Mike Griffin

I’ve played canoe polo for a long time, longer than I care to admit to myself. Not long after I started playing in the highest national division, I came up against a guy that had once played at the highest level. The only problem was that he hadn’t played recently and his brain was moving faster than his body. To compensate, or maybe because he was that little bit slower to react, he played dirty, cynical things like obstructing and chopping. I used to hate playing against him because you finished up the game with cut fingers and sore arms.

He used to give out to referees that he thought were picking on him too. He just couldn’t accept that he was doing something wrong and thought everyone was out to get him because he used to be good.

Over the weekend, I realised that I’m in danger of turning into that guy.

• I once played at the highest level.
• I haven’t trained ot played consistently in a few years
• I give out to referees when things don’t go my way

This is a note to myself so that I realise that I can still turn this around. Enjoy the games you get to play, they won’t always be there. Don’t get upset or angry if you’re beaten in what you think is an unfair way, it’s probably that you’ve slowed down more than you realise. But most of all…

“Don’t be that guy…”