My life is complete

Other than my marriage to Bilge' and birth of children, Kaya and Erin nothing beats this. I am now honoured to boast that my Son, has represented the Country of Turkiye at Rugby.

Of course, I used my contacts to facilitate an introduction to the Turkiye Ragbi Federation after long-time friend and Sports Lecturer, Sebahattin Devecioglu, kindly orchestrated communications directly to President, Murat Pazan.

This quickly followed with regular conversations, CV and playing videos to Ozii Danismaz and Hatice Kubra Geredeli. All fantastic people at the Federation helping this sport to grow in their Country.

So we embarked on an initial Camp in Trabzon followed by another in Kocaeli. Naturally, at this time all prospects of progression were solely based on my Son, Kaya's performances. He applied himself exemplarily. The Squad started at 20, then 15 then was reduced to 12. The assessments at each stage showed for the last test Kaya infact had the most improvement in the Squad. 

The Head Coach was a Romanian, Daniel Mitrea. An experienced professional at Rugby 7s and Academy level and destined for bigger things in the sport. Meticulous, innovatory and with a sound personality.

He was always fair to me as a Parent explaining that selection was competitive and no guarantees. Indeed the two 16 year olds, my Son included, would probably not make the final squad. Preference to be given to older players. Yet after the assessment results and performances against Korfez and Kandira in practice matches they earned their places. Great news for sustainability as both are eligible for two more years at u18s level.

Naturally, I kept busy, coaching, video filming, analysis, administration and logistics. The Federation said that they appreciated me and players loved my presence. I now have a Proposal in to help on commercial sponsorship and partnerships. My work with National Governing Bodies is Sports in the UK should illustrate my credibility.

From Russia, there is a philosophy that if a bird shits on your head it is good luck. It just happened to me. So lets hope that Turkiye and the fantastic boys reach their full potential. 

[This note was written pre-Tournament].

Adrian Stores is a sports consultant at ACROBAT | FCSM