth/reserve players make up the numbers, which in turn lowers the quality.

Bracken Edge – Home of Yorkshire Amateur

Lastly, I was supposed to train with Guiseley AFC this week. The team down the road that I have watched and written about a few times. Their training session on Thursday evening; however, was called off. They ended up losing their FA Cup replay game to Barrow Town on Tuesday and the manager decided to rest the team before the weekend game, after the tough loss. Fortunately, I intend to train with them this Thursday instead, so God willing something will come of that opportunity as well. From all the accounts I’ve heard they are a well respected, well run club that would be a great, albeit difficult, place to get my foot in the door.

I admit I have been to yet another Guiseley game. It was a cup game that they ended up winning 7-0 versus a lower division club, so it wasn’t much to write about. More of a slaughter-fest, although the visiting side did show some signs of a fight at first and could have made it interesting if they had scored one of their (few) early chances. Noteworthy; however, is the fact that it was after this game that I was finally able to speak with the manager and get invited to training (he must have just been very happy about his recent demolition job).

My tour of non-league football (considered 5th division and below) continued and broadened this weekend as I went to a game about an hour away at the home of FC Halifax Town. If you were only to visit the stadium you would assume they were higher than the 6th tier of football, but that is the nature of the promotion/relegation system over here; where you can drop or rise consecutive leagues in consecutive seasons as fast as the temperature in Loretto, PA, where I went to school.

FC Halifax Town, formerly Halifax Town AFC before entering administration in recent years, has a long history. They spent many decades in the football league, which partly answers the question of why they have a nice 13,000 capacity stadium. On the day, they handed the visitors, Droylsden FC, a solid 4-1 defeat. Although Droylsden are among the bottom dwellers, the “Shaymen” of FC Halifax made hard work of it and came into the half 0-0.

Droylsden tried to keep the ball, but didn’t have the quality to do it effectively. Despite some average spells of possession, they were relatively harmless all game. FC Halifax ground out 2 goals in the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half before Droylsden answered with their only goal off of a well rehearsed free kick play. While Droylsden pushed on for the equalizer, FC Halifax duly killed the game with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes. The crowd, numbering around 1300, was not afraid to show it’s disapproval at it’s own players and were probably the least forgiving crowd I’ve seen. Although, to be fair to them, it wasn’t a pretty spectacle for much of the game.

Here are some pictures of my visit to “The Shay”

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Walking up to the Shay’s main stand.
The East Stand of the Shay – empty for today’s game, but doubled well as an advertising space.
The Shay – home of FC Halifax Town – this looks to be an older stand and was empty on the day.
If my orienteering is correct this is the “West End” – no seating
The main (and newest) stand at the Shay

All these situations are good building blocks for me and I am sure they will be integral in helping me to the next step in the process for a couple of reasons. The most obvious benefit is fitness. At any training session, no matter what the level, you can be sure that there is one constant where fitness is involved: you get in what you put out. So, I always put in a good shift on that front. Also, it is a great chance to network and continue to learn about the sports environment I am in, which is very interesting and unique to anything we see in the US.

The more I get acquainted with English football, the more impressed I am with the sheer number of football grounds there are here. Even at the lower levels, like Thackley and Yorskshire, clubs have their own dedicated ground. Sometimes it’s not huge and barely has a stand, but it is still impressive and just goes to show how integral football is to the culture here. It is also interesting that many of the clubs here, small and large, have a long and storied history, often even from before the world wars.

Stay posted on the future developments of my Rome and keep on building yours, we’ll get there.

Build with your headfirst! Ok maybe that’s not a good idea

God Bless,

Seano

POTM (Oct 2012): Big heads USA

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The second installment of pic of the month (POTM) is here! Calm down, calm down, I know it’s exciting.

Contrary to what you may all be thinking (and some even hoping), it’s a PICTURE of the month and not some priceless emerald from deep down in the cavernous netherworld of a nostril!

Now that that’s clear and we can breathe easy(er), we can move on to this months image!

The image is relevant for this month because the USA recently qualified for the final round of World Cup Qualifying off of a two goal performance by the man featured here.

Also, it’s an image that fully exemplifies the “head first” motto that we got going on this blog.

Lastly, it’s fitting because it’s an image of a man considered to be one of the best Americans to ever play the game in England, which is of course the current environment for my football endeavors.

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Dempsey: two goals two heads…makes sense

You have just scored two goals against Guatemala in World Cup Qualifying to ensure that the USA move on to the next stage, one step closer to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. What do you do?

Well, of course, grab the nearest giant head of yourself making an angry face and parade around the field for all to see! Pretty sweet. Props to the guy who made this sign.

I would say that you have probably made it on the big stage when random people make giant signs of your ugly mug because they love you. Let’s face it, if you’re an American soccer fan, you love Clint Dempsey. I do.

Now, I’m sure some people have plenty of not so nice things to say about him. Yet, when his haters taunt him and tell him he’s too arrogant, too cocky and won’t be able to fit his big-head through the door, he can smile and say: “you’re absolutely right!”.

Go USA – Don’t tread on me.

Till the next pic,

Take care and don’t be afraid to dive-in head first (cause if you mess one up now you’ve got another one).

God Bless,

Seano

PS: If you missed the last Pic of the month (POTM), see it here!