Wear and tear beginning to show.

After a grueling couple of days of hard training and ridiculously warm weather, and a gym that sometimes feel more like a sauna than a modern sports facility, some of the bodies were beginning to show signs of it getting the better of them. Given that most of the players would not be used to the intensity involved in this trip or the heat wave that Connecticut is currently experiencing this was to be expected and was dealt with by way of a more relaxed skills session in the morning which ended with a couple of shooting competitions.

For lunch we brought the team to Walmart to pick up some essentials before a sit down meal. Then it was back to the hotel to relax and watch the second semi-final of the world cup.

Later in the evening Rick Riley of East Catholic High School took a session with the team before another scrimmage against some strong local players who Coach Riley invited along. The guys seemed tired but a few players seemed to really stand out in the relaxed atmosphere of the scrimmage. One of these players was Ronan O'Sullivan who seemed to be playing with a bit more of a swagger than he has in recent days as he was getting out on the break and finishing in style, grabbing rebounds and knocking down open shots. Unfortunately a number of players had to sit out the scrimmage with knocks and blisters which they had picked up in recent days.