Monday
After a weekend of Royal Navy Youth rugby training, and the drinking that goes
with it, I was not looking forward to seeing Sgt Griffin, I just hoped Preston
won and he was in a good mood. Evidently not I found out, my aching limbs and
bruised body moved around the gym feeling like a voodoo doll, in constant agony.
However, the PT session only lasted for 45 mins and was soon over. We rushed
through the shower in a manic race to get into work on time. We only just beat
the clock and avoided an extra parade.
Next weekend is probably going to be the single biggest game of rugby in my
life thus far. The Navy under 21s are playing the army and I'm on the starting
line. I now face the challenge of balancing musical practice with physical training
in an attempt to please everyone. I must be seen practising extra hard in order
to earn the time off work at the end of the week.
I started practice with my daily tuba routine, if I take my time and work hard
on it, it can take me until stand easy to finish. After a quick coffee and a
game of pool, I was straight back onto the double bass.
The percussion class are doing their recitals this week and Musn Phil Trudgeon
promises to be good, playing Czardas. The afternoon comprised Bass guitar and
a Degree Level history lesson, which dragged on. In the evening I went for a
short run with Musn O'Brien, then over to Temeraire swimming pool for a few
lengths and a sauna, in an attempt to take away the stiffness of the past weekend's
rugby.
Tuesday
Rounds was officially described as 'not bad' meaning exactly what? I don't know.
Today I had a double bass lesson with Mr Rundel. We have just made a big jump
in the standard of my playing in order to play the appropriate pieces for my
forthcoming Term 3 Exam. They are not easy but I'm confident I'll be ready when
it comes down to it. Lunch gave me the opportunity to break from music and do
a quick 3 mile run around the dockyard before I fell in for the afternoon's
onslaught. Musician Naylor and I played through some Tuba duets. We are now
working in the classical period doing string quartet writing in our Degree history
lessons. We finished work and had supper before returning to the School of Music
for an orchestra rehearsal. The Christmas concert is coming up and I need all
the practice I can get on double bass. We finished at 2000 giving me an hour
to get down the gym and do some weight training.
Wednesday
Training Company has quite a bit of work in the near future and we started the
day with parade band rehearsal for the New Entry Pass Out. The display is simple
but very effective. It was a half-day but I still managed to practice on all
3 instruments and a Tuba lesson with Mr Cresci. He is one of the best professors
to work with and the whole class must work very hard to achieve the standards
he expects. We are currently developing my low register, which can be a bit
dull, but I'm getting there. I have also began to work on the Gregson Tuba concerto.
The afternoon was spent at RT and I played rugby for HMS Nelson. Today we were
playing the Army team, beating them would be good practice for the weekend.
Unit level rugby is not a great standard but playing against a team of men so
opposed to 19 and 20 year olds is quite challenging. The team pulled together
and won but it was close 25-20… bring on the weekend.
Thursday
PT can be hard after a rugby match but I was lucky in that we were just running
without any press-ups, it's OK provided you stay at the front. This was my last
working day of the week so I knew must work hard, in fact I never stopped. A
bass guitar lesson with Mr Horn set me a good pace for the rest of the day.
We were working on some Motown music as well as dance band music as I will be
playing in dance band next term and the bass can be a very exposed instrument.
In the evening I opted for rest after wind band rehearsal.
Friday
I had the day off work to train with the Navy team for Saturday's big match.
The atmosphere amongst the players remained relaxed but focused as we carried
out training drills and then ran some line-out moves. Expectations were high
as the team was very strong and it has been many years since the Navy Under
21's have beaten the Army, this was to be the year. The whole team stayed in
the Sailors Home Club and went for a meal at Port Solent before an early night.
Saturday
Breakfast was in our brand new track suits, and feeling right for the part,
we moved to the United Services Sports Ground next to HMS Temeraire. We worked
hard practising on the scrummage machine and had a small lunch while the Army
arrived. There were some big players and lots of bigger ones, however, we were
prepared to take them on. We had a team photo in our brand new strips, and took
to the field. The game was close and was fought hard with big tackles and hard
running. The score board did not reflect the game which was won by 2 players
on the Army team, one who just happened to be a Fijian International. He helped
take the score board to 28-3… to the Army. We were all disappointed with
the result, although we gave it everything. The only regret we had was that
we didn't win. Some consolation was found in the fact that many people thought
we played better than they expected and the Army had been training for a week
together… we had one day. We still didn't win though and, in Inter-Services,
winning is everything.
However a few beers after the game soon lifted the general mood and we had a
great night out in Portsmouth as a team. Sunday was spent resting for another
week and the practice rooms, as well as getting over the hangover! Better luck
for next year lads, I look forward to meeting up again when we play against
the RAF in 2 weeks.