You would think that 5 days in Barcelona would be very restful… It turns out that if you are coaching a team for a football tournament that it’s less restful than stressful. Having said that despite the responsibility, busy timetable and logistic pressures it was a great experience and it was wonderful to see the girls got to the semi-final and really improve as a team. We also learned the Spanish phrase for ‘kill them’ which was used frequently by one of the opposition coaches who didn’t realise that we have two Spanish girls on our team who translated perfectly for us. It turns out local knowledge is valuable in all situations!
I have been coaching football for the past seven years since we moved to Ireland and although there are weeks where I wonder why I do it, overall it has been rewarding! I have always loved coaching from my early days, teaching rock climbing, mountaineering and abseiling. I found that the same skills were useful when I later became a management consultant and went into companies to help them develop and change their strategies to improve how their businesses worked.
Now that I have been working as an artist for several years I find that I have learned many new techniques and have also adapted these to achieve a particular finish to my paintings that has become more personal in style to me. I have benefitted in the past from the experience of other artists and I am now planning to start my own painting workshops to share the skills I have learned.
‘Stonehurst’ is the perfect setting where workshop participants can enjoy learning in a beautiful and relaxed environment and leave with a work of art of their own and hopefully some newly acquired knowledge to take with them. It’s also a less ‘lethal ‘ way to pass your weekend than in a football tournament but hopefully just as enjoyable!
