No Time to Rest

Hi all,

I will be updating my blog very soon, so stay tuned.  I have so much to share, but for now check out this short video I did with my friend!

Until then, see you later!

New Year 2013

Bon dia. . . .

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
As you also may know we just celebrated a New Year and we all went down to La Rambla to celebrate New Year's Eve. There were fireworks of all different colours and so many people just walking around singing and acting crazy.  By the time we got back to our room, it was 2 o'clock in the morning and I stayed up till 3:30 watching movies. I finally went to bed later on.  Overall, it has been a really good time for me and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  I will keep you posted, but for now . . . .

Adeu! Adios!

                                          Sunday, December 30th, 2012

These couple of days I have been really busy.  I went to the park to play football with my Dad , Kenni, and Coach Kenny for the 2nd straight day.  Later on we went to the Barcelona Zoo by train.  They have every animal you can think of:  elephants, bears, tigers, lions,and penguins.  We rented these golf carts to drive around the park and got to see all the exhibits.  It was awesome!!

Monday, December 31st, 2012

So far I have been having a good time here with my Dad.  We have planned to visit a lot of places with the Thompson family.  Most mornings we have been going to the park to play in "The Cage".(football arena where all the neighbourhood kids come from sun up to sun down)  Kenni, Coach Kenny meet us early in the morning to play football and we play until lunch time usually after riding our scooters around the square.  In the next few days we are supposed to be going to the Barcelona Zoo and the Science Museum.

The Cage where boys become MEN!! : )

Christmas in Barca!

Well I'm still in Barcelona! I didn't get to go home for the holidays, but my Dad did come to see me instead. I was a bit sad not to be able to see my family that I miss and my friends, but at least I can spend the holidays with at least one member of my family.  

We finished our last classes last Wednesday and the rest of the Bermudian boys left on Friday. I also played my last game before the Xmas break and we drew 0-0 against UE Vilassar.  The other team was huge and I couldn't see passed their chest.  A very hard game but we managed to play pretty well.  No more games until January 5th, but training starts back on January 3 & 4 so there's no time really to rest. 

I had planned to go all over Spain, to Valencia, to Bilbao, and Madrid, but that doesn't look like it will happen.  Too far to travel and my Dad says we need to plan for those types of trips. So Xmas in Spain will be quite different! I'll post again real soon, until then. . . . Bones Festes!

View from the pitch with mountain  in the background - Vilassar de Mar

School & More

I finally started school this past Monday and after a looong summer I’m glad to be back in school. J My day still includes early morning technification (one-on-one training) with Coach Didi at 9am until 10am. After a quick shower I have my first class of Intense Spanish from 10:30am till 12:30. Lunch at the dorm cafeteria is at 1pm. We usually sit with the other tennis academy players and have a few laughs, then its back to class. More Spanish and learning Catalan and we also are learning about Catalan history and culture. That class ends at 5:30pm and after that we finally have a bit of time to ourselves where we can relax in our rooms, Skype our parents, or play Fifa 13 on Shane’s X-box.

 

Me helping Shane with his Spanish.

By the time I get comfortable, its time for training at Cornella. The weather is just starting to get cold and I have picked up a few injuries from my last match last Sunday. I’ve been told that I need rest and will not be able to train or play in this weekend’s match. Depressing . . . but I’ll come back stronger!!

New Country . . New Home!!

Week 1 Augusto 20 - 25

I am now in Cornella (Barcelona) Spain staying at the tennis academy dormitory. I have adjusted well to the Spanish style of play. It was kind of hard to adjust to the type of foods they eat but it has slowly gotten better.

I have met many new friends in the dorms and on my team.  Some training sessions have been very difficult while others are easy.  For warm ups we run for many many laps for at least 10 minutes and after that we stretch after every exercise. 

 

We have had training sessions where we run for 20 mins rest for 5mins and then run another 20mins, rest and finally run a last 20 mins session. This run is around the RCD Espanyol Stadium which is right next to the Cornella Stadium.  To finish off we have sprint contests against each other. It is so hot here in Spain and we are forced to take lots of water breaks.  Comparing it to BAA all  I can say that all my teammates give 110% and are very good.  Everyone on the team has technical ability and are really tactical in their play. 

 

Sunday Agosto 26

I  played my first pre-season games today. Lucky enough I was chosen to play on the "A" team and then play on my regular "B" team. We played against older opposition and the score was 3-1 to the older guys. It was very hot and I did get a bit tired, but it is training once again tomorrow. . . no rest!

 

Week 2 Agosto 27 - Septiembre 2 Monday - Friday

Training again at 10:00am till 11:45am.  We worked on our positional play and then worked on a few shooting drills. After training we usual go back to the dorms and rest before lunch.  When we are not training we hang out with my dorm friends Tyree,Tom (tennis player), Arturo, Knory, Enrique, and Jahkari playing football on the tennis courts or paddle tennis, or swimming in the pool.  There is always something going on at the tennis academy.  Just this week there was a tennis tournament and there was so many people playing in the tournament.

 

Saturday & Sunday

Played my second game for Cornella and we lost 2-0 to a team that was older and bigger than us.  I came on in the 2nd half and played in the midfield. It was really hot but after a few minutes the heat was not on my mind any more.  They had some really big guys on their team and they were really fast.  I had two shots on goal and the keeper made good saves of both of them. I think I played well but I know I can get better!

 

Sunday we travelled to another field and played our 3rd pre-season game against a team called IIdefons.  I started on the bench and came on the 2nd half.  When I came on I was in the midfield and played pretty well.  We ended up winning the game 3-0 our first victory of the pre-season and all of my team mates were so happy!  I feel that I am getting stronger and fitter with all this training. The seasons starts in 2 weeks, so I have plenty of time to get even better!  

New & Exciting Challenges

From left: Enrique, Kane, Knory

UECornella Bound

Por fin estoy fuera de la escuela y terminó con honores! Es el momento para mí para comenzar mi entrenamiento de fútbol intenso, con mi padre y prepararme para mi gran movimiento a Barcelona, ​​España. Dejo las Bermudas el 18 de agosto y tomar el vuelo de British Airways a Inglaterra. Un autobús nos llevará desde Londres Gatwick al aeropuerto de Heathrow y de allí a Barcelona. Me va a permanecer en los dormitorios de tenis, por ahora, hasta los dormitorios en Cornella terminado. Otras cuatro personas de las Bermudas será conmigo. Mi primo Knory Scott, Kenni Thompson, Russell Enrique y Furbert Jahkari.

No puedo esperar! Esta será una gran oportunidad para todos nosotros. Vamos a aprender a hablar español y catalán, tengan una buena educación, y jugar un deporte que todos amamos. Lo mejor de todo Cornella se asocia con el mejor equipo del mundo, el FC Barcelona.

Muchas gracias a todos nuestros Sponsers y nos desean buena suerte!

Kane Crichlow

English Translation

I'm finally out of school and finished with honors! It is time for me to start my intense football training with my father and prepare for my big move to Barcelona, Spain. I leave Bermuda on August 18 and take the British Airways flight to England. A bus will take us from London Gatwick to Heathrow Airport and from there to Barcelona. I will be staying in the tennis dormitories, for now, until the dorms at Cornella are finished. Four others from Bermuda will be with me. My cousin Knory Scott, Kenni Thompson, Enrique Russell and Jahkari Furbert.

I can not wait! This will be a great opportunity for us all.  We will learn how to speak Spanish and Catalan, get a good education, and play a sport that we all love. Best of all Cornella is associated with the best team in the world, FC Barcelona.

Thank you very much to all our Sponsers and wish us good luck!

Kane Crichlow

BAA tour of Cornella 2012

crichlow2012's photostream on Flickr.

Check out some of the pictures during my visit to Barcelona

Good Memories . .

One of my good memories is playing with Cornella B team (infantile) in a tournament last Saturday because it was a great experience and also because we won. Both our games went to penalty shoot-outs where I was asked to take one in each game. The first one I took and scored sent us to the next round. The second game I was able to score again. In the finals, I played my best football. I set up the 1st goal, scored the 2nd goal, and set up the last goal. Cornella won the match 3 nil and my teammates and I were very excited. They were singing and dancing all the way to the changing rooms. I scored 3 goals in the tournament and 6 goals in all. I also got to train with the top team in my age group the Cornella A team. I’ve met new friends and saw some old friends that I hope to see real soon!
I had a really good time on this tour and many memories!!