A select group of the Canadian national team gathered together last week in Montreal for our annual TOPS camp. It is an off-mat camp where we do a whole whack of physiological testing, in-class information sessions, as well as get in a little team bonding away from the focused, intensive atmosphere of camps and competitions. I was in a very different space this year compared to the past TOPS camps as I am not preparing for the Pan Am Games nor the World Championships later on this Summer. I was apprehensive walking into camp this year, still coming to terms with this new position and still trying to find the silver lining. At the end of the week however, I walked away rejuvenated and with a new intentionality leading into the next couple months. At the end of the week we got the results back of our physiological testing and we were introduced to a new technical analysis system we will be using. We are continually moving forward as a National Team to address all the small gaps that together can make the difference. I am so excited by the gaps in my wrestling, on and off the mats, because it gives me a new direction to focus in on and I have already developed into some short term goals I want to accomplish. Over the long term, this Summer schedule will allow me to address all the areas in which I need to improve and to be ready to wrestle how I want to wrestle in December, at the Canadian Olympic team selection tournament which will be held in Strathcona just outside of Edmonton, Canada. In one week, I head off to Greece for the first international tournament of the Summer where I will compete on the historic grounds where my beautiful sport all began in Olympia. We then head to Germany where we will be training for a week and then competing at the Dormagen Grand Prix. I have opted to stay an extra week longer after the tournament to get in another week of training camp in beautiful Hennef. a sportschule just outside of Cologne, Germany.
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AuthorErica Wiebe is a Canadian freestyle wrestler and Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Calgary. Her passion for wrestling and writing combine in the words of this blog, sprinkled with a strong opinion on certain matters and a hint of feminist thrown in for good measure. Archives
August 2017
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