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 Charlie Knox26, m, resident of spa, northern ireland, a thinker, who tries to be real, enjoys the company of nala(left), indebted to jesus for his grace and instruction in life and whose, amongst other things, studying sports science at UUJ. enjoy rugby a whole lot! |
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Thursday, May 01, 2008 A few gems in the madness! The last few weeks in April have been mad with work but there's been a few gems! On the 15th April my mum turned 50. To mark the occasion my dad took her to a friend's apartment on the Costa del Sol and had arranged for us all to fly out at different times to join the  celebration. The good bit was mum knew nothing about any of it until each of us arrived out there! First of all SJ flew in from England on the 14th and turned up in a Marbella restaurant where mum and dad were eating. On the 16th Johnny, Rebecca and Gregory arrived at the apartment and were greeted my copious amounts of screaming and finally on the 18th Mel and I appeared from behind the breakfast bar when mum returned from a wee dander. We were only able to stay for two short days but the experience was well worth it. Mum never fails to extend herself for all of us through encouraging words, caring actions and amazing example so it was great just to do something so special and so memorable for her. There were a few other perks of the trip including getting to a drive fun little lancia hire car, a fun road trip round some torturous mountain roads, some great grub and plenty of craic with the folks! Respect also has to go to Dad who engineered the whole thing to precision without mum having a clue about it all! On the 25th April my U14's boarded the bus at the rugby club in Ballynahinch and made their way to the 'big green acre' at Ravenhill were they playing their Ulster Cup final against Monaghan. Having been beaten twice already this season by Monaghan they knew they'd be up for a tough scrap but a super first class performance including some solid defence work and great continuity saw them take an 8 point lead. In the second half they played well but conceded one converted try leaving a fairly nervous 10 minutes to finish the game. Thankfully they held out and when the final whistle went i leapt a right few feet in the air before joining in on the celebrations! It was great day for the lads. Getting to Ravenhill is something every rugby player treasures never mind getting to lift the cup there! I was very proud of my boys....they've been the best bunch I've ever had for dedication to training and team spirit and have been a pleasure to coach. Their hard work paid off on saturday and they'll remember that day for a long time. Ironically I clearly remember a night at the start of this season when after a bad training session i told Melissa how I reckoned this year would be a real struggle! Thankfully the reality was different and there couldn't have been a better way to finish the season....as Ulster Champions!!Official Match Report and Photos here. posted by charlie | 2:31 PM | Nearly there.... Well the final year mist is beginning to lift as today I handed in my last assignment for my degree. It is a great feeling to have that weight off the shoulders. Now only two exams left in mid-may and soon after that I'll be able to add a few letters to the end of my name. I also had an interview yesterday for next year's PE PGCE at Jordanstown. It was a very informal effort and i think i got across everything I'd wanted to in terms of my desire to teach and my relevant experiences to date. Now just a wait until the start of June when we're expected to get a result...i'll know then whether i'm based here or in England next year. I defintely am ready to be done with all this purely academic malarkey, i'm ready to get out of the ivory tower and into the real world again. University has been an experience that has enhanced my knowledge, refined my skills and one I'm most grateful for but all this thinking about things can get tiresome. Thankfully next year's PGCE wherever i do it will have a much more balanced approach of practical experience and reflection! posted by charlie | 2:10 PM | |
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