Let the games begin

After a summer of turmoil we finally get to get back to what we do best. Tomorrow officially kicks off the 2010 - 2011 season for Lake Oswego and I'm cautiously optimistic. It's always exciting starting a new season with a clean slate and the ability to improve - hopefully - upon the last year.

This year I'm running roughly the same game plan that I had last year the difference being that I'm hoping to run closer to form. Last year I ended up getting off to a slow start - my fault entirely - and had to play catch up which meant leaving behind certain training ideas. It's the ripple effect and last year it had a somewhat negative influence although it righted itself in the end. This year with a more complete plan and some good lessons learned last year under the belt I hope the ripple effect is nothing but positive.

I'm also excited about seeing the novice from last year step up to the plate this year. Based on the chatter around the boat house, I know half the varsity guys are excited for this, and half are very nervous. The guys that are excited are the guys who traditionally have pushed themselves and worked as hard in the off season as the regular season and they're looking forward to competing for seats. The nervous varsity are the ones who have spent most of the summer avoiding the boat house and it's just now dawning on them how far behind these two groups they are. With the season starting tomorrow they've got a long hard haul ahead of them.

Still all in all we look to be bringing back a good sized group of varsity on both sides - men and women - and hopefully can continue to bolster their ranks with another sizable novice class. It should be a fun season. Stay tuned.