Bad day at Manchester

Well yesterday's BNBF Manchester show turned out to be a big disappointment for Marzio, Danny and all of us that made the long journey to support them. Marzio placed 4th in his first show and Danny was 6th. Ordinarily they would not be viewed as bad results but we felt that both should have done better and that Marzio was a clear winner.  He has taken it rather badly and now will probably not compete again this season.  Danny was also very low afterwards but will go to Stratford on Avon this coming weekend for the NPA show where he won the juniors last year, this year he will compete in the 70kg class. Amrit will also be competing in the same class so we are hoping for a better weekend!

Time to unleash the beast

I'm really looking forward to tomorrows BNBF Manchester show. 19 year old Marzio, who we affectionately call "The Beast" is looking great and so is Danny. I've deliberately held back the pics of Marzio as I want to do a before and after pic when I have a photo of him on stage tomorrow, the transformation is amazing I promise you. Now, an apology of sorts, I have continually moaned that we shouldn't have wasted billions of £'s on staging the Olympics and whilst I still believe that is true I have to give credit where it's due and admit that it has been brilliant. I'm now going to watch my favourite bit, the boxing finals, which I have been looking forward to for the last 2 weeks!

Sunshine after the rain

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has been in touch.  It's good to be back to being the real me, and yes, it probably would have been cheaper to put a hooker on a retainer, I know, right?  So now lets move forward, life right now is actually amazing, more info to follow in due course!  Next member of the team to compete is Marzio Barberio, at the BNBF Manchester show in 9 days time. I'll do a one week out inspection and photos on Saturday and maybe put one on here then.  Danny will also compete, he actually looks better than he did for St. Albans so I'm looking forward to it being a big day!

Raising the bar

Sadly, Danny didn't place in the top 3 on Sunday, despite most people thinking that he should have. But neither Danny or I have any complaints simply because the standard was so high. How high? Well the lad that won Danny's class went on to win the overall and a junior winning the overall is as rare as rocking horse dung! Danny looked at his best ever on Sunday, I was very happy with him and he will only improve for his next show. I've always been very proud to be Danny's coach, in a world where other people close to me have let me down badly, he never has and he is already working hard for his next show, that is a measure of the mans impressive character. Finally, a big welcome to the newest member of the team, Natalie Mayling, who has a great attitude and a big future ahead of her.

Ready!

Well it's been touch and go but Danny is ready at last for tomorrows show.  He's had to hit the diet very hard for the last week of prep but it has been worth it and he looks much better than he did for this show last year.  At the end of the day all you can ever do is be better than the last time and he is certainly that.  I'll put the result and a picture on here as soon as I have both things and the same will apply to the other members of the team that will be competing in the next few weeks.  As the next few blogs will be full of pictures of others then I thought I'd best just put one last up to date one of me on here!  Finally, great news about the documentary, it will be show on The Community Channel (Sky539) at 9 p.m. on September 1st!

Busy season is nearly here!

I know that you wouldn't believe it from the weather but it's the middle of summer now and there are regional contests every weekend at the moment.  After an intense training, posing and inspection session at Olney on Saturday all of the team are on target and there will be news about every one of them as their shows get near. However, Danny is the next up so he is the main focus of my attention at the moment.  As you can see from this 2 weeks out pic he has work to do yet, especially on bringing his legs through, but on Saturday we adjusted his diet and training to make sure that he comes in better than he did at the corresponding fixture last year because we want him to place higher than 5th this time.  He will have a tough 2 weeks no doubt but he is up to it I'm sure and July 22nd at St. Albans should be a good day for him.

Baton passed to Henman

We now turn our attention to Daniel Henman, the next member of the team to compete, this will be at the BNBF show in St. Albans on July 22nd. Dan did well last year, winning the NPA Midlands junior title but that is history now and I want him to have an even better season this year. He will go up to the 70kg class at this years NPA Midlands show and will compete with Marzio and Amrit, two other team members, on August 19th. I'm looking at all three guys on Saturday, Danny knows that however good he looks I'll cut his diet and he will whine no doubt but he knows that I know best and that his career means as much to me as it does to him. I'm more than 30 years older than all 3 of the lads and I'm no longer competing so all I ask at this stage is that they look as good as I do in this picture taken today. Is that too much too ask?