36th European Junior & Cadet Championships, Paris, France 2009
Live reports from Paris
Posted 28th January 2009
Day 3
It is Wednesday today and the coaches have decided to change the training format from two sessions down to one extended session. The squad has been given a rest morning allowing them to get a luxury lay-in and have a more relaxed breakfast before meeting up after lunch for the day's training, same venue, just different time.
Last night's meal was nice (veal, followed by apple pie) with the squad and coaches all sitting together in the restaurant. The squad are gelling together well mixing together on and off the mats which is good to see.
The afternoon's training went well once again but this time instead of having exclusive use of the training hall, the National Karate team from Denmark turned up to share the hall. It was very interesting to see the English squad up their work rate to look even sharper, faster and more aggressive in front of their opposition which shows the great attitude they have to these championships.
Tomorrow the squad are likely to get the day off from training, not least because of the French national strikes taking place. There will be no busses, trams, coaches, etc running from 8:00pm tonight for 24 hours so everyone will be pretty much stranded. At least the squad will get a rest before competition day – Friday.