The Difference btw Sports & War: The Competition Dilemma

During our last Team France Training, we were confronted to a general atmosphere of competition within our very group which led to feelings of suspicion, jealousy and covetousness, in contradiction to the team bonding we had achieved, and against own will.
I observed it with an outside eye and the situation didn't affect me, because I felt apart from the group due to my injury--and thus not really concerned, and also because I had already settled my competition dilemma a while ago, in my two previous lives, as a dancer and as a freestyler.

Yet, that situation gave me food for thought as my previous experiences were in a context of individual and creative sports, i.e. the opposite of derby, a performance and team sport. In derby, two different types of competition should be highlighted:

1. competition with opposing teams on games, etc. but also
2. competition with individual team mates within teams.

GOOD COMP', BAD COMP'

To keep it VERY simple, and whatever the context, I would define those two notions as such:

• Bad competition is about domination by crushing.
• Good competition is about exploiting your potential to the max.

The person you have to surpass is yourself. Not because you are your own enemy but because YOU ARE YOUR OWN NORM and in order to evolve, you should pass that bar and set it higher. For your personal rising.

Team France Training Mar.5-9 2014

The second training of the 2014 French Team took place on March 5-9 in Bellenaves, France, not far from the location of the first training, lost in the middle of nowhere for a focused sports retreat. That March training was saved at the last moment by the local committee of the French Federation, Roller Auvergne, who most graciously offered us a training place, in taking charge of the renting fees of a brand-new gym for the whole 5 days. Such a gesture deserves to be highlighted.

ACCOMODATION

The whole event met some organizational problems due to the training place mishap but everything was solved for the best given the situation. We were hosted in two different places, which means the team was split into two groups, with the most convenient distribution according to car-sharing.

I was in the Bellenaves cottage with 14 other team mates, mainly Parisians and girls from Montpellier. We had the advantage of being close to the training hall contrary to the other (major) half who had to drive for 40 min twice a day. But they had a BBQ. And a football table game in their living room. So I guess we're even.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

That second training was psychologically more challenging than the first. After the discovery phase where you learn to know each other, both on the track and outside of it, in order to create a team spirit, things have gotten more competitive with the sword of Damocles starting to hang over our heads.

Ankle Crash D+23

23 days after the crash, the fog in the horizon of my ankle's fate is starting to lift. I made the most of my travelling to France (for a Team France training) to make a detour and get other diagnoses than the dubious conclusion of the hospital I went to for my x-ray check-up.

Serious sprain. A whisker away from breaking the fibula. It seems that my lucky star had other plans for me!

Three weeks have passed and my ankle still needs another week for the ligament to heal. At that point the ligament will be fixed but stiff with cicatricial tissue and will need another 10+ days to soften with the reappearance of collagen. That's the crucial point where I should be very careful as an accident at the 'stiff' stage would be tragic: Try to bend a spaghetti when it's raw, and you get an idea of what should be avoided. Works better when it's hydrated, uh.

I've already missed two training games with Berlin, a 5-day training with Team France, and I'm going to miss the Berlin / Crime City game next week, that is to say the public start of my very first Bombshell season. Although it's not my fault I feel like a deserter standing my team up.

I feel guilt, and frustration as a bonus: like a fish out of the water, missing my natural element.

All in all, the ankle needs 6 weeks of recovery (and not 10 days of rest as recommended by the hospital).Now, at three weeks, I can start soft workout of the muscles around the ankle ligaments to protect them. I can also ride a bike, which makes me independant again! That's the positive part.


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How My Superman Resurrected

You know those revelation stages that you have to face from time to time in your life? Those kinds of disillusions that murder all your heroes one by one... It generally starts at the age of 6-7 when you realize that Santa Claus is just an illusion. And the Easter bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Killed them all in a two-minute pitiless interrogation to my mum.

HOW MY SUPERMAN DIED

But the harshest revelation of all is probably the moment when you realize that you're not invincible, that you're no more special than your neighbor. Even if you theoretically know that you're not, it may not be enough for you to believe it.

I lived a quarter of century with a little superman inside me. He died two years ago when I broke my knee. Not immediately. It took me a month after I tore my ligament to realize that it was broken for real, and that I was consequently breakable. That is to say, not invincible. I too could be seriously hurt.

Two years and a good fixing later, I've learnt to deal with the loss. Rather than relying on a fake idol, I trust myself, my body and my mind. (And my lucky star - that one is not dead... yet.)